The Color Purple: Post-Marriage Relationships

While I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the book; The Color Purple by Alice Walker, I especially enjoyed the final chapters of the book, the parts the motion picture had left out.  The part I especially loved were Celie and Albert's reconciliation.  This part was almost completely left out of the movie, with Celie not really seeing Albert after she curses him, but in the book, we journey with Celie as she navigates one of the most challenging relationships I can imagine; redefining a relationship with an ex-spouse.  I was enthralled by the unfolding of this new relationship and was very happy to see that Ms. Walker was brave enough to write it in a way that showed the depth of emotion, yet left both characters as whole human beings. As a woman who has had to navigate this kind of relationship-inasmuch as it is a relationship with an ex-spouse, not as in similar circumstances-I felt this subject was handled so beautifully that I felt myself wanting to sit on the porch and sew with my ex.

I felt that Ms. Walker really handled this relationship in a way that more resembled real life as opposed to a clean ending where Celie curses Mr._____ and walks out, leaving us to always revile him as a flat, one dimensional, evil character.  In this slow rebuilding, Celie had agency and was able to choose the direction the relationship took, yet Albert was shown to have depth of character and became more than Mr._____, but a real person with personal heartbreaks too. Celie went from being a non-person who was just a cog in the machine of patriarchy, to a woman who fully owned herself and exercised control over her life, even as she struggled to make sense of it.  In essence, Celie became a feminist.

At the same time, we learn that Albert isn't just some evil old devil man without a soul, but another victim-albeit less obviously so-of the patriarchy. His life was corrupted by his father's beliefs and his heart and soul suffered because of it.  We learn that while he was the dominant force in upholding the patriarchy, his real self seems to flourish when that dominance is surrendered and he starts to treat Celie, and others, as equals. It's a beautiful example of how the patriarchy and feminism really are intertwined and affecting everyone, as opposed to a pure allegory of men vs. women.