The document analyzes feminist characters in Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple. It summarizes the plot, which follows Celie, a poor black girl in rural Georgia who is abused by her father and husband. Celie starts writing letters to God to escape her reality. The analysis explores how Celie initially conforms to stereotypical gender roles but is empowered by strong female characters like Shug and Sofia who challenge the patriarchal system. The Color Purple depicts Celie's journey from submission to finding her own identity and independence.

2. In this presentation, the writer tries to analyze
Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. The purpose of
this writing is to analyze feminist characters in
this play, theories that are used are textual,
contextual, and hypertextual by close reading
method.

3. The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a 1982
epistolary novel. The Color Purple tells about
the little girl who named Celie, she was fourteen
years old, she wrote letters to God, she had a step
father who named Alphonso, she told when her
father beat and raped her until she pregnant
twice.

4. 2.1 Theory
 “Character is the particular combination of qualities in a person or place that makes them different from
others”. (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/character
 “Characterization in literature refers the step by step process wherein an author introduces and then
describes a character. The character can be described directly by the author or indirectly through the
actions, thoughts, and speech of the character.”
(http://literary-devices.com/content/characterization)
 “Feminism is the belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power and opportunities as men
and be treated in the same way, or the set of activities intended to achieve this state She had a lifelong
commitment to feminism”.
(Cambridge dictionary)
2.2 Methods
 To appreciate the novel of Alice Walker, The Color Purple
 To analyze the character in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple
 To analyze the psychology Alice Walker’s The Color Purple

5. The objects of research are sorted into a material
and formal object. Material object in this study
is The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Formal
object of this research to analyze the character
and characterization and the feminism of The
Color Purple.

6. › Biography of Alice Walker
Walker was born in Eatonton, Georgia, the youngest of eight children, to Willie Lee
Walker and Minnie Lou Tallulah Grant. Her father, who was, in her words, "wonderful at
math but a terrible farmer," earned only $300 a year from sharecropping and dairy farming.
Her mother supplemented the family income by working as a maid.She worked 11 hours a
day for USD $17 per week to help pay for Alice to attend college. Living under Jim Crow
Laws, Walker's parents resisted landlords who expected the children of black sharecroppers
to work the fields at a young age.
After high school, Walker went to Spelman College in Atlanta on a full scholarship in
1961 and later transferred to Sarah Lawrence College near New York City, graduating in
1965. Walker became interested in the U.S. civil rights movement in part due to the
influence of activist Howard Zinn, who was one of her professors at Spelman College.
Continuing the activism that she participated in during her college years, Walker returned to
the South where she became involved with voter registration drives, campaigns for welfare
rights, and children's programs in Mississippi.

7.  Summary of The Color Purple
Celie, the protagonist and narrator of The Color
Purple, is a poor, uneducated, fourteen-year-old
black girl living in rural Georgia. Celie starts
writing letters to God because her father,
Alphonso, beats and rapes her. Alphonso has
already impregnated Celie once. Celie gave birth
to a girl, whom her father stole and presumably
killed in the woods. Celie has a second child, a
boy, whom her father also steals. Celie’s mother
becomes seriously ill and dies. Alphonso brings
home a new wife but continues to abuse Celie.

8. 5.1 Textual Discussion
Character and Characterization of The Color Purple
 Celie : She is a young black Georgia girl who faces adulthood believing that she has been raped by
her father and that he killed both of their babies. The novel examines her struggle to find love, self-
esteem, and continuing courage despite harsh setbacks.
 Nettie : She is Celie's sister. Celie loves Nettie more than anyone else in the world.
 Celie's Mother : She loses her mind after her husband is lynched, mutilated, and burned. After she
marries Fonso, she is constantly pregnant and ill.
 Annie Julia : Albert's wife who is killed by her boyfriend while coming home from church.
 Shug (Lilly) Avery : A blues singing, no-nonsense woman who teaches Celie about love and self-
esteem.
 Kate and Carrie : Albert's sisters who come to "inspect" Celie and her housekeeping.
.

9.  Miss Millie : The mayor's wife; a dithery white woman who fancies herself a champion of black people.
 Miss Beasley : Nettie and Celie's teacher.
 Corrine : Reverend Samuel's wife. She and her husband buy Celie's babies from Fonso.
 Olivia : Celie's daughter; she is reared in Africa by Samuel and Corrine.
 Eleanor Jane : Miss Millie's daughter; after she is grown, she does baking and odd jobs for Sofia.
 May Ellen : The woman Fonso marries after Celie's mother dies.
 Daisy : The woman Fonso marries after May Ellen leaves him.
 Tashi : An Olinka woman whom Adam falls in love with.
 Suzie Q (Jolentha): Squeak and Harpo's little girl.
 Henrietta : Sofia's youngest child, probably fathered by Henry Broadnax; ironically, Harpo's favorite.
 Jerene and Darlene : Two women who sew for Celie's Folkspants, Unlimited.
 Germaine : Shug's nineteen-year-old, blues flute playing, last-fling lover

10. 5.2 Contextual Discussion
Feminism
In The Color Purple, Celie follows the role of a typical feminine stereotype
throughout the majority of the novel. Celie is very male dominated by doing
everything males tell her to do, passive, and taken advantage of multiple times. In the
beginning of the novel, Celie had to deal with the male bullying and domination right in
her family. Her Pa rapes her at least twice when she is only fourteen years old. Along
with rape that she receives from both her father and her husband, she is
abused. Domestic violence is so ingrained in this culture as a norm that it takes a while
for anyone to take a stand. Celie doesn't fight back because she thinks this will keep her
alive.
Throughout the novel, the readers are able to see strong, independent woman like
Sofia and Shug that challenge this patriarchy. People in class Tweeted and wrote their
blogs about how they challenged these gender roles and didn't let men make decisions
for them. Sofia did not let her husband, Harpo, beat her. She fought and hit him
back. She even stood up to the mayor and his wife even though she knew the
consequences. Shug was able to come and go as she pleased. Mr.____ did not control
her or anything she did. She owned her sexuality and was very free minded. Shug is a
very respected character even though she does not follow the patriarchy norm.

11. Celie, the protagonist and narrator of The Color Purple, is a
poor, uneducated, fourteen-year-old black girl living in rural
Georgia. Celie starts writing letters to God because her father,
Alphonso, beats and rapes her. Alphonso has already
impregnated Celie once. Celie gave birth to a girl, whom her
father stole and presumably killed in the woods. Celie has a
second child, a boy, whom her father also steals. Celie’s mother
becomes seriously ill and dies. Alphonso brings home a new
wife but continues to abuse Celie.
In The Color Purple, Celie follows the role of a typical
feminine stereotype throughout the majority of the novel. Celie
is very male dominated by doing everything males tell her to do,
passive, and taken advantage of multiple times. In the beginning
of the novel, Celie had to deal with the male bullying and
domination right in her family. Her Pa rapes her at least twice
when she is only fourteen years old.

12. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Color_Purple
http://m.sparknotes.com/lit/purple/section6.rhtml
http://www.shmoop.com/color-purple/
http://www.gradesaver.com/the-color-purple/study-
guide/summary
http://www.biography.com/people/alice-walker-9521939