How does the perspective of the narrator change the story? What do you think the author is trying to convey with this?
Celie, the narrator of the novel, has been the main source of information throughout the entire story. We see everything as she see it. There was a point in the book we started reading Nettie's letters to Celie, but we still were looking through Celie's eyes. She has indeed had a perspective change throughout the course of the story, for the major point for me was when she stopped writing to God. At that moment, I felt like she had changed. Her opinions and way of going about things was different. Her first letter to Nettie read, "I don't write to God no more. I write to you" (Walker 192). This is a very abrupt way of staying she doesn't have faith anymore. I feel that she has given up, and has blamed all her issues on God's silence. She believes he has not answered, or even heard, her prayers. While Celie has had a hard life, I still think she should not be so negative about her past experiences, even with them being as awful as they were.
Alice Walker shows many parallels throughout her writing. She shows the discriminative ways of the times with her simple letters. With Celie's change in perspective, I believe she is trying to show how much pain can change you. Celie has been through so much, so I cannot completely blame her for a loss of hope. Her life, and many other black women during this time, were left to feel worthless. She is showing that a buildup of pain and suffering can put a toll on someone, and it did for many in real life.
Celie's perspective did change, and it was very abrupt. It's upsetting that she did seem to lose faith in God, as well. She wrote to him for years and finally gave up. Although she did start writing to Nettie, will Nettie every get the letters? Will she very know? The perspective is through Celie's eyes, but I believe it may change to Nettie's as we progress through the story. Celie is finally coming to a resolution, so maybe it'll change to Nettie's life.
ReplyDeleteJaimee Martin
Samantha Shipley
DeleteI completely agree with your point of her losing faith in god. It just goes to show how faithless she is as a person and a narrator. It seems she is so much more positive when writing to Nettie, and makes the story so much more intriguing as well as progressing further.