54 pages • 1 hour read
Alice WalkerA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The protagonist of the novel, Celie is a Black, Southern woman who comes of age in the Jim Crow South (likely Georgia, a frequent setting in Walker’s novels). Celie’s character arc takes her from a girl who is forced to survive and hide her abuse to a woman who asserts her worth and controls her own life. Her transformation takes place because of her changing relationship with God and the people in her life, especially Shug Avery.
As a girl, Celie silently bears sexual violence, two pregnancies, the loss of her children, and community disapproval when her stepfather rapes her and shames her into remaining silent. Celie has little knowledge of her body, so she experiences her pregnancies as bewildering events that end with the disappearance of each child. Her life is much the same when she is forced to marry Albert and take care of his children. He also physically and sexually abuses her. As a child and a young, married woman, Celie stuffs her anger down to avoid more violence from the male authorities in her life, and she continues to be alienated from her own body and desires. Her only form of self-expression is her diary, where she writes down her fears and the events of her life during these years.
By Alice Walker
By the Light of My Father's Smile
By the Light of My Father's Smile
Alice Walker
Everyday Use
Everyday Use
Alice Walker
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens
Alice Walker
Meridian
Meridian
Alice Walker
Possessing the Secret of Joy
Possessing the Secret of Joy
Alice Walker
Roselily
Roselily
Alice Walker
Strong Horse Tea
Strong Horse Tea
Alice Walker
The Flowers
The Flowers
Alice Walker
The Temple of My Familiar
The Temple of My Familiar
Alice Walker
The Third Life of Grange Copeland
The Third Life of Grange Copeland
Alice Walker
The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart
The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart
Alice Walker
To Hell with Dying
To Hell with Dying
Alice Walker
Women
Women
Alice Walker
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection