"The Color Purple" by Alice Walker.

Essay by qtmimi19University, Bachelor'sA-, April 2003

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The Color Purple by Alice Walker is the story of a young girl, which name is Celie trying to find happiness. The book begins with the words "Dear God". She writes very private letters to God. These letters are like a journal that she keeps writing down her deepest and darkest secrets and feelings. This novel relates to religion obviously because Celie, the protagonist, writes these letters to God. By Celie writing these letters to God we can see that her faith is strong. Even though she got beaten and raped by her own father she never lost that faith in God. Many people nowadays say that they are Catholic or any other religion but don't really follow it. Celie has hope for the future. Although she married Mr. ________, which beat her and abused her she had hope. We see her feelings as she expresses them in her letter, to God and to Nettie, her sister.

Her mother died when she was fourteen. This is when her father started to rape her and beat her. The title of the book "The Color Purple" signifies the presence of God. The actual color purple symbolizes royalty, therefore it is used when speaking or meaning God and/or Jesus Christ. In the Catholic Church we see in Advent the candles are purple and in Easter we see purple also which signifies that Jesus Christ is present. The color purple is also seen representing Royal Families.

When Celie befriends Shug Avery, Mr. _______'s mistress, she begins to feel attraction towards her. As time goes by Shug and Celie grow closer and closer. The relationship with Shug is what changes Celie, Shug boosts her self-esteem. Celie's relationship with God starts to diminish when she finds out that Mr. _______ had...