Banning the Color Purple

In my humanities class Forbidden Books, we studied challenged and banned books. We looked at different kinds of religions and the attributes that the followers listen to. We read two challenged books, called Fahrenheit 451 and The Absolutely True Diary of  a Part Time Indian. These books are very controversial because the authors wrote without paying any mind to how the public may react to it. We also visited Natalie Moore, author of a book called "The Almighty Black P Stone Nation: The Rise, Fall, and Resurgence of an American Gang". Her book was banned in prisons around the nation because it talked about gangs. It was incredibly fun to meet her and be in her office. For this AP, we had to read a challenged or banned book and write an essay on if it should or should not be banned. I read The Color Purple.

Banning The Color Purple

Imagine an author who spent years writing a book she poured her heart and soul into, only for it to be ridiculed and banned in many states. Alice Walker ,who wrote The Color Purple, is one such author. The book is a chronicle of written letters to God by Celie, the protagonist. She is a very uneducated, poor black woman. As a 14-year-old, she survived her stepfather raping her and abducting her children so she can never see them again. She lived her life thinking that they were dead. A man known as Mr. ____ wants Nettie, Celie’s sister, as his wife, but the father does not want his prettiest daughter to be married. Instead, he marries off the “ugly” Celie to Mr.____. Nettie runs away with the new married couple, but Mr. ____ tries to inappropriately touch her . Nettie flees, never speaking or visiting Celie again. Celie thinks that Nettie is dead since she never received any letters from her. Shug Avery, Mr. _____’s mistress, begins to grow a close relationship with Celie. Shug helps Mr.____ change up his rude behaviors. Shug instigates a sexual relationship with Celie, even though she has a new husband. They both really like each other without saying it. They find hidden letters from Nettie in a hiding spot, which say that Nettie has met two missionaries in Africa. They turn out to be adoptive parents of Celie’s long lost children. Celie’s letters to God tell him about love, sex, and her struggles with being a woman. The book is controversial because it contains vulgar language, sexual references, and violence. The Color Purple should be banned from readers because it contains many problematic themes.

Because of the violence in the book, The Color Purple was banned in Texas prisons. A prison says “The Color Purple was banned because author Alice Walker leads the reader to believe the main character is raped by her father.” One of the reasons that they disliked it were scenes like this. “He (Pa) never had a fine word to say to me. Just say You gonna do what your mammy wouldn’t. First he put his thing up against my hip and sort of wiggle it around. Then he grab hold my titties. Then he push his thing inside my p***y. When that hurt, I cry. He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and git used to it” (Walker 1). This quote describes when Celie was raped by her stepfather. Violence plays a big part in The Color Purple. Those who show violence are often men, who are either sexist or racist. The men in Celie’s life are purely evil, with intentions to hurt others in order to get their way. They take advantage of women by appearing to be superior than what they really are. The women are scared of standing up to them because they will only get hurt in the end. Mr.____’s son Harpo, for example, beats his wife Sofia only after his father told him that Sofia’s resistance makes Harpo less than a man. Mr.____ is violent and mistreats his family by beating them and showing disrespect toward them. Celie herself tells Harpo to beat Sofia to knock some sense into her because she is jealous of Sofia’s aggressiveness and independence. This is obviously a violent and disturbing scene to picture in the reader’s head. The Texas prisons wanted to protect their people from reading this graphic material. This reason was attributed to extreme violence because the men were always in charge of the women, and made it clear that it could not be the other way around.

Additionally, homosexual references took a major role in The Color Purple. “She say, I love you, Miss Celie. And then she haul off and kiss me on the mouth. Um, she say, like she surprise. I kiss her back, say, um, too. Us kiss and kiss till us can’t hardly kiss no more. Then us touch each other. I don’t know nothing bout it, I say to Shug. I don’t know much, she say. Then I tells something real soft and wet on my breast, feel like one of my little lost babies mouth” (Walker 113). Men were supposed to be with women, and women were supposed to be with men. Celine’s sex life was ruined for her since a teenager because her father always raped her and took her babies. When she met beautiful Shug Avery, her whole world changed. She fell in love with a woman, which not accepted in the early 20th century. Their close friendship quickly turned into a sexual relationship, such as when Shug makes out and masturbates with Celie. Another piece of controversial text is, “All the men got they eyes glued to Shug’s bosom. I got my eyes glued there too. I feel my nipples harden under my dress. My little button sort of perk up too” (Walker 81). People wanted to ban the book because of the sexual things that Celie and Shug would do with each other for pleasure. Two women falling in love with each other was controversial for a lot of people back in the day and still in today’s society. This specific text can be problematic for someone based on religious reasons because a lot of religious people think that homosexuality is a sin. Heterosexuality is the reform that a lot of religions follow.

The Color Purple is a controversial book that should be banned. One reason it should be banned is because schools are against any form of violence. Also, many religions oppose homosexual. Lastly, certain curse words offend people of all ages. Although many books contain some curse words, The Color Purple contains racist slurs and stereotypical, racist, and sexist language. Alice Walker often uses the “n word” in The Color Purple. This word may offend people because it has a historical background and people believe that only certain races could use that word. Alice Walker says in an interview, “Our culture, our society, our world is doomed.” She believes that this book should be exposed to the public, as it shows the experiences as a woman may go through in her life.

Banning books has existed throughout history in order to protect people from being offended or be exposed to content they shouldn’t see. Authors write books that may or may not banned. They take a risk of exposing their controversial thoughts to the world. The Color Purple takes its themes and amplifies them to the the fullest extent, making each scene graphic and very vivid. This book should be banned for three obvious reasons. First, there is sexual violence throughout the book such as when men would beat their wives to make them listen to them. Secondly, the homosexual themes stirs up controversy with religion. Thirdly, Alice Walker used vulgar language, including the “n word”. This book should be in the right hands in order not to hurt anyone.

Works Cited

Goodman, Amy. “Alice Walker on 30th Anniv. of ‘The Color Purple’: Racism, Violence Against Women Are Global Issues.” Democracy Now!, 28 Sept. 2012, www.democracynow.org/2012/9/28/alice_walker_on_30th_anniv_of.

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. ORION BOOKS LTD, 2017.

Matt McGee, "The Color Purple" , (2006)