Color Purple

While setting is extremely important in most stories, it is essential to Alice Walker's The Color Purple. Celie's life is extremely tragic, but it is important to the outcome of the story for one to view Celie, not as a victim, but as the protagonist, and, eventually, the hero. In order to view Celie in this manner, it has to be clear that she begins the story without any options as to how to escape from her father and later, Mister. In a time and place where child protective services and women's shelters provide options, it is hard to understand Celie's mindset and her life circumstances. Therefore, it is necessary to be transported to the South during the Jim Crow era.

It is only within the context of this setting, where men where prized above women and blacks had few rights, that one can really understand what a...
[ View Full Essay]