The Color Purple Theme Analysis

Improved Essays
Imagine if nothing in life had meaning. Nothing would have importance. Stories are the same way, without themes or values, there wouldn't be anything. Unbreakable friendship, constant hope, and strong love are motifs that build a good story line. The Color Purple shows all three of these themes. Without morals, stories wouldn't have a purpose.
Lack of friendship is a disappointing and lonely. “Then I see myself sitting there quilting tween Shug Avery and Mr.... for the first time in my life, I feel just right,” (Walker Unknown). The main character, Celie, has a friend for the first time. Shug is kind to Celie and treats her as an equal. Shug also stops Mr., Celie's husband from beating her. Celie's confidence is increased by Shug's caring nature. Shug also helps Celie find the letters from her sister Nettie. Only a
…show more content…
The motifs in The Color Purple help build up the main idea or theme because they are happy and positive. Being sad, angry, or negative, hasn't gotten anybody anywhere, so it wouldn't build a story. Friendship is included because people can't do everything by themselves. Sometimes people just need someone they trust to help them, friends are needed by everyone, even if they don't realize it. Next, nothing could be accomplished without hope. Whether someone hopes for something to be good or bad, their belief is what they feel is right. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and standing up for it makes people do incredible things. In the end, the most important thing on the planet is for people to love themselves, others, and the world. Even though hatred exists, it will never be embraced like love. Alice Walker uses these three themes, because this is what the world really needs. She includes them in her story by describing what Celie needs in her life, and how happy she becomes when each of the motifs come true. The traits in The Color Purple should be made

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The first theme is standing up for what matters to you. The author, Ria Voros, communicates her theme effectively by showing this in the main character as she stands up for what matters to her. An example in the text is when she stood up for james by making posters. It mentioned in the story what poster she was making “I speak to no one, hunch over my computer, type, cut/paste, download and with all the artistic talent I possess, create” (pg.182). This shows that she is standing up for her friend by using her artistic talent to show everyone that James was something to her.…

    • 1448 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The first example of this theme would be the relationship between Sonny and his Mother. I think Elsie Hickam had one of the greatest impacts on his life. She was always there to support him and encourage him to try harder and do the best he could. In chapter three she wanted him to try to build his rocket again because that was his dream, and it did not really work out the first time. A lot of people in Coalwood talked about what happened when the first rocket failed and his father was embarrassed for himself but his mother was not embarrassed.…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In ‘The Color Purple’ the narrative is told in the first person by a series of letters. The first half of the book shows Celie’s thoughts while she talks to god in a diary, letting him know the events that have taken place in her life and in the lives of those around her. We as the reader feel as if we have full access to Celie’s thoughts and are able to read them with no details hidden. The Second part of the book is portrayed in letters between Celie and her sister Nettie. I thought Celie’s use of narrative was the most affective.…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Another common theme is that the main character in these stories don't really have parents. There might be a parent in the story but that parent isn't raising their kids. One major theme from this book was that the main character had a tough life and had a rough background. Despite this, he ended up being alright. The book appealed to me more in an emotional way than a logical way.…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    J.D Salinger uses color within the book Catcher in the Rye to help him establish and bring out themes appropriately. Color is a good symbolic element in books because characters often go through many physical and emotional changes that color helps represent. In the entirety of the book, Holden is symbolized by many different colors because of his actions and emotions. J.D Salinger used the colors red, green, blue and yellow throughout the book to symbolize different events that took place. For example, Holden’s red hunting hat, shortly after getting out of the subway early in chapter 2, Holden sees a very strange looking hat in a sports store window.…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the story “White Angel,” by Michael Cunningham, love and death is widespread, and it follows the story of two brothers - a nine-year old narrator, Bobby Morrow and his sixteen year old brother, Carlton. Both brothers are outgoing, and they have a strong relationship together. Cunningham uses both point of views and symbols to promote the theme. The Morrow’s house, which borders the cemetery becomes the symbol of both love and death. Bobby and Carlton often visits the cemetery to smoke marijuana and drink whiskey.…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey, there are many themes and symbols throughout. One of the most prominent themes, however, is over sexuality and how it affects a person when it is taken away, and when they are given complete freedom. In this novel, the constant clash between masculinity and emasculation alludes to the theme that too little or too much sexual freedom can be harmful to anyone. At the start, Nurse Ratched, the head nurse of the mental institution, destroys the patients’ masculinity and their sexual freedom with her action and her strong use of words.…

    • 981 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Pink And Say Summary

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Full of excitement and sadness Patricia Polacco, writes a story about a powerful theme of persevering. Pink and Say was written by Patricia Polacco about a true story of her great great grandfather and a boy who saved his life, the story takes you through their adventure in the civil war, until the end. One of the themes Pink and Say demonstrated is Perseverance. An example is when, Pinkus was about ready to give up since his mom died he could have stopped right then and not moved on but instead he kept going because he knew it’s what his mom would have wanted him to do.…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (1959) is set in Chicago’s Southside and many social issues of the 1950’s are the themes of this play. This essay is about one of the major themes in the play, racism, and how the Younger family, a poor black family, experienced and resisted the racism in their society. The members of the Younger family had to deal with discrimination in the housing industry, their home and their jobs. In, A Raisin in the Sun, the Younger family bought a house in a neighbourhood which largely houses white people.…

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Colors, like features, follow the changes of emotions” (Pablo Picasso). Almost all writers use colors to form real images of their characters, the characters’ emotions, the scenes, and the events in the novel. Colors play a very important role when writers mention them in their novels. Readers can read a novel and see how colors can describe the characters and their emotions. A certain book, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a very good example of a book that has color symbolism.…

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Many historical themes can be seen in the book, holding relevance to the time period. The Color Purple exposes just how life really was back then, especially as a black female in the South (Walker). The text tells and shows the themes from the time period, such as racial tensions and segregation, male-female and husband-wife relationships, and lastly the remnants of slavery. During the course of the…

    • 1512 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Color frequently appears throughout Toni Morrison’s novel, Beloved, giving the characters comfort, joy, and satisfaction. Scenes filled with hope, despair, love, and other powerful emotions are associated with the color red. Yet, the color red represents something more significant and painful than other colors. As the characters of Beloved continually illustrate their painful memories and face the present, red represents their emotions, hopes, and loves.…

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Blues is shown to have a true purpose in the story. By looking at Jazz music during this period, as well as the mentioned artists Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker. The reader can gain a better understanding of the characters along with the hardships that were faced during this time period. It also makes the story much more engaging as this is a story that could have been based on real life…

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The world is made up of two classes- the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are the hunters” (Connell 62). In “The Most Dangerous Game”, this quote gives the theme meaning. During this part of the story, General Zaroff gets cocky about the fact that he is strong and the weak are for him to kill. This eventually drove him to his death.…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Color Symbolism Essay

    • 7986 Words
    • 32 Pages

    INTRODUCTION Why is the red color in the stop sign and why does green mean "go"? Why does the bride wear white, and black is the color of mourning and sadness? Why does an optimist see the world in bright colors and a romantic person pursues the "blue dream"? This work discusses color and its place in culture.…

    • 7986 Words
    • 32 Pages
    Great Essays