According to Thomas Foster in How to Read Literature Like a Professor, "Violence is everywhere in literature" (103). Violence intertwines into almost every letter Celie writes to God and even the ones Nettie writes to Celie from Africa. The men in the novel The Color Purple constantly abuse the women of the novel to assert their dominance and force them into obedience (See post on Domestic Violence from 4/19). Celie's father beats and rapes the young girl, then kills the child she gives birth to as a result. When she is married off to Mr.____, Celie experiences a second abusive relationship that does not end until the interference of Shug Avery.
However, Foster also says that, "Violence in literature, though, while it is literal, is usually also something else" (95). In the case of The Color Purple, violence exists to depict the cultural violence of the time and further the theme of how violence is cyclical in nature. When Sofia defies Harpo, Celie suggests that he beat her. This examples shows how those who are victims of brutality are more likely to perpetuate violence themselves. Because of this, the pattern becomes generational and remains a deep rooted social problem, as it does and still does in the South. By filling the ages of The Color Purple with countless stories of cruelty, Alice Walker shows deeper ethical and cultural factors behind repeated violence.
However, Foster also says that, "Violence in literature, though, while it is literal, is usually also something else" (95). In the case of The Color Purple, violence exists to depict the cultural violence of the time and further the theme of how violence is cyclical in nature. When Sofia defies Harpo, Celie suggests that he beat her. This examples shows how those who are victims of brutality are more likely to perpetuate violence themselves. Because of this, the pattern becomes generational and remains a deep rooted social problem, as it does and still does in the South. By filling the ages of The Color Purple with countless stories of cruelty, Alice Walker shows deeper ethical and cultural factors behind repeated violence.
He beat me today cause he say I winked at a boy in church. I may have got somethin in my eye but I didn’t wink. I don’t even look at mens. (Letter 5)
She say, All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my brothers. I had to fight my cousins and my uncles. A girl child ain’t safe in a family of men. But I never thought I’d have to fight in my own house. (Letter 21)