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The Color Purple Character Analysis

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The essay will deal with the different aspects of the female characteristics shown in the novels Beloved (1987) by Toni Morrison and The Color Purple (1982) by Alice Walker. Each main character will be discussed in terms of their individual personality and identity. The secondary characters are seen as the major influences and the reasons for development. The chances that the main characters take or that they miss out on will also be discussed. The female features forcing them into decisions that are ultimately discarded in order for the decisions to become more adequate will also be discussed.
Subject of loss lies in the names for both of the novels. A good example from the Beloved is the number of the house where the characters live, 124. …show more content…

They tell us about the conditions faced by the African American women as well as their perceptions and development of characters. The characters in both of the novels start off as weak and end up being stronger human beings. It will be discussed how both of the novels identify the strengths of the women characters that were not present at first. Despite the unfavorable social conditions, the women tend to cling on to the few chances of success which are given to them.
The main characters are both abused members of the society. This is because of the setting of slavery and abuse by the men. However, Celie in the Color Purple and Sethe in Beloved both find the way out of the terrible conditions that they had lived in.
Celie, who has been experiencing all kinds of abuse since her childhood develops a very strong sense of gender differentiation. She is no longer experiencing the reliance on males at the end, nor does she get jealous of other strong females. She, herself manages to become very strong. The breaking point can be seen during her relationship with Shug, where Celie feels extremely comfortable and does not wish to let her go. Nevertheless, once Shug leaves, Celie does not confide and stays …show more content…

According to legends of some tribes in Africa, a child that dies before being given a name, belongs to the world of spirits, because he or she was not separated from the world of the ancestors and the spirits by the ritual of naming. Therefore, Beloved is not only a daughter, killed by Seth, but also is the embodiment of all the children who lost their mothers during the Middle Passage as well as the victims themselves. Alphonso’s separation of the children from Celie also represents the African American children that were taken away from their parents and then sent in completely unknown destinations for the parents. Such understandings of the characters is the dedication of the books towards 60 million or even more African people, who were captured and sent into slavery. Many of them could not even survive on their way to Americas including the newborn

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