I have a confession to make about the book The Color Purple by Alice Walker. I cried after only reading the first thirteen pages of the book. The story was so moving that at times I had to set the book down just so I could digest it all. The story follows two sisters down their extremely different paths through life. While the older sister Celie is forced to live a life married to a man chosen by her father and is at times abusive, her sister Nettie spends her life as a missionary to Africa surrounded by the love and care of a Christian couple. The sisters chronologically recount their lives to each other through the form of a letter all with the hope of being reconnected someday.
I was incredibly and profoundly moved by this story for many reasons.One of those reasons is that at its core The Color Purple is a story of the Sisterhood. The fact that I have a little sister of my own strongly influences my love of this book. But honestly, all things considered, the book changed my life. The thing is I love my sister and I won’t trade our weekend movie marathons for anything. In fact, I wanted a little sister so bad that when my parents told my younger brother and I that she was a girl I cried right there in the local Chick-fil-a. I love my sister and that is exactly what The Color Purple is about.
The family is another important aspect of the book. This book is able to beautifully demonstrate the great joy of family and, it is also able to demonstrate the trials and tribulations as well. A family is not limited to blood relations either, the length this book goes to in order to convey this message is amazing. Although Celie ‘s family is a more than a little broken, the journey that each member of the family takes to get to the end of the novel is lovely.
The Color Purple also is an amazing story of finding Christ.In the beginning of the story, Celie writes letters addressed to God because she is unaware of where Nettie is or if she is even alive. The problem is she doesn’t really understand who God is. Celie has had so many horrible events transpire in her life that She is unable to believe that God loves her and has a greater plan for her life. It is only after a rather profound confrontation with her husband and some help from a family friend does she truly understand the awesomeness of God’s love and power within her and her sister’s life. The Movie is without a second thought a must see for anyone who is a fan of the book or simply a lover of Oprah, Whoopi Goldberg or Stephen Spielberg. The written words of Alice Walker wonderfully translate onto the movie screen in a way that is so perfect and equally as moving that the two pieces work together seamlessly and it is a thing of beauty.