I am very educated, yet at the same time, not too familiar with the prejudice that
takes place in the novel The Color Purple, by Alice Walker.
First of all, this book mainly focuses on prejudice toward black women in the early
1900's. Although blacks were free and women had a little more power than before, the
black woman of America were still looked down on as being servants to their black men.
Next, the prejudice in this book was mainly caused by history. In the past, blacks
were slaves and the women were used for reproducing and taking care of the family and
home and were often uneducated. The history of black woman hadn't changed much in the
eyes of many people in the early 1900's so a lot of the prejudice activity was still
taking
part in the lives of many of these individuals.
In The Color Purple, a woman by the name of Ceile was a victim of this horrible
prejudice. She was and uneducated woman living in the rural American south. She had
been raped by her father, deprived of her children she bore him and was forced into
marriage with a brutal man whom she calls "Mister." Since her sister was taken from her,
Celie's only true companion was God whom she turns inward and shares her grief with.
The man Celie calls "Mister" gained a lot of power, strength, and almightiness by
playing the part of husband to her. He was always in control of the situation and always
had control over Celie.
Finally, the consequence of the prejudice in this novel were uplifting. The black
women finally take control of their own lives, mainly Celie, and show the other black
men
that they can be just as strong and powerful and they are their own person.
In conclusion, the character in this novel, Celie, made me think about prejudice and
how to overcome it. Celie was such a strong, intelligent and beautiful woman who was
degraded and stepped on her whole life. She finally realized how to stand up and take
her
life back which really moved me. Her power inspired me to be a little more independent
and to step back and take a familiar look at prejudice through her educated and
experienced eyes.
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