The Color Purple (Independent Study Book)

For my independent study research project, I chose to read The Color Purple by Alice Walker. It's an epistolary novel that follows the life of the main character, Celie, an African American woman living in the post-slavery era. The novel is very similar to Beloved because it tackles the social hierarchy under a blatantly racist and sexist society. I really, really enjoyed the novel (like a lot). Walker's writing is very straightforward; brutal details regarding sexual assault and domestic violence are described extremely directly. For this reason, I was uncomfortable reading at first; in fact, the first page told the story of Celie being raped by her father. However, because of this, I couldn't put the book down either.

A lot happens during the timeline of the novel because it follows decades of Celie's life, so it's hard for me to explain what the novel is really like. But, I can say that the book discusses so many important themes such as sexuality, racism, sexism, and gender roles. A few times the writing got so heavy that I was overwhelmed (in a good way) and had to put my book down. More than anything, the book was just downright interesting; I was constantly excited to learn more about Celie and her life. I very seriously would recommend this book to all of you! Reading it was a wonderful experience.

Also, there's a movie directed by Steven Spielberg (same director in Amistad) out based on The Color Purple, which I hope to watch soon. Movie review coming soon!