The Significance of Colour in The Colour Purple
Nathan Paul
PSEnglish
1313209
American Literature
Alice Walker is an African
American author who was born on February 9th, 1944. She Is best
known for her hugely successful Novel, The Colour Purple, for which she
received various awards. Walker was born in Georgia during the time that the
Jim Crow laws were being followed. Walkers parents were, at the time, expected
to send their children to work in fields for white plantation owners, because
many people at the time felt that there was no use in black people being
educated. Her parents had somehow managed to, despite the attempts of
plantation owners, to enrol Alice in school and were able to have her educated.
“The Colour Purple” was published
in 1982, and follows the story of Celie, who is a young black woman living in
the twentieth century. Walker is able to powerfully depict the struggles and
hardships that coloured women experienced at the time. Due to the explicit
content of the book, it has been banned several times. After “The Colour
Purple” was published, there were many people who were very unhappy with its
contents and its portrayal of the black society, especially that of the males
in the African American society. Black women, however, fully appreciated and
supported the novel.
Throughout the story, colours are
always being used to show the development and growth of characters. The
references to colour begin immediately from the cover page of the book with the
title. The title is a significant reference to a time when, in the novel, Shug
Avery questions Celie as to whether she ever takes the time to notice the tiny
things that God does to show that he or she loves us. Shug says, “I think it
pisses God off if you walk by the colour purple in a field and don’t notice
it.” Celie ends up admitting that she never has really observed the little
things in life, which ends up changing her life.
The colour purple is something
that is representative of everything that is good in life which God gave for
men and women to enjoy. In the beginning of the story Celie is unable to take
note of all these little things. We can say that the horrible life that she has
had has clouded her vision and caused her to think that all that is in the
world is bad. This forces her to live her life like she is just barely
surviving; she is physically alive, but emotionally dead. Throughout the story,
however, the appearances of brighter colours show the growth which Celie
experiences as the story progresses.
For example, when Kate and Celie
go shopping for a new dress, they are able to only find dresses that have a
rather dull colour. Despite this dull beginning, we can see that Celies
character is slowly growing when she makes a quilt using the brighter yellow
colour from Shugs dress. Celies final “religious awakening” is shown by her
noticing the colour purple, which is significant of all the little things that
are good in the world. Celie, ends up painting her room in her house a bright
red and purple towards the end which shows that she has fully grown to
appreciate life. Alice Walker also shows us that Mr. _ has grown towards the
end of the story when he paints his house a “fresh and white” colour, which is
significant of his change in character and a new beginning in his life.
Alice Walker lived a hard life
and this is depicted in her various works. The Colour Purple is a story which
she writes to show that no matter the hardships people may go through in life,
we can grow and overcome our struggles, and when we overcome these struggles,
life becomes a lot brighter for us and the various uses of colour in the novel
is significant of this growth and success in life which she wanted to depict.
Bibliography
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. N.p.: n.p.,
1982. Print.
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