the color purple cruelty essay

“The Color Purple”: Oppression and Pain of an African American Woman Essay (Movie Review)

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Introduction

The color purple is a movie about the oppression and pain of an African American woman. Adapted from Alice Walker’s novel by the same name, the movie delves into the life of a girl who was sexually abused by her father before being sold off to an irresponsible and cruel husband. Celie, the poor African American character who is the protagonist, has to withstand brutality from her husband. The only way to vent her pain is by writing letters to her sister. Through these letters, the audience gets to understand her inner feelings emanating from the predicament she was going through. But the sister does not respond, leading Celie to believe that she was long dead. We however learn that it is Albert, Celie’s husband, who has been confiscating the replies. The movie provides relief when Celie finally gets emboldened by her friendship with another of Albert’s mistresses. She finds the letters from her sister and later makes away to rebuild her life.

The movie elucidates several thematic and social concerns that are insightful for a psychologist. Oppression is skillfully woven throughout the movie to caricature the experience of a Southern American black woman (Sacco, 2009). Ironically, oppression against women does not just originate from white men as one would assume. Rather, sexual exploitation begins from the family, the father who is supposed to be a source of security for his children. As an adolescent girl, Celie has experienced sexual exploitation from her father. She becomes pregnant twice and the father takes oppression to a whole new level by taking away the two children for adoption by another family. To cap it all, he sells away her daughter as a wife to an old man. Celie has no choice over her life. She is a victim of an evil father who perpetuates cruelty with pleasure. But her predicaments are not to end with her father. The husband is very brutal and she has to endure such brutality for thirty years.

Separation from family is usually a source of great pain to whoever that bad luck befalls. Celie is separated from her sister Nettie with whom a strong friendship and sense of comradeship had emerged (Sacco, 2009). Notice the ironic twist of events that led to their separation. An old man by the name of Albert had sought Nettie’s hand in marriage. But the father became intransigent and instead offered Celie because she was better positioned to be a wife. To cap it all, he expressly stated that Celie was ugly enough to marry. Women have no choices over their spouses. The father can sell them at his whims away like livestock. This represents the highest form of insensitivity and oppression that pervaded American society at the beginning of the 20th century (Green & Palgrave, 2013). The separation of close sisters is a cause of pain for them as illustrated in their constant communication through letters. But the cruel husband to whom Celie was sold exacerbates the pain by confiscating Nettie’s replies and leading her sister to believe that she was long dead.

The most surprising thing about the movie is how sexual exploitation and oppression have been presented (Lupack, 1994). Conventionally, one would not expect the father to be a source of pain to the family. Ironically and surprisingly, it is the father who commits such heinous acts against his daughters. One would expect that oppression would be driven by racism considering the tense race relations in the United States then. Surprisingly, it is blacks’ oppression against blacks. The ironic twist of events in the movie is unprecedented. Celie’s pains are turned into joy when her father dies and it emerges that he was a stepfather. She is bequeathed wealth by her biological father and her fortunes turn around. Albert, her former husband, suffers a lot after separation from Celie and is rueful over his past deeds. To assuage his conscience, he spends his lifelong savings to facilitate Nettie and Celie’s reunion. The person who spent thirty years meting out cruelty on Celie finally becomes the one to bring her happiness!

The movie provides useful insights to a clinician. To start with, it offers an avenue to understand human beings. It opens one’s eyes to the possibility that pain can be caused by the family even more than other things. Through the movie, it becomes clear that human behavior is influenced by past experiences (Green & Palgrave, 2013). Wealth is also not the source of happiness as one would assume. Though Albert is rich, his family is rarely portrayed as being happy. Throughout the semester, I have learned several things about myself. I have learned that my behavior to a large extent has been shaped by the family I grew up in. I have learned to appreciate other people first before judging them.

I found the course fascinating at the same time. Through the course, I have had an opportunity to understand people’s behaviors and attitudes. I now appreciate human diversity more than I did before. For the next semester, I would suggest that the lecturer provide a broad spectrum of reading lists and illustrations. It is only then that we can have a holistic understanding of human behavior. Overall, I found the course very informative.

Green, T. T., & Palgrave Connect (Online service). (2013). Presenting Oprah Winfrey, her films, and African American literature . New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Lupack, B. T. (1994). Take two: Adapting the contemporary American novel to film . Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State Univ. Popular Press.

Sacco, L. (2009). Unspeakable: Father-daughter incest in American history . Baltimore. Md: Johns Hopkins University Press.

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IvyPanda. (2022, February 4). "The Color Purple": Oppression and Pain of an African American Woman. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-color-purple-oppression-and-pain-of-an-african-american-woman/

""The Color Purple": Oppression and Pain of an African American Woman." IvyPanda , 4 Feb. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/the-color-purple-oppression-and-pain-of-an-african-american-woman/.

IvyPanda . (2022) '"The Color Purple": Oppression and Pain of an African American Woman'. 4 February.

IvyPanda . 2022. ""The Color Purple": Oppression and Pain of an African American Woman." February 4, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-color-purple-oppression-and-pain-of-an-african-american-woman/.

1. IvyPanda . ""The Color Purple": Oppression and Pain of an African American Woman." February 4, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-color-purple-oppression-and-pain-of-an-african-american-woman/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . ""The Color Purple": Oppression and Pain of an African American Woman." February 4, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-color-purple-oppression-and-pain-of-an-african-american-woman/.

The Color Purple

Alice walker, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Alice Walker's The Color Purple . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Color Purple: Introduction

The color purple: plot summary, the color purple: detailed summary & analysis, the color purple: themes, the color purple: quotes, the color purple: characters, the color purple: symbols, the color purple: theme wheel, brief biography of alice walker.

Historical Context of The Color Purple

Other books related to the color purple.

• Full Title: The Color Purple
• When Written: 1981-82
• Where Written: New York City
• When Published: 1982
• Literary Period: postmodernism in America
• Genre: Epistolary novel; the 20th-century African-American novel; 20th-century feminist writing
• Setting: Georgia and coastal Africa, roughly 1920-1950
• Climax: Nettie and Celie are reunited, just before the novel's end, back in Georgia
• Antagonist: Mr. and Pa
• Point of View: first-person (epistolary, or a novel-in-letters)

Extra Credit for The Color Purple

White-black relations in the film version of The Color Purple. The film The Color Purple was directed by Stephen Spielberg, a white, male filmmaker. The film itself deals almost exclusively with the lives, troubles, and eventual triumph of African Americans, and some complained, during the film's production and release, that Spielberg did not have a right to direct a film running so counter to his personal experience. But Spielberg's efforts and response, implied in the film, point to the universality of Celie's experience, and to the applicability of the novel to people from all walks of life, and of all gender and racial backgrounds.

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Essay Samples on The Color Purple

Reviving resilience: the color purple (2023) - a soul-stirring journey of empowerment and hope.

In 2023, a new film adaptation of Alice Walker's beloved novel The Color Purple hits theaters, introducing a new generation to this poignant story. Directed by Blitz Bazawule, the movie boasts an all-star cast poised to bring a fresh take on the classic novel about...

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The Color Purple: The Inequality of Women in Male Dominated Environment

Women have faced social inequalities throughout history through the intersectionality of race, class and gender. The analysis of the social construct displays patchritical ideologies of systematic male dominated environments. The novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker, demonstrates the construct of a hierarchical system of...

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The Color Purple: The Oppression and Fight for Equality of African Americans

While The Color Purple isn’t your traditional slave narrative like Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl or Our Nig, the novel is still representative of a more contemporary form of slavery of the time. Walker created characters who fit the archetypes of post-slavery....

Feminist Imagery Used In The Color Purple

Feminism is a movement, which is an organization that stood against the brutality and injustices of women. Within this movement, there are several people of African-American who likewise fight for women 's rights and their abuse. The Color Purple is a 1982 novel by American...

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Comparison Of The Portrayal Of Defiance In Andrea Levy’s Novel The Long Song And The Color Purple By Alice Walker

‘Lives that defy convention demand narratives that do the same’ - Compare and contrast the ways in which Levy and Walker present defiance in ‘The Long Song’ and ‘The Color Purple’. In the course of your discussion you must consider the importance of relevant contextual...

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How Alice Walker Portrays Her Ideas In Her Novels The Color Purple And Meridian

In her interview with Claudia Dreifus, Walker explains the New Age quality in her writing and her ideas: What I’m doing is literarily trying to reconnect us to our ancestors. All of us. I’m really trying to do that because I see that ancient past...

Analysis of the Concept Brought by C. S. Lewis in His Novel Mere Christanity

In both ‘The White Tiger’ and ‘The Colour Purple’ the protagonists face many forms of external oppression as they battle their own internalised inferiority. Both Alice Walker and Aravind Adiga use the epistolary form to convey this, Walker suggests this format is an outlet for...

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Comparing the Presentation of the Inner Lives of their Protagonists

A weaver employs fragments from life, silk, raw yarns, wool, straw, perhaps even a few twigs, stones, or feathers, and transforms them into a tapestry of colour, shape, and form. An author's work is similar, for she selects individuals, locations, images, and ideas, rearranging them...

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Alice Walker: Making a Voice Known in a World of Oppression

Throughout history, the topic of racial and gender discrimination in America has been heavily discussed and researched. As Anderson and Collins state, “Sex, gender, race, sexual identity, and class profoundly influence individuals’ knowledge, experience, and opportunities” (qtd. in Tahir). It is not hard to see...

Celie and the other Female Characters in the Color Purple

In the book, The Color Purple, Celie, and the other characters' development grew drastically throughout the whole novel. The way female characters got treated and abused is sickening. Celie, especially, showed growth tremendously using courage and strength to develop herself into a stronger woman by...

The Life of African American Women in the Color Purple

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, self- respect is defined as “the pride and confidence in oneself; a feeling that one is behaving with honor and dignity.” (Merriam- Webster). The Color Purple is about a poor, uneducated black female named Celie, who grows up surrounded by...

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The Theme of Empowerment, Violence, and Cruelty in "The Color Purple"

From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, African Americans faced hardship through inequality and racism. Around the 1980s, Alice Walker illustrated the history of racial and gender oppression that black women had faced throughout history. Walker's The Color Purple revolves around how women joined together...

The Role of Black Women in the Color Purple

The movie that I am writing about in this essay is 'The Color Purple'. The Color Purple is a historical drama fiction film and was directed by Stephen Spielberg. The Color Purple was released in December of 1985. The cinematographer for this film is Allen...

The Significance of Female Relationships Within Patriarchal Society in The Color Purple and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Explore the significance of female relationships within a strongly patriarchal society as depicted by Alice Walker in The Color Purple and Maya Angelou in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The main theme I will focus on in comparing The Color Purple and I...

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The Theme of Family and Relationship as Seen In The Color Purple and The Bluest Eye.

The concept of fractured family life and familial separation is a recurring theme in African American literature, going back as far as the slave narratives of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Slavery affected all aspects of their family life as the forceful and unnatural separation...

• Family Relationships
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"The Color Purple": A Tale of Struggle and Empowerment

Alice Walker's The Color Purple is a novel that is widely recognized as a literary masterpiece that explores the intersectionality of oppression. The novel is set in the American South during the early 1900s and follows the life of Celie, a black woman who faces...

• Intersectionality
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How Identity Is Presented In TCP And Sula

Identity is a factor that the characters of both texts lack due to their oppressive states. Oppression which hinders the characters from attaining their self-identity. It is through the relationships that the characters form with each other is what enables them to attain their sense...

• Personal Identity

Best topics on The Color Purple

1. Reviving Resilience: The Color Purple (2023) – A Soul-Stirring Journey of Empowerment and Hope

2. The Color Purple: The Inequality of Women in Male Dominated Environment

3. The Color Purple: The Oppression and Fight for Equality of African Americans

4. Feminist Imagery Used In The Color Purple

5. Comparison Of The Portrayal Of Defiance In Andrea Levy’s Novel The Long Song And The Color Purple By Alice Walker

6. How Alice Walker Portrays Her Ideas In Her Novels The Color Purple And Meridian

7. Analysis of the Concept Brought by C. S. Lewis in His Novel Mere Christanity

8. Comparing the Presentation of the Inner Lives of their Protagonists

9. Alice Walker: Making a Voice Known in a World of Oppression

10. Celie and the other Female Characters in the Color Purple

11. The Life of African American Women in the Color Purple

12. The Theme of Empowerment, Violence, and Cruelty in “The Color Purple”

13. The Role of Black Women in the Color Purple

14. The Significance of Female Relationships Within Patriarchal Society in The Color Purple and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

15. The Theme of Family and Relationship as Seen In The Color Purple and The Bluest Eye.

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Historical Context

The color purple, by alice walker.

Some of the issues in 'The Color Purple' are still relevant in the present day. However, the dynamics of the society in the setting of the novel are different in some ways from the present-day society. The historical context of the setting puts the story into better perspective.

Article written by Onyekachi Osuji

B.A. in Public Administration and certified in Creative Writing (Fiction and Non-Fiction)

The Color Purple is set in the early twentieth century USA and parts of Africa which are characterized by racial discrimination, western encroachment into Africa, and human rights violation, all of which set the background for the events in the plot.

Racial Discrimination

The Color Purple is set in the early twentieth century when the racial divide between whites and blacks was more palpable. For instance, public trains had separate sections for white people into which black people were not allowed.

Racial discrimination is one of the key issues in the story of The Color Purple , and the sad realities of the time are depicted aptly in the story. For instance, Sofia was tortured, sentenced to prison, and later to eleven and half years of laborious servitude for the mayor’s household are injustices meted out on her because of her race.

Celie’s father and uncles being lynched by white competitors in the neighborhood is also a clear example of the racial discrimination prevalent at the time.

Western Presence in Africa

The early twentieth century saw a continuation of the presence of western countries, mostly from Europe and America, in Africa under various pretexts. The entire continent of Africa was a locus of attraction for missionaries, explorers, capitalists, and colonialists from the western world.

Some of the activities of the western countries in Africa were philanthropic, while many others were exploitative. Alice Walker shows in The Color Purple the different ways the encroachment of Western countries into Africa affected the people of Africa in the twentieth century. We see the people of Olinka who are forcefully evacuated from their homes and farms to make room for a western company that wanted their lands for rubber cultivation.

Although slavery had been abolished in the twentieth century in which The Color Purple is set, it still comes into the conversation of the novel with some thought-provoking perspectives.

The origin of African-Americans in the United States of America is traced back to Africans who were sold into slavery to work in plantations for Americans. Some of these slaves were sold into slavery by their fellow Africans. The role of Africans in the distasteful success of the slave trade is something Alice Walker talks about in The Color Purple .

Through the character Nettie, a reader feels an inquisitiveness to know how Africans in Africa feel about their African-American brethren who were victims of betrayal by their own brothers and cruelty by strangers. But from Nettie’s observations, we see that the Africans in Africa are indifferent to African-Americans and their fate, there is no remorse and no contrite acceptance of blame for what happened to African-Americans.

Human Rights

Human Rights in the setting of The Color Purple is not as well implemented in the USA as it is in the twenty-first century. While we cannot rightly say that Human Rights protection and implementation is perfect in the present day, it is still an improvement on what was obtainable in the early twentieth century.

Characters from The Color Purple , like Celie, might have been empowered by Child Rights to continue their education and not drop out of school if it had been in present-day America. And the cruel Alphonso would more likely have gone to prison for raping a minor. But the system was not structured to see the struggles and the rights of a child such as Celie as a priority in that era.

Was The Color Purple a true story?

No, The Color Purple is not a true story. It is a fictional novel written by Alice Walker, although she based some of the events in the plot on true happenings.

Why did they ban The Color Purple ?

The Color Purple had been banned from schools and libraries in the USA on various occasions for containing violence and explicit language. It is on the American Library Association’s list of most challenged books from 1990-1999 and from 2000-2009.

Are Nettie and Celie sisters?

Yes, Nettie and Celie are sisters. Celie is the chief character and protagonist of the novel The Color Purple, and Nettie is her younger sister, who is younger than Celie by two years. Both sisters share a loving sisterly bond, although separated at several points in their lives.

What is the setting of The Color Purple ?

The setting of The Color Purple is twentieth-century Georgia and Tennessee in the USA and a fictional African village called Olinka. Some parts of the novel are also set in England, Monrovia, and Senegal.

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About Onyekachi Osuji

Onyekachi was already an adult when she discovered the rich artistry in the storytelling craft of her people—the native Igbo tribe of Africa. This connection to her roots has inspired her to become a Literature enthusiast with an interest in the stories of Igbo origin and books from writers of diverse backgrounds. She writes stories of her own and works on Literary Analysis in various genres.

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The color purple

Introduction.

Over the years, The Color Purple by Alice Walker has been the subject of intense opposition. Throughout the world, critics have different opinions about the value of this novel. Some people claim that it is the best book they have ever read as it develops the important themes of religion, racism, sexism, disruption of traditional gender roles, and sisterhood. However, some critics dislike this book because it presents the negative portrait of black men and the black family. Consequently, the novel promotes racial stereotypes and hatred towards men. The paper provides positive and negative feedback on the novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker and shows my personal opinion of the book.

Harriss Criticism About the Book

After the publication of The Color Purple , many critics have begun discussing its reception and canonicity. In her provocative review On The Color Purple , Stereotypes, and Silence, Trudier Harris claims that the novel should not have been canonized . The pendulum of readers preferences has swung in black writers favor and this is the only reason for Alice Walkers recognition. Harries states that the popularity of the book has a detrimental effect as it has created a cadre of spectator readers who neither feel nor share the main characters pain and observe the events as a circus of black human interactions. Moreover, the novel promotes racial stereotypes. Harris believes that the abuse, cruelty, and dehumanization documented by the main character make readers negatively think about black people.

Harris doubts the plausibility of Celies behavior, especially during her living with a stepfather. It is difficult to imagine Celie existing in any black community as no woman would play the victim and endure physical and sexual abuse. Harris also states that The Color Purple lacks morality because it supports the idea that human degradation is justified if a person endures and survives the tortures inflicted on him/her. The book neither describes nor praises autonomy, dignity, and the feeling of self-esteem.

 One more weakness of the book is Netties letters from Africa that are extraneous to the central problem of the story. Harris states that the letters written as monologs on African history are intrusive because they are not connected with the main events. Moreover, Nettie describes the negative attitude of the men of the Olinka tribe towards their women. Consequently, the letters emphasize female oppression and promote hatred for men.

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 LaGrones Criticism About the Book

In the book Alice Walkers The Color Purple , LaGrone states that when he first read The Color Purple , he was greatly impressed and thought that the novel was about personal transformation and spiritual strength. LaGrone confesses that the book has become his inspiration and anthem. The main character Celie is the reason why he likes the story. In her novel, Alice Walker depicts an unordinary girl who differs from other people. Celie is black, ugly, uneducated, and poor. Moreover, the fact that she is a lesbian really amazes readers. What attracts LaGrone is that the girl never abandons hope and always fights against adversity. There is nobody to defend her; therefore, she does it herself. Every misfortune makes Celie stronger. Throughout the book, readers see a transformation from a weak personality into an independent and strong-willed woman. Her example shows that a person can discover his/her selfhood and free his/her spirit from the bondage if he/she is strong enough. Consequently, a person should never despair and lose hope.

LaGrone appreciates the book as the author honestly depicts the life of black people in the 1930s. Readers plunge into the atmosphere of that time and see ordinary black and white people with their racial prejudices. The author gives readers an opportunity to learn the truth about the difficult life of black women and injustices they suffered.

Although many readers enjoy the novel, there are some people who call it maudlin. LaGrone says that such critics claim that Celies victimhood is contrived and too extreme; therefore, it is difficult to believe in her fantastical transformation. Furthermore, they do not like that The Color Purple depicts black masculinity in a negative way. Such depiction offends both women and men very much because people are not the same. Literary critics attack the book and say that the authors biography greatly influenced it. They accuse Walker of hating black men since she was a bisexual and her personal life had a tremendous impact on the way she portrayed men. The whole book shows Celies abuse by black men. As a result, American racism, which makes the main character experience many difficulties, is overshadowed by the focus on black male abuse. Critics prove this statement using Sofias example. Walker pays little attention to the fact that the white mayor does physical harm to this woman while his wife emotionally abuses her. Before the physical attack, Sofia has been very bright and strong personality. However, this action changes the situation. The physical and emotional abuse affects not only the woman but also her children who discover their low places in American society. Alice Walker ignores crimes committed by whites against black women and emphasizes negative qualities of black men. At the beginning, LaGrone does not support critics point of view and states that he thinks that the story is just a fiction and does not reveal Walkers perspective on reality. However, LaGrone discusses with his friend the accusations that Walker depicts black men in a negative way and discovers that the novel reflects black men that his friend has grown up with. Moreover, his friend likes the book for its truth. Nevertheless, many black men feel offended after reading The Color Purple. In his book, LaGrone provides an interview with David Bradley who met Alice Walker and spent some time talking with her. Bradley says that the author feels animosity towards black men. Later, Walker confessed that her father and brother had not given her men models she could admire and respect.

LaGrone also gives examples of some critics who accuse the author of promoting lesbian love and believe that such kind of love is a panacea for unhappiness caused by heterosexual relationship. However, LaGrone claims that these critics demonstrate their ignorance of homosexuality and understand the role of homosexuality in the novel in the wrong way. LaGrone explains that Celie is sexually aroused when she meets Shug for the first time. Consequently, the main character does not have the sexual interest in her husband because, repressed or not, she wants to have sex with a woman. LaGrone says that lesbian sexual feelings may not be just a reaction to men. Therefore, Walker does not promote lesbian love as a remedy for a failed heterosexual relationship.

My Personal Opinion of the Book

After reading The Color Purple , I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, the novel is great as it depicts the hard life of the main characters and their struggle for freedom and happiness. Whom I like most is Celie who learns to be strong and bears immense hardship. It is impossible to imagine how much pain the main character suffers. Since adolescence, she faces cruelty and sexual abuse. Although Celie does not do anything to change the situation and obeys her stepfather, I cannot call her weak. In her place, the majority of women would commit a suicide to stop the tortures. However, the main character lives on because she never abandons hope and believes that the situation will improve. Moreover, I like the choice of the narration style in the book. The Color Purple comprises the letters written mainly by Celia that force intimate identification with her. The readers do not feel the presence of the author in the book; therefore, this makes the story true and believable.

On the other hand, I support critics who say that the novel offends many black men. After reading the book, it seems to me that the author hates men because she portrays them in a negative way and blames for all hardships Celie experiences. The novel is full of feminist issues and ideas. The message of the book is that women should unite to fight for justice and equality. However, I believe that not men are so cruel and atrocious as Walker depicts them. After reading The Color Purple ,many women may leave their husbands or spoil the relationship with them due to such negative portrayal of men in the book.

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There are different opinions about the novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Some critics believe that everyone should read the book as it teaches people to be strong and not to despair. Moreover, it gives an opportunity to discover the real life of black women and immense hardship they endured. However, there are some people who criticize the novel for its negative depiction of black men and promotion of feminist ideas. Nevertheless, I like this book because it shows a strong-willed personality who does not abandon hope despite many difficulties.

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The Color Purple Movie Review

This essay will provide a review of “The Color Purple” movie. It will evaluate the film’s adaptation of the novel, its portrayal of characters, and its impact on audiences and society. Moreover, at PapersOwl, there are additional free essay samples connected to Film Review.

How it works

Many people used to say how could The Color Purple, a film by Steven Spielberg, be your favorite movie, if you were only five years old when the movie first premiered in 1985? I remember where and how old I was when I first laid eyes on this iconic film, I was ten years old, flicking through the channels on my tv, and there it was, The Color Purple, just starting to play. This is one of the best Steven Spielberg movies I have ever seen.

I love how this movie shows the adversity and struggles that women endured, and how they were strong enough to overcome them. Spielberg also did a great job broadcasting the symbolization of the color purple.

This movie took place between 1909 and 1946 in Georgia, The Color Purple, is the story of Celie, a young black woman forced into marriage, in a world that surrounds her with cruelty. When the movie begins, she is a child, running through fields of purple flowers with her sister, Nettie. But then the camera shifts into full screen and we learn that her father made her pregnant. She then says that her father will sell her daughter, just as he had her previous son, to a local reverend. Her father told her “she better not tell nobody but God, it’ll kill your mama”, hence why throughout the movie she starts all her stories off with letters to God, starting with “Dear God”. The letters are her way of maintaining sanity in a world where few ever cared to listen to her.

Celie dealt with much adversity, sorrow, and pain in this movie. She was forced to marry a cruel, unfaithful widower, whom she called “Mister”. To accelerate the merry-go-round misery that is her life, Celie is separated from her sister Nettie, the only person in the world who loved her, by her cruel husband.

The turning point in the movie, comes after Mister brings home the woman, he has been crazy about for years, an alcoholic juke joint singer named Shug Avery, who has been damaged by life, but still has an indescribable beauty. Shugs first words to Celie are: “You sho is ugly.” But as Shug moves into the house Celie obediently caters to her husbands mistress, and Shug begins to see the beauty in Celie, and there is a scene where they kiss, and Shug told her she had a pretty smile, and Celie for the first time realizes that she can love herself and be confident regardless of what others may think. This is the central moment in the movie.

We meet many women of the rural black community that surrounds Celie. Another important character is Sofia, an invincible force of nature who is determined to marry Harpo, Misters son. Sofia herself has had to fight tribulations in her life, with rape and incest with male figures in her family. She has a strong personality and can “handle” the men and has her own opinion and doesn’t let anyone control her. Sofia and Harpo marry, but Sofia’s personality is too strong for Harpo, so he gets advice from Celie to start beating his wife. Some would say why would she give that advice, giving that she goes through the same beatings daily, but you can only give the advice that you are used to enduring. Sofia couldn’t take the beatings, so she left the marriage, but not before telling Celie, “All my life, I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my uncles. I had to fight my brothers. A girl child ain’t safe in a family of men, but I ain’t never thought I’d have to fight in my own house! I love Harpo, God knows I do. But I’ll kill him dead, before I let him beat me.”

Celie writes to God for much of the movie, but she writes out of despair, but starts to find hope, thanks to Shug Avery. Shug is a very influential person in Celie’s life, a weary woman, who sings kind of like Gladys Knight, who has long since lost all her illusions about men and everything else. She opened Celies eyes about the color purple when she said, “It pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don’t notice.” Her contact with Celie redeems her, by giving her someone to be nice to, it allows her to get in touch with what is still nice inside herself.

The symbolization of the color purple to me as a viewer, represents all the good things in the world and stands for independence and liberation. It was always viewed as a color of royalty. The film also uses imagery to symbolize the color purple. The scene where the fallen purple flower petals are shown when Celie and Nettie are separated. The other is when Celie and Nettie run around in the purple flowers and play hand games in the beginning and end of film.

Mister, whose real name is Albert, is an evil man, who married Celie without her consent. He is mean to Celie, but some of that in the movie doesn’t seem purposely, but learned from other men in his life, so it’s safe to say that he continued the cycle for men in his life. He used to beat her, but the physical blows are not what hurt her, it was him refusing to let her see the letters she hopes are coming from her long-lost sister.

The film depicts how women were oppressed and shows the struggles they endured from their own men. Spielberg did a brilliant job depicting the symbolization of liberation of women with the color purple in this film. The Color Purple is not the story of Celies suffering, but of her victory. It’s a great, warm, triumphant movie, and there isn’t a scene that doesn’t shine.

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A Soldier’s Final Journey Home

Sgt. Kennedy Sanders was killed in a drone attack on a U.S. outpost in Jordan. A collection of photos offers a glimpse into her life.

Photographs and Text by Kenny Holston

Kenny Holston, a Times photojournalist and former Air Force photographer, reported from Waycross, Ga., Dover Air Force Base and Washington.

“This is what they sent us,” Oneida Sanders said, kneeling beside a heavy wooden chest in her living room. “These are Kennedy’s things.”

Sgt. Kennedy Sanders’s belongings were shipped home to her parents after she was killed: Dog tags, identification cards, Polaroids of her family. Gold jewelry and a quarter that appeared to be stained with blood.

The items offered a glimpse into the person, soldier and daughter that Kennedy was and who she had hoped to become.

Kennedy was serving on a U.S. military outpost in Jordan in January when an Iran-backed militia launched a drone attack on the base. Less than 24 hours later, two uniformed service members showed up on the doorstep of Oneida and Shawn Sanders in the small town of Waycross, Ga.

Ms. Sanders wasn’t home that morning, but her husband, Shawn, was. He told her to return home right away and then began calling family members and friends, asking them to come to the house.

When Ms. Sanders arrived, one of the soldiers read a statement informing them that their 24-year-old daughter had been killed in action.

“As soon as I got into the house and saw the two officers standing in the living room, I collapsed,” Ms. Sanders said.

The last time Ms. Sanders heard her daughter’s voice was the day before she was killed. They had talked about the type of Girl Scout cookies Kennedy wanted her mother to send and her decision to re-enlist in the Army.

Kennedy’s unit, a team of engineering specialists trained to deploy on short notice and build infrastructure like roads and airstrips, had arrived in Jordan shortly after the war between Israel and Hamas began in October. The soldiers were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, a mission to combat the Islamic State, which has claimed the lives of 113 U.S. service members since it began in August 2014, according to the latest Defense Department casualty report .

Sgt. William Jerome Rivers and Sgt. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett were also killed in the drone strike in Jordan.

Kennedy’s parents have grappled with the pain of outliving their child ever since. “It’s heavy," Ms. Sanders said, pausing briefly, her voice notably changed when she spoke again. “It’s heavy.”

Family had always been important to Kennedy. Even as an adult she preferred being home. From a young age, she looked after her twin brother, Kendall. She was protective of her younger brother, Christian.

She was known in Waycross for her athletic ability, leadership, work ethic and style. She was polite but didn’t have time for small talk. But when people got to know her they usually found she was an extrovert, the life of the party, Ms. Sanders said.

During a dignified transfer in February at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Kennedy’s flag-draped transfer case was the last of the three carried off a military cargo plane. President Biden stood, hand over heart, on the cold, wet tarmac to pay his respects as the commander in chief.

Mr. and Ms. Sanders said that Mr. Biden met with them privately at Dover and expressed a genuine understanding of their tremendous pain as he, too, had lost a child.

Mr. Biden posthumously promoted Kennedy from specialist to sergeant and awarded her a purple heart, one of the military’s most distinguished decorations.

After the dignified transfer at Dover, Kennedy’s remains were returned to Waycross.

Kennedy’s parents did not see their daughter’s body until just before the public viewing on Feb. 16. The family still has not received the official autopsy report from the Defense Department, leaving them to speculate about the precise cause of her death.

“You know, if you think about an explosion victim, your mind goes all types of directions,” Ms. Sanders said. “I didn’t know what was coming back to us in that box.” Seeing her daughter’s body in one piece “was a relief for me,” she said.

People from Waycross and the surrounding area filed into the viewing for Kennedy. For hours, friends and neighbors approached Ms. Sanders in tears to hug her, pray with her and offer their condolences.

“I don’t feel strong,” she said, referring to the day of the viewing. “I feel like, at any moment, I can have a breakdown, at any second, but it is a very deliberate and conscious effort just to get up every day and shower, brush my teeth, do basic things.”

The next day hundreds of people attended Kennedy’s funeral service at the local middle school. Ms. Sanders was overwhelmed with emotion as she and her family slowly made their way down the aisle to see Kennedy one final time.

As the service ended, pallbearers placed Kennedy’s flag-draped casket in the back of a horse-drawn carriage to be taken to Oakland Cemetery.

At graveside, service members folded the flag, and an officer knelt to hand it to Mr. Sanders, himself a former Marine.

Kennedy and her family — her father, cousins and uncles — dedicated their lives to the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force.

The family has found that it is not alone, as the city of Waycross has come together to preserve Kennedy’s memory.

The street she grew up on is now named after her, a sprawling mural has been painted on the side of a business downtown, and scholarships in Kennedy’s name have been created. Her name was recently engraved on the Waycross Veterans Memorial.

Months after her death, a task as simple as opening the mail can bring the harsh reality of Kennedy’s absence rushing back, as it did in April when Ms. Sanders received a letter from the county election office informing her that her daughter would be removed from the list of registered voters.

“Whenever you deal with this, you are in disbelief and shock for a long time,” said Ms. Sanders. “But every now and then, you know, something happens that makes you realize that it’s really real, and she is really gone.”

Kenny Holston is a Times photographer based in Washington, primarily covering Congress, the military and the White House. More about Kenny Holston