How does the time period affect the characters?
This book is set in the time period of the 1920's, also known as the "roaring twenties". During this time, the prohibition of alcohol had just been passed which involved a lot of propaganda saying that alcohol was the cause of domestic abuse towards women which had sparked a lot of controversy. This is relevant to the book because a centeral conflict is domestic abuse towards women. Domestic abuse was a common but overlooked issue during this time period.
Another issue during this time was racism. The twenties was a time of racial hatred in which blacks were looked down upon, and many whites were already members or becoming members of the Klu Klux Klan. Blacks were often murdered or brutally beaten by members of this organization. Most blacks were lioving in harsh conditions and poverty, like the characters in The Color Purple.
In this book, racism is an issue, but its mainly between the African American race. You don't see many white characters, so racism is there, but not a huge issue. Domestic violence is very common during this time period though. Celie gets beat by Albert, as well as convincing Harpo to beat his wife. It was a real issue and is a common theme in the book.
ReplyDeleteJaimee Martin
Racism isn't the main issue in this book to me. It seems that men just dominate the women. The book focuses on the African American race of men defeating their African American wives. Now, Sofia does work for white people because of her attitude, but that's the only racism I see among the colored. I do agree that racism was a problem then too though. Bailey Druschel
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