Talk:The Color Purple

Genres
Shouldn't we add genres? Other Wikipedia articles about books have them as well. 82.95.83.128 (talk) 16:35, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Novel Setting
The novel, as well as the film, spans multiple decades (1900s-1940s). Isn't it easier to say early 20th century, instead of 1930s throughout the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.90.82.217 (talk) 17:54, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

Book bans
What about the controversy this book creates in classrooms? It's been banned quite a few times in the past 20 years since it was first published, isn't anyone going to mention that? I'd do it myself but I'm not familiar with the Wikipedia formatting system, I just fix little things

Kathar, a self-described Wikignome
 * Yes, it would be interesting, but I don't know anything about it. Why don't you write it on the talk page and someone can put it in the main article if you're not that comfortable? The JPS 10:59, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

musical of the same name
There is a current Broadway musical of the same name. Is it the same story line? If so, shouldn't we create a disambigun page for the three works (book, film, musical)? arctic 04:38, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

I think there's a good chance it is the same. I haven't read the book, but the musical soundtrack seems to follow the plotline described here. arctic 04:41, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

Okay so anybody can edit this and what if someone changes something

if someone changes something, then that's too bad. i'm tellin ya, this is an online encyclopidia that's FREE. although it's nice and handy, it shouldn't be relied totally and should be cross-referenced with something else because anyone can put anything on this!!!!!!!

Title?
What's the significance of the title? Mike Schiraldi 16:45, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

I am going to answer that question.

Alice Walker writes about a black community with black people either being persecuted by white people, or women being persecuted by men. The color of the skin has a very important place in African American History. The color purple is Celie's skin color, whereas Squeak (Harpo's second girlfriend) and Sofie (Harpo's wife) both have more of a yellow (as quoted) and "bright" (as quoted) color; whereas Shug Avery is "as black as my shoe." The skin color of the people is the biggest importance in this book; and I am very surprised you didn't catch that!!!!!

What a load of rot. How on Earth is purple the color of Celie's skin? The fact is Celie longs to wear purple, a color she associates with royalty and with vibrant women such as Shug, and a color she thinks God may have created in order to receive love. In the novel’s conclusion, she surrounds herself with purple. I am very very surprised you didn't catch that and that you thought Celie was some purple alien person!!!!!!

Red = menstral flow.

What the heck does menstrUal flow have to do with anything? You guys are a bunch of losers who suck at interpreting books. I'm not going to post anything anymore; argue about the stupid novel if you want, but I'm out of here.

S.T: The color purple has nothing to do with celie. it is the metaphor shug avery uses 2 describe how people take things for granted.
 * 'The color purple' is the color of flowers in the field. I don't have the book with me but I always understood that the flowering field became 'god' for Celie when she could no longer believe in the God from the church that couldn't/wouldn't answer her letters and allowed her to have such a miserable life.

Tell me where Shug describes people like this.

SR:

The color purple in the book is shorthand for for the emotions and spiritual associations in this book, it represents freedom, beauty and it is part of a philosophical argument on the nature of God

"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it" Shug to Celie

(see  Transformations of The Color Purple, in Reynolds, Novel Women 1993 for further discussion)

Also lavender represents female to female sexuality in some cultures.

Incest category
An anon user just removed the "incest in fiction" category from this article, which I reverted because it was done without explanation or discussion. However, there isn't actually any incest in this book, right? It's presumed at first, but later proven false. (It's still child abuse.) Does that invalidate the category? Mr. Darcy talk 22:16, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
 * I've had no responses after almost two weeks, so I'm removing the category pending further discussion. Mr. Darcy talk 22:49, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Incest is an issue in the book nevertheless. Incest is not merely a matter of genetics. Str1977 (talk) 14:20, 24 July 2023 (UTC)

Alphonso
how should we describe this guys relation to Celie. do we call him her father which is what the character believed to be true until near the end of the book or do we call him her step-father which is her actual relationship to him as revealed in the book? I am changing the how he is refured to from father to stepfather. Tydoni (talk) 01:14, 25 July 2009 (UTC)

Role Confusion: Lack of Identification in Gender
“In this relationship, Sofia is more of the man, while Harpo obtains weak women qualities.”

I'd like this to be changed to be less gender-biased "Sofia is more dominant, while Harpo takes a more submissive role, that which is seen stereotypically as female." The whole section needs some work, but there's my contribution. Mccarth125 (talk) 07:39, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Changed sentence “In this relationship, Sofia is more of the man, while Harpo obtains weak women qualities.” to "In this relationship, Sofia is more dominant, while Harpo takes a more submissive role, that which is seen stereotypically as female." Mccarth125 (talk) 07:39, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Charcters
I think the choice of charcters in the analysis part is kind of wierd. Why is the major's wife there and not other characters that are more important. Should atleast add Harpo to that section. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.161.195.107 (talk) 15:16, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

Language of the novel
I'm surprised that the article doesn't seem to mention that the novel is written in dialect - I'd certainly be interested to learn how accurately it represents the language of poor rural African Americans in the 1930s. --rossb (talk) 17:31, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Get rid of the women's studies bullshit and write English
This section "Disruption of traditional gender roles Many characters in the novel break the boundaries of traditional male or female gender roles. Sofia's strength and sass, Shug's sexual assertiveness, and Harpo's insecurity are major examples of such disparity between a character's gender and they the traits he or she displays. This blurring of gender traits and roles sometimes involves sexual ambiguity, as we see in the sexual relationship that develops between Celie and Shug. Disruption of gender roles sometimes cause problems. Harpo's insecurity about his masculinity leads to marital problems and his attempts to beat Sofia. Likewise, Shug's confident sexuality and resistance to male domination cause her to be labeled a tramp. Throughout the novel, Walker wishes to emphasize that gender and sexuality are not as simple as we may believe. Her novel subverts and defies the traditional ways in which we understand women to be women and men to be men. Throughout the novel, the assertion of what the African-American femininity is compared to the exploration of African-American male struggle with masculinity. The idea of African-American women femininity is focused around the abilities of the husband to care for the wife and family. The normative roles by men are viewed as the source of oppressive behavior by men. Therefore, if the African American male is not fulfilling his role, it is unlikely for the African-American woman to fulfill her role of femininity because she is predicated on his abilities."

is unreadable unless you are a member of the sanctimonious women's studies set. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.106.46.205 (talk) 22:03, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Unsourced material
Below was tagged for needing sources long-term. Feel free to reinsert with appropriate references. DonIago (talk) 14:11, 30 December 2016 (UTC)

Reason for title?
Hello, does anyone know what is the reason behind the title, "The Color Purple"? It doesn't seem to be explained in the article... Thanks 2A02:C7D:DA0A:DB00:9475:7786:6B62:5D87 (talk) 08:06, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

Chapters of the book
Can't we have a list of the chapters in the book 41.89.10.241 (talk) 10:55, 14 February 2024 (UTC)


 * To what end? MOS:NOVEL doesn't really seem to discuss it, but how does a simple list of chapters improve a reader's understanding of the book? I imagine you can find such a listing via Google in any case. DonIago (talk) 16:10, 14 February 2024 (UTC)