Author: Alice Walker
Published: 1982
A 1982
epistolary novel that has captured the hearts of many over the years. It has
won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 and the National Book Award. “Dear god” is
definitely the phrase that holds the entire novel together. There is a
brilliant use of language where we see the presence of structural nativism and
dialect at play. One takes time to understand and get into the flow of Walker’s
brilliance and once you do, there is no thought of quitting. And “dear god”,
what else can I say? It is a journal like no other where we get to see the
inside of a true woman and I say ‘true’ because we just don’t see a strong
woman but also the brokenness and hurt within that eats parts of her slowly.
Any woman finds herself in Celie- not perfect, submissive, thoughtful, loving
and most of all human! In a nutshell the novel is about how a ‘woman’ becomes ‘Celie’
and gains back the lost identity. Though this could be read as a feminist
creation the primary notion isn’t so, hence it becomes an amazing read for
every anti-feminist too.
This is a book
that is rich in characters. The narration is in first person which reduces the
distance between the reader and the narrator. The major characters are Celie,
Nettie, Shug Avery and Albert. Their children and their families are also
talked about as it is a close knit society but the reader understands the world
only through Celie’s eyes. Majorly there is a chronological narration of the
incidents but there are enough inflections in the mind of Celie to make the
novel seem like a stream of consciousness one. This causes an automatic
connection of the reader to associate themselves to the functioning of that
society. The title is one of a kind. Though seemingly irrelevant the title
denotes the major advice given by Shug to Celie as to how one should take
notice of God’s creation, a field of purple flowers. The point at which Celie
is able to admire and enjoy nature signifies the ending of the novel.
Written in the
form of a journal, it captures the attention of the reader. My love for this
grew as I found that Celie is every woman and not just a misfit of her society.
This novel unlike any other shows how people break and build one another
irrespective of the fact thatif it’s a man or a woman. The fact that the very
man who shatters a woman’s life can be the very person who, in due time would
be the one who builds her up too is interesting, and all the more so in a world
where we only hear of a ‘strong woman’ who shouldn’t lean on anyone else. Celie
is me and though our lives are different, in the core of our beings we are a
‘Woman’. Walker never hesitates to showcase the realities of her time and hence
we see child abuse, rape, rebellion and anger and lesbianism explained in all
its nudity. I recommend that it should be included as one of the must read classics
in at least all of the universities. I say this not because of its feminine
characteristics but because it contains the role of both a man and a woman in
building each other up to become better human beings. This would definitely
sensitise the men of our societies to the emotional trauma that is caused and
how important they are in the shaping of a woman. I also find it interesting as
to how the author made such a socio-cultural specific novel into one that is
universal in its approach.
One of the
initial troubles of reading this novel is the language. Alice Walker uses the
dialect of the natives and hence it takes a while ‘to git use ta it’. Though
this stops the flow it causes one to melt into the characters and events which,
makes us a part of the novel. The idea of being a foreigner in one’s own
country is explicated through the letters of Nettie. The novel has been made
into a movie too but I think that the novel is visual enough. This happens to
be that one novel in which no part is to be parted with. This isn’t a gender,
sex or culture specific and hence it becomes a novel worthy of position in
everyone’s library. And “dear Nettie” I can say nothing more but thank you!
- Joanna
