The Color Purple

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Critics

• Black Victims, Black Villains

  Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple might as well have been about a bunch of dancing eggplants for all it has to say about black history. In its disregard of black life outside its cartoon images, the film is a throwback to Marc Connelly’s The Green ... (read full critics)

  nybooks published on Sun, 22 Aug 2010

5 Reviews

• 1 person find this helpful

  *** This comment contains spoilers! ***

  

  Taking place in the Southern United States during the early 1900s to mid-1930s, the movie tells the life of a poor African American woman, Celie Harris (Whoopi Goldberg), whose abuse begins when she is young. By the time she is fourteen, she has already had two children by her father (Leonard Jackso ... (continue)

  Taking place in the Southern United States during the early 1900s to mid-1930s, the movie tells the life of a poor African American woman, Celie Harris (Whoopi Goldberg), whose abuse begins when she is young. By the time she is fourteen, she has already had two children by her father (Leonard Jackson). He takes them away from her at childbirth and forces Celie (Desreta Jackson) to marry a local widower Albert Johnson, known to her only as "Mister" (Danny Glover), who treats her like a slave. Albert makes her clean up his disorderly household and take care of his unruly children. Albert beats her often, intimidating Celie into submission and near silence. Celie's sister Nettie (Akosua Busia) comes to live with them, and there is a brief period of happiness as the sisters spend time together and Nettie begins to teach Celie how to read. This is short-lived, however; after Nettie refuses Albert's predatory affections once too often, he kicks her out. Before being run off by Albert, Nettie promises to write to Celie.

  Albert's old flame, the jazz singer Shug Avery (Margaret Avery), for whom Albert has carried a torch for many years, comes to live with him and Celie. Delirious with sickness, Shug initially regards Celie (wearing a face mask) as "ugly" on their first meeting. Despite this, they eventually become close friends and Shug helps Celie raise her self-confidence. Shug and Celie also enter into an affair (more pronounced in the book, but only hinted at in the film).[3] Celie also finds strength in Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), who marries Albert's son Harpo (Willard E. Pugh). Sofia has also suffered abuse from the men in her family, but unlike Celie, she refuses to tolerate it. This high-spiritedness proves to be her downfall, however, as a rude remark to the town mayor's wife and a retaliatory punch to the mayor himself ends with Sofia beaten and jailed.

  Nettie, meanwhile, has been living with missionaries in Africa and writing to Celie often. Unbeknownst to her, Albert confiscates Nettie's letters, telling Celie that she will never hear from her sister again. During a visit from Shug and her new husband, Grady, Celie and Shug discover many years' worth of Nettie's correspondence. Reconnecting with her sister and the assurance that she is still alive helps give Celie the strength to stand up to Albert. She almost slits his throat while shaving him, but is stopped by Shug. During a family dinner, Sofia is shown to be prematurely aged and permanently disfigured due to the severe beatings she received in jail, and demoralized into an almost catatonic state. During that time, Celie finally asserts herself, excoriating Albert and his father. Shug informs Albert that she and Grady are leaving, and that Celie and Harpo's girlfriend Squeak (Rae Dawn Chong) are coming with them. Despite Albert's attempts to verbally abuse Celie into submission, she stands up to him by mentioning that he kept Nettie away from her because Nettie was the only one who really loved her. Before she leaves him permanently, she tells him that until he does the right thing, everything he does will go wrong. After seeing Celie stand up for herself, Sofia returns to her normal self, laughing hysterically at a dumbfounded and embarrassed Albert. She also encourages Celie not to follow in her own footsteps, as Celie holds a knife to Albert's throat.

  In Tennessee, Celie opens a haberdashery selling "one size fits all" slacks. Upon the death of her father, she learns that he was, in fact, her stepfather, and that she has inherited a house and shop from her real father. Meanwhile, Albert is feeling the effects of Celie's words. His fields and home languish into almost nonexistence as he slips into alcohol-fueled idleness, spending most of his time at Harpo's speakeasy. Years of guilt finally catch up to him, with the knowledge that he has been a horrible person most of his life, especially to Celie. In a sudden act of kindness unknown to her, Albert takes all the money he has saved over the years, goes down to the immigration office, and arranges for a family reunion with Nettie for Celie. Her children, Adam and Olivia, who were raised in Africa, are also reunited with her. Albert looks on from a distance, and Shug smiles at him because he finally did the right thing. Nettie and Celie play their childhood clapping game as the sun sets.

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  Nani said on Mar 16, 2012 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

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  Touching, cruel, real story. Celie's words touch our soul and her feelings changing into joy make us believe in a God that lives inside us.

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  Tonichka said on Jan 7, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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  Brilliant. This is not only a novel, but a piece of feminism, colonialism and identity.
  In the form of private letters, Alice Walker speaks for the black in their own views. Though tragic it may seem to many, one wouldn't think the characters are victimizing themselves, instead they show us how ... (continue)

  Brilliant. This is not only a novel, but a piece of feminism, colonialism and identity.
  In the form of private letters, Alice Walker speaks for the black in their own views. Though tragic it may seem to many, one wouldn't think the characters are victimizing themselves, instead they show us how to live. How to live with their own meanings.

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  Clio said on Feb 23, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  My first book in English

  I saw the movie so many times and loved it so much that when I went to New York to see the Musical I wanted to buy the book before coming back to Italy because this is one of those stories that need to be read in their native language. This book is a masterpiece and it is so clear and easy to read, ... (continue)

  I saw the movie so many times and loved it so much that when I went to New York to see the Musical I wanted to buy the book before coming back to Italy because this is one of those stories that need to be read in their native language. This book is a masterpiece and it is so clear and easy to read, even if a lot of the 1930s black American's English is used. Absolutely perfect.

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  masmassy said on Oct 13, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  It took a little bit to me entering Celie's rotten and ungrammatical world, and I can't say it's been easy: I mean, I got used to her peculiar vocabulary fairly soon, but still there was something slipping, something disturbing about that, maybe because it was the only way I could penetrate the envi ... (continue)

  It took a little bit to me entering Celie's rotten and ungrammatical world, and I can't say it's been easy: I mean, I got used to her peculiar vocabulary fairly soon, but still there was something slipping, something disturbing about that, maybe because it was the only way I could penetrate the environment where she lives, or better, try to survive. Apart from that, I give Alice Walker just two stars not because she's not worth them, but because I've never been crazy about epistolary novels, although the idea of this woman whose only relief in life is writing to God is very original and somehow even tender. I would have appreciated a little bit of narration, even from other characters' point of view, such as Albert's, Harpo's, Sophia's...

  PLOT: Celie lives in the Deep South of United States of America and her life is a hell on earth. Raped by the man she calls father, her mother forced to bed on account of a cruel illness, left by her sister Nettie who escaped from home, married to a man, Albert, to whom she's less than a servant, her life changes when she meets Shug Avery, a singer who used to date with her usband before he got married. Shug is very ill and nobody but Albert is willing to take care of her, so she moves to his house. At first she's very mean to Celie, but little by little the two of them instituide a special friendship who will help Celie to raise her head and get going on her way...

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  Ais Quin said on Feb 10, 2009 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Hardcover 271 Pages
• Edition: New Ed
• ISBN-10: 0521403979
• ISBN-13: 9780521403979
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Pub date: Jan 01, 1990
• Also available as: Mass Market Paperback, Paperback, Library Binding, School & Library Binding, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages 繁體書, Libros en Español, Libri Italiani

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