Injustice In The Color Purple

Imagine a life being dominated by others and being traded around like an object. Imagine a life having a constant fear of not being able to stand up for what is right. This was the case for Celie and many other black women during the early 1900s. America, for the most part, has grown out of these social injustices, but how much does one really know what events took place in these little southern towns? Alice Walker exposes real life examples of controversial topics to teach readers about what actually occurred during these one hundred years. From growing up as a timid black woman in the middle of the 20th century, contributes with a time period full of racism and sexism together to form Alice Walker’s views on life in her brilliant, eye-opening

For instance, when Alice Walker was younger she was “Afraid of interacting with other children and adults, [so] Alice began to spend more and more time reading, writing poetry, and quietly observing the people around her” (Fish and Fish 10). This is much like how socially awkward the character, Celie, was described in The Color Purple. Celie many times often referred to herself as ugly in the novel and as well as Walker who “didn’t know any of the other students and she refused to look at them because she was ashamed of her appearance” (Fish and Fish 9). As one can see these two young women had very similar mindsets growing up. Another example would be, in the novel whenever Celie would get pregnant her father would take them away and the reader would infer that the child would then be killed by him. This creates a sense of a very distant relationship with her and her parents. Furthermore, this relates to when “Walker discovered she was pregnant, a development that she knew would disappoint and shame her parents. She contemplated suicide and even slept with a razor blade under her pillow” (Fish and Fish 15). Much like Celie it is apparent that Walker did not have a healthy and supportive relationship with her parents. To conclude, Walker claims “So many of the stories that I write are my mothers stories” and that “..in my immediate family there too was violence” (Alumbaugh 60). This is significant because it shows how much Walker takes into consideration with her own life when she is