Harlem Renaissance Essay

The Harlem Renaissances light on the Color Purple

The Harlem Renaissance was when African-American literature, art, music, dance, and social commentary began to flourish in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the early 1900s, especially in the 1920s. With the ideas of the Harlem Renaissance spreading, it inspired many people and that got into their writings, making the characters reflect off of it. An example of this would be Alice Walker’s novel, The Color Purple. A impoverished, black woman from the South in the early to mid 1900s named Miss Celie sees her life change as important historical events occur during her lifetime. Walker portrays Celie as a symbol of what it meant to develop in the United States at a time when slavery was

When Nettie is approved for school purely based on her own abilities and will, she is able to break free from the grip of oppression and abuse. Nettie is persistent in her search for a home with a preacher's family because she "[wants] to know how the world goes" (Walker, 7). She goes as a missionary with her family to a village in western Africa to interact with the Olinka tribe. The Olinka are a flourishing African tribe rich with tradition and culture, and Nettie's life changes significantly when she learns of her heritage. She observes the changes in her life as she grows up in this country, that “it’s like black seeing black for the first time... so beautifully stitched in time,” (Walker, 76). A European rubber corporation destroys this community since it is so symbolic of Nettie's way of life and development as an African American in its quest for greed and wealth. Similar to how white Americans had demolished black civilizations in the United States, these white

The whole story of The Color Purple is portrayed through Celie's private letters to her sister and to God, as she views religion and having a personal contact with her creator as being among the most important components of her life. Shug brings new light into a time of darkness when Celie's connection with God is almost destroyed by her rage at the situations, she has been put in. Shug says "God is inside you and inside everybody else” (Walker 148). Shug is implying that no matter what you are never alone and that God is always watching over you and sees all the good and bad parts of you. Walker then goes on to say “...You come into the world with God. But only them that search for it inside find it... God ain't a he or a she, but a It... Don't look like nothing. It ain't a picture show. It ain't something you can look at apart from anything else, including yourself. I believe God is everything. Everything that is or ever was or ever will be. And when you can feel that, and be happy to feel that, you've found it,” (Walker, 148). Shug says that God is just everything, that He is the existence of purpose and being, and that everything is destined to be here at this time and location, eradicating the very relevance of time and place. Walker's use of historical background and the relevance of