Free Sample Essays > Literature
The Color Purple: Letter to Alice Walker
the people I had come to know as a family, Celie, Shug, Mr. , Squeak, Sofia, Harpo, Odessa, Jack, Nettie, Tashi, Adam, Olivia, and all of the various children, it brought a huge smile to my face. The shared lovers and husbands, the children from all over the place, these things initially made The Color Purple seem like somewhat of a soap opera to me. I realized that if it were truly a soap opera, Squeak probably would have taken revenge on Sofia by kidnapping her children, not by allowing herself to be raped in order to help Sofia. I realized that for all the pain that the characters suffered, the love they shared for each other is something that we should all aspire to.
I have always felt that I was extremely lucky to have the level of love, understanding, and trust that exists within my immediate family. My immediate family refers to my parents and brother. I feel like there is more love in my family than in many of the families I have come across in my life. However, I have been thinking for some time and The Color Purple helped me realize that there might be a type of family that is missing from my life. I have always wanted to be a part of a community of friends, teachers, lovers, of men and women who love each other without being related to one another, but I never thought of that type of a community as a family. Being a student in CORE 11 and reading your novel have made the desire to belong to something stronger than ever. By the end of the novel I was very envious of the level of connection that the characters managed to achieve with each other. I fear perhaps that it is something I will never experience, however, reading your book has helped strengthen my resolve to make sure that does not happen. The beauty of The Color Purple for me lies not so much in the struggle of women, but in the struggle of everyone to find a place to belong. I now realize that my family is wherever I feel I belong. Just as the self is not something one finds, but rather creates, so to must I learn to create the family that I will ultimately belong to. Only by creating my family can I find the place where I truly belong.