The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Belovedby Toni Morrison

Presentation by Katie Zobel

BELOVEDCultural background, story plot

BELOVEDcultural background

Toni Morrison grew up in the 1940’s and 50’s

Specialized in Black Fiction in the late 1900’s

Wanted to “ recuperate a history that had been lost to the ravages of forced silences and willed forgetfulness “.

Felt that black writers during her time too often tried to conform to what white readers wanted to hear.

Beloved is set in 1837

BELOVED story plot

Sethe our black protagonist takes center stage in the novel. The book consists of Sethe’s present as well as her flashbacks to her time as a former slave.

The story centers around the hardships and painful memories that Sethe has to overcome and it plays up how devastating the past can be and how it can even be haunting.

Sethe tries desperately to forget the past and move on, but it haunts her every waking moment and literally becomes a reincarnated memory in the form of her deceased daughter.

THE COLOR PURPLE

Cultural background, story plot

THE COLOR PURPLEcultural background

The oppression and racism that Walker’s parents faced in the South was a huge influence on her literary work

She was an active member of the African American Civil Rights Movement

In 1982 The Color Purple was published, “which chronicles the struggle of several black women in rural Georgia in the first half of the twentieth century”

Her novel raised a lot of controversy due to the way in which she portrayed sexism as well as the abusive nature of African American men during that time period

THE COLOR PURPLEstory plot

Walker’s novel follows Celie, an uneducated teenage African American, who faces physical and emotional abuse from her father.

Focuses on the journey she faces with multiple men after being married off as well as the sexual attraction she feels towards another woman

There is strong exampled of racism, sexism, abuse, and the pain of Celie’s life during this time

THEMES

BELOVED THE COLOR PURPLE

Slavery Sexism

Haunting of memories Colors

Religion Religion

Mother/child relationships Mother/child relationships

There is a considerable difference in the most prominent themes of each novel, but in the grand scheme of things I think that these novels reflect each other well for the following reasons…

NOVEL COMPARISON

Both have strong, black, female protagonists that have gone through some sort of traumatic ordeal

The history of their lives has been traumatic and painful

There is an underlying theme of religion and the struggle that they face with in their relationships with God

A key theme to notice is the relationships that these women have with the other characters of the novels and especially the children that come from their wombs. Also important, are the circumstances from which these children are conceived.

THE MOTHER/CHILD RELATIONSHIP

Sethe from Beloved, as a former slave faces the pains of her past as a slave and the trauma that she feels from having to kill her own children in a heroic act to save them from the fate that she suffered

Celie, was impregnated by her own father several times and had her children taken from her

The children from both novels show up again in one way or anther Celie’s are thought to have been dead but later make an appearance alive and

adopted

Sethe’s child is portrayed as a spirit that then embodies a human and acts through that woman to manipulate Sethe and remind her of her past

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS PAPER

In my paper I have chosen to focus on the relationships that these women have with their children along with the support of the relationships that are formed with other characters in the novels. These relationships can be explained and support with my appliance of the time periods that these novels come from as well as further examination of the treatment of African Americans during these times. The culture and history of their struggle will be key in accurately understanding the lives of these characters

WORKS CITED

"Book: The Color Purple | Alice Walker | The Official Website for the American Novelist & Poet."Alicewalkersgarden.com, 2013. Web. 9 Dec 2013. <http://alicewalkersgarden.com/books/book-the-color-purple/>.

"Alice Walker (b. 1944)." New Georgia Encyclopedia, 2013. Web. 9 Dec 2013. <http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/alice-walker-b-1944>.

Society, The. "The Official Website of The Toni Morrison Society." Tonimorrisonsociety.org, 2013. Web. 8 Dec 2013. <http://www.tonimorrisonsociety.org/>.