The Color Purple

The Color Purple has been an amazing book to read so far. They way that if incorporates story telling into letters has made it seem so personal. As readers we get a first hand account of what happened to our protagonist and it makes everything much more significant. We get more invested in the characters because of the stylistic choices of Alice Walker. On my Note page, I had wrote that because The letters are addressed to god, readers get the feeling that we are reading Celie's completely unfiltered thoughts, because if god is all knowing Celie has nothing to hide from god, writing absolutely everything she feels in her letters. Other stylistic choices that Walker makes also makes the reader much more invested in the story. They also make the reader question her choices. For example, when writing the name of Celie's Husband, Alice Walker chooses to write Mr. ______ rather than include his last name. In our book club group We had related this to song of Solomon. In Song of Solomon we had discussed that names can give a character identity and power. Talking his last name away from Mr._______also then takes away some of the power he holds. We also discussed another interpretation of Mr. _______. For the time we know him as Mr. _______, he is only known as Celie's brute of a husband who beats her and does not care for her, or any women, what so ever. However, after Shug comes into the story, we see a kind and loving side of Mr. ______. At the same time we also learn his first name is Albert. One of my main take aways from reading the book so far has been learning about the struggles for women during that time and also learning about some of the stylistic choices an author can make.