Writing To God In Alice Walker's The Color Purple

Writing to God as if he were her therapist, Celie guides readers through a journey filled with pain, love, and an unbreakable bond with her sister Nettie. Alice Walker incorporates all three key components of a great writer in a beautifully written novel, The Color Purple. All of the three components stem from Vladimir Nabokov: storyteller, teacher and enchanter. Nabokov would greatly appreciate reading this novel because it includes all of the ideas necessary to be a great writer while keeping true to the story. Celie shows the difficulties she is faced throughout her life as she writes letters to God. Alice Walker slowly begins to develop a more complex personality for Celie while making readers relate to the main character. While learning about the hardships Celie was faced with, readers begin to connect and grow an emotional bond with her. This leads to the disapproval of Nabokov, in which he states that “the worst thing a reader can do, he identifies himself with a character in the book” (Nabokov 1006). In Nabokov's perspective, he would be unhappy with the portrayal of certain …show more content…
This spell she puts her readers makes her “a great writer” which also mean that she is a“ great enchanter...” (Nabokov 1008). The Color Purple highlights details that help the reader form an image, which is admired by Nabokov. Walker captures the soul and perspective of every character that is introduced, including the style of language that reflects Celie's knowledge. As Celie writes her letters she uses words like cept and git indicating that she might not have the extensive knowledge like her sister Nettie. This refreshes readers from pieces of writing that is complex and often hard to read with a common style that is easier to understand. While still keeping true to the perspective of her characters Walker doesn't fail to mention the