Book Talk: The Color Purple

Written Transcript:

The book I recommend for everyone to read is The Color Purple by Alice Walker because it can teach so many lessons to so many people. The genre for this book is realistic fiction. The main character, Cecile, is forced to be with an abusive man, who makes her do all of the chores around his house. The book is based off of her perspective, and they show us all of her journal entries. It is very obvious that she is suffering, but she can not do very much about it. She is very easy to interact with, but she will listen to everything you say if you are demanding it. She will talk back, but if she does she knows what's going to happen to her. All of this happens in a rural part of Georgia in the early 20th Century. This is also 30 years before WWII. Having to deal with all of the children he has, she really does struggle. In the beginning, she gives up at times and she doesn't know what to do. Being so frustrated and mad, she takes it out on the children. After she gets used to it, she learns how to deal with all of it.

The mood of this book shifts at many points. In the beginning, it is very intense. She is having problems, being abused and things in that sort. Later in the book, she is exposed to other things. Like friends, and she learns things about herself. Then, it becomes a little more positive, almost happy but not exactly that. The theme of this book would be that slavery is not a very good idea. All of the women that are characters in the book are slaves, or they work privately. This really has a huge impact on the story because everything would be so different. The time period wouldn't be the same, the events that take place wouldn't either.

The reason why I really like this book is because it is so real. It isn't fictional, and the make it seem like a real person's life in that time period. Cecile is almost my age, so it is easy to relate to her. Even if she is living in a totally opposite world. I remember seeing the movie, and being able to see all of it acted out, is crazy. Being able to know what's going to happen, and being able to predict is probably the best thing ever. Imagining everything in your head, and then seeing it. I recommend this book to kids about the age of 13. I think this age because there are some things that are very mature. Like, very. Also, there are some feelings that a 10 year old won't be able to relate to. You should really want to read this book because it is something that gives you more information about slavery and how people had to live. Usually we learn it from a slave that works in a field. But never in a house, dealing with children and a crazy man.