Why Is The Color Purple Banned

Improved Essays
The Color Purple by Alice Walker, written in 1982, is a great work of literature for many reasons. Although it has been banned from schools there are multiple writings that have been published to establish this work’s literary merit. This book has had great historical and social impacts and it contains great rhetorical strength.
Walker’s book has been very impactful in the social and historical realms. The book is very graphic and it brings up gender and racism issues through the plot, including many scenes of violence. This can already be viewed as a book that is not a piece of great literature because it has been banned from many schools. It’s a favorite to have censored because of the racism, inappropriate language, violence, and physical abuse that it contains. But without all of this the reader would not get a clear look into what being a Black woman consists of. It represents gender inequality and
…show more content…
She doesn’t accept the norms of being a black wife or black maid. This helps the book show black women that they don’t have to conform. This can be seen as a reason to not like the book because rebellion is not something that people want portrayed everywhere. The historical and social impact that are found within the book deem The Color Purple as a great work of literature.
Walker’s brilliant novel contains great rhetorical strength. This includes a certain grace of style and large amounts of original expression. Right
…show more content…
What is deemed great today may not be deemed great tomorrow because the definition can shift. Even with all of these changes, The Color Purple by Alice Walker shall always be deemed a great work of literature. It has impacted the world historically and socially, and it contains signs of great rhetorical

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Racial tension in America was at an all-time high in the 1960’s thanks to the Civil rights movement. The rise of many great African American leaders such as Malcom X, Rosa Parks, and Martian Luther King Jr. Being on the forefront of the movement and speaking out on the racial injustice made a lot of Caucasian people feel uncomfortable and was the birth of many stereotypes. The author, Flannery O’Connor, is no stranger to writing about race in those times in her stories from “Judgement Day” and “The Enduring Chill”. In the short story “Revelation” Flannery O’Connor uses Mrs. Turpin and the other unnamed characters to illustrate the common stereotypical and racist attitudes held by white Americans in the 1960’s.…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 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
  • Improved Essays

    Since the beginning of the Civil War and the 1920’s, African American leaders and writers have shown the different perspective of what is to be Black in a society that neglected African-Americans. African-Americans have been in the middle of a battlefield of discrimination, success, and opportunity among whites. Demonstrated in Literature African-Americans have used the idea of blackness and whiteness to show that African American still suffered racial discrimination after the Civil War. Exclusively, in authors who have suffered discrimination skin deep the idea of black over white is remarkable shown. These authors have made a significant impact even among themselves, resulting in big debates toward the definition of Blacks in the United States.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The plight of African Americans has been a very arduous journey. The plight of black women has been an even greater one. A large majority of African American women have faced some form of labeling, racism and backlash. During the antebellum period, you were either a free black, or former slave.…

    • 1030 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Today America misrepresents themselves as a land of freedom and we all live the “American Dream”. In reality we live in a world with racism, hate, and social hierarchy based on the color of your skin. David Walker's appeal during the 1830, gave a rallying point for the rebellion against slavery. It created a path for many African Americans such as Malcolm X and Henry Highland Garnet to speak out as well. Walker's appeal has social relevance in today's society, especially addressing the racial privilege amongst us socially, economically, and mentally.…

    • 1792 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Even white women at that time weren’t treated as equals compared to white males. Anne has to fight twice as hard when it comes to her experiences in the movement, many other black women in the movement can relate to her cause and her fight for civil rights of not only black citizens, but also female black citizens. Anne’s body is sexualized without her permission for the first time when she enters high school, as a result of being a woman. When Anne enters college at Natchez college, she is ogled by the dean and propositioned by fellow students. Black women are historically at the very bottom of the social hierarchy, lower than black men, even.…

    • 1814 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Reading opens doors to many possibilities. It allows the reader to piece together and gain understanding of their reality by applying it to thousands of years of vastly divergent topics. “ Learning to Read and Write,” by Frederick Douglass analyses how literature’s many branches of information are not always beneficial. It is not a surprise that reading provides knowledge, but it can also bring information the reader might find undesirable because it may potentially conflict with the his convictions. As a result , reading causes the reader to feel uncomfortable as he indulges in learning about polemically gruesome topics .…

    • 1349 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    As stated before, the timeframe of the story covers from 1910 to 1940, and is set in Georgia (SparkNotes Editors). The book shows the ongoing segregation just as it was during that times as well as the racial tension between whites and blacks that existed before Civil Rights. It also covers the relationship between a male and a female and how it was around the time before women actually developed rights and were able to be more independent and less like a slave. Lastly it covers international scars of slavery and how it was still present in Africa just as the time period reflected within foreign countries. Overall, the book identifies very strong themes which match exactly to the time period which it covers.…

    • 1512 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Historically, white men have monopolized violence. By this, I mean that the white males have the capacity to commit acts of violence against an oppressed group of individuals. Further, these acts of violence often go unheard, ignored, or protected by the law. Usually, the adjudicators of the law are complicit in white male privilege or are the recipient of this privilege themselves. Yet, when oppressed victims of white male tyranny use violence against their oppressor, these individuals are considered brutes, savages, apes, or incapable of humanity.…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 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

    Melani Castro Frey, Silvia. " Between Slavery and Freedom: Virginia Blacks in the American Revolution." The Journal Of Southern History 49, no. 3 (1983): 375-398. Accessed October 10, 2015. doi:10.2307/2208101.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Imagine the feeling of living in a Jim Crow south after the Civil War. In Richard Wright’s autobiography “Black Boy”, he illustrates his life as he tries to understand the segregated and the white dictated world he lives in. Throughout the story he asks questions to others and himself to attempt at understanding the world. Since the book is an autobiography, it allows the reader to take a front row seat with the story. “Black Boy” is one of the many books that were challenged for a myriad of reasons.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alice Walker’s Meridian is a historical novel covering much of the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-to-late twentieth century, and although much of the novel is focused on societal conditions regarding race relations, Walker also explores sexual relations in place at the time. Sexual politics play a key role in setting the foundation of Walker’s argument, and is staged through her use of characterization, especially with regards to Meridian and Truman. These characterizations also shape an implied argument about gender that women are incompetent and weaker than men (mentally, physically, and emotionally), and should therefore be subordinate to them, as well as implications about racial dynamics during the time period covered in the novel. Meridian, as the protagonist of the novel, is described in the beginning as being…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Alice Walker’s short story, “Everyday Use” presents a pragmatic perspective of heritage and family. Taking place during the civil rights movement, while centering on the experiences of an African American family, the setting has great relevance in constructing underlying themes. This short story composes a theme which examines social structures part in shaping a person’s identity. Moreover, acknowledging family’s role as a social structure, as well as Walker’s background, will contribute to further analyzing this theme.…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Richard Wright’s 12 Million Black Voices is important because while it focuses on Black people, it also gives great insight on the life a Black woman during that time. Wright observes the life of a Black woman compared to a Black man, how the Black woman’s stance in society changed over time, and if you read between the lines – he also tells a story about resilience. In the early stages of slavery, the Black man and Black woman could easily be thought of as one. While on the Middle Passage we received, for all intents and purposes, the same treatment as Black men (Wright 14).…

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays