The color purple (novel)
The color purple (original title: The Color Purple ) is a letter novel by the American writer Alice Walker from 1982 .
The lifelong melodrama is set in rural Georgia in the first half of the 20th century and addresses the social position and living conditions of Afro-American women in the southern United States. The novel deals in particular with the topics of incest , patriarchal violence and lesbian love.
The work won the American Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 and was filmed in 1985 by director Steven Spielberg with Whoopi Goldberg in the lead role ( The Color Purple).
action
At the beginning of the 20th century, fourteen-year-old Celie, the protagonist and first-person narrator of the story, begins to write letters to God, because she has no one else to whom she can confide her suffering: because her terminally ill mother is the man Celie believes if he is her father, the latter forces the girl into the role of wife and abuses her regularly. In order to protect her younger sister Nettie from similar attacks, she does not fight back against the rapes and becomes twice pregnant. Both times, her father gives the children away after the birth and leaves Celie in the dark about their fate.
After the mother's death, the father remarries and forces Celie into marriage with a complete stranger, widowed man whom she only calls "Mr." and for whom she has to run the household, raise his children and do the field work. Her husband also beats and abuses her, but Celie lacks the strength and courage to rebel against the renewed oppression. For a short time, Celie's life changes for the better when her sister Nettie seeks refuge from her father's assaults with her. But it doesn't take long and "Mr." also approaches Nettie. For her own protection, Nettie has to flee, but she promises Celie to write regularly. Since Celie doesn't hear from her sister anymore, she believes Nettie is dead.
One day "Mr." brings his lover Shug Avery into the house. Celie is immediately fascinated by the beautiful and self-confident singer. When Shug falls ill, Celie takes care of her and the two dissimilar women become friends. Through Shug, Celie learns that physical love has nothing to do with violence, and she gains self-respect. On her way to emancipation, Celie begins to sew trousers for herself and Shug, through the sale of which she eventually gains financial independence from "Mr."
Later, Celie discovers innumerable letters from Nettie, which "Mr." had hidden from her, and learns from them that Nettie is now living with Celie's children with missionaries in Africa. Thanks to her increasing self-esteem and Shug's affection, Celie finally finds the courage to leave her husband. After the death of their father, Celie and her sister inherit the family home and Nettie returns from Africa with the children. The happy part of her life now begins for Celie.
reception
After receiving the Pulitzer Prize, The Color Purple became a bestseller and with the release of Steven Spielberg 's film of the same name , the novel even rose to number 1 on the sales lists . From January to April 1986 alone, the work sold four million times.
The film The Color Purple was released in 1985 and received eleven Oscar nominations , but received nothing at the award ceremony. In 2005 the musical adaptation of the same name premiered on Broadway .
Individual reviews
“ The color purple flows into a kind of gentle feminist utopia: Celie, the eternally trodden, is strengthened by the affection of women and able to break free from her domestic prison. Her great role model, the singer Shug Avery, combines features of modern, determined emancipation with the traditional independence of black blues interpreters. "
"By choosing the narrative style, Walker succeeds in getting the reader to identify with the heroine of the novel without imposing her on him."
literature
- Alice Walker: The color purple. 5th edition. Bastei Lübbe Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach 2011, ISBN 978-3-404-92133-1 .
- Alice Walker: The Color Purple. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York et al. a. 1982, ISBN 0-15-119153-0 . (English edition)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Gentle utopia. In: Der Spiegel. 34/1986, accessed August 4, 2011
- ↑ Some Letters Went to God. In: The New York Times. July 1982, accessed August 4, 2011