Alice Walker's Epistolary Novel

This “novel of letters” form that ‘The Color Purple’ takes is called an epistolary novel. “An epistle is an archaic term for a letter.” (Ellis-Christensen, 2003) The epistolary novel was popular in the 18th and 19th century England and France, because the public was beginning to read more and looked for literature that depicted ordinary life and psychological realism. This form of writing provides a very personal connection with the characters, since their innermost thoughts and feelings are revealed.

I believe Walker decided to write the novel in this way because it allows the reader to connect with more than just one character. I think it works for this particular novel, because Walker is able to switch from one point of view to another, providing us with more than one perspective on the world and events surrounding the characters. I also believe that it allows Walker to get away with using the colloquial language that is used in the novel, it allows us to hear the characters’ voice, it gives a more personal feel. If Walker had not done this, we would not have felt the closeness of the characters- the letters are informal, much like how we would talk to friends or family, and this allows the reader to make a deeper connection.

I really appreciated how carefully this novel seems to be written, she gives us perspective of how much time is going by through descriptions of her surroundings and things that affected the world at that time. For example, in page 141 there are descriptions of Harlem- of people going to Africa and the “knickers” children wore- this gives us a sense of where and when the letter is written. Another example is on page 114, where Celie mentions that Shug Avery knows Sophie Tucker and Duke Ellington, this gives us a sense of time because we can look up when those artists were popular. What I think works most about this is the fact that she can play with time; she goes back and forth with old letters from Nettie and new letters that Celie writes, so she can fast-forward or slow down time.

Writing in this form, we are allowed to see two worlds as well. It allows Walker to portray Celie's world in America and contrast it to Nettie's life in Africa. Although I may be wrong, I believe that Nettie and Celie are not very different at times, because from my interpretation they are both going through roughly the same kind of transformations: Religious (Nettie moves to Africa as a Missionary, but I think she begins to lose faith after living with the Olinka tribe for some time. Celie, losing faith in God when finding out about her true family history); Amorous (Celie finding love in Shug, and Nettie finally forming a relationship with Samuel), and their accepting family life. It would have been very confusing for the reader if Walker had switched between narrators and settings, simplicity is key and she achieves it through these letters. I also like how Nettie and Celie's letters somewhat contrast each other in language, this helps Walker show the difference between the more "modernized and Northern" Nettie and the very Southern dialect that Celie speaks.

I do, however, think that it has its disadvantages. We see the surroundings as Celie and Nettie see them and as they are affected the setting changes. At times we can see how other characters are affected, such as Shug and Harpo or even his wife, but we do not get to hear them in any other form than the way Celie interprets it. I would have liked to see and hear these characters a bit more. As a reader, this aspect of the novel made me feel more connected with the narrators of the letters rather than all of the characters.

If there is one thing I learned in my years of taking Creative Writing classes, it is that dialogue keeps the story moving. This constant dialogue between Celie and God, Celie and Nettie and vice-versa makes the story flow and although it slows down and gets a tad dense at times, it works in a positive manner. Contradicting my previous paragraph to some extent, the novel also works because it allows the reader to see the other characters in very specific details that would have been lost with a chunky narration. For example, "Shug Avery sit up in bed a little today...She got the nottiest, shortest, kinkiest hair I ever saw..." (Pg.55) Or in the previous letter, where she offers Shug some breakfast, "She wearing a long white gown and her thin black hand stretching out of it to hold the white cigarette looks just right. Something bout it, maybe the little tender veins I see and the big ones I try not to, make me scared..." (Pg.53) These two examples give details of Shug Avery as Celie notices them, very specific details about her looks, her attitude, they make the reader picture her and get to know her.

The letters show the progress of Celie as a woman, but they also show the evolution of each and every character. Until the end, when the sisters finally meet, the characters are changing and I believe the emotion, detail and human yearning of the book would have been lost if Walker had not chosen to write in this form.


Source:

Ellis-Christensen, Tricia. "What is an Epistolary Novel?." wisegeek.com. 2003. conjecture corporation , Web. 10 October 2009. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-epistolary-novel.htm

THE BEATS

“The beat generation was one of the largest cultural movements of the twentieth century. What started off as a literary phenomenon soon progressed to a life-changing attitude for thousands of people around the world. It embraced originality and individuality in the way people thought and acted. The beat generation threw out the old rules of literature, music, sex and religion, and its effects are still felt in the world today.” (Crystal, 2003)

“The Beat Generation” is a term coined by Jack Kerouac in 1948 to describe his social circle, however, it was a movement that changed art (literary, musical, and visual) forever. The movement lasted from the mid 1950s- early 1960s and some of the most famous artists include Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs. The Beat Generation was centered in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Greenwich Village, the artists would meet in Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco (Parkins, 2005). The social circle held ideas of non-conformity, being anti-materialistic and used drugs and meditation; they rejected impersonal writing and believed that writing should be direct and frank. Their poetry was performance oriented, usually accompanied by jazz and they felt that the genre should not be just taught in classrooms, but brought to the people (Parkins, 2005). The Beats were very spiritual, they drew from Buddhism, Judaism and Catholicism; in the mid 1950s, Kerouac and Ginsberg (separately) began to read on Buddhism and invited the ideas of the religion into their life (Asher, 2001)

October 7, 1955 at The Six Gallery in San Francisco was the first time the beat poets held a reading. This reading is depicted loosely in Jack Kerouac’s ‘The Dharma Bums’. This was the first time Allen Ginsberg, who was 29 years old at the time, read his first part of the poem “Howl,” which launched his massive and influential career as a poet. (Asher, 6 gallery, 1994).
“In all of our memories no one had been so outspoken in poetry before -- we had gone beyond a point of no return. None of us wanted to go back to the gray, chill, militaristic silence, to the intellective void -- to the land without poetry -- to the spiritual drabness. We wanted to make it new and we wanted to invent it and the process of it as we went into it. We wanted voice and we wanted vision.” Michael McClure, 'Scratching The Beat Surface (Asher, 6 gallery, 1994)

This is when the beat generation took off in the mainstream, or rather, after the obscenity trials that Ginsberg among other poets won. This allowed for a more liberal style of writing, as I presented in the class, Allen Ginsberg wrote ‘Howl’ for his own personal experience- this inspired poets from there on out to write about their thoughts and feelings, in open format. It is funny, because even though the book could be published, it cannot be read aloud on the radio or TV- proving that there are still things that have not changed.

I believe that the Beat Generation changed the way we think, because before them no one questioned anything, they had to conform. I think that they opened up our minds to new ideas, new forms of writing, expression and acceptance of those who are different.

References:

Asher, L. (1994). Six Gallery. Retrieved October 2009, from Literary Kicks: http://www.litkicks.com/SixGallery/

Crystal, G. (2003). What Was the Beat Generation? Retrieved October 2009, from wisegeek: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-was-the-beat-generation.htm

Parkins. (2005, March). Beat Generation. Retrieved October 2009, from Beat Generation: http://home.clara.net/heureka/art/beat-generation.htm

Janie (Their Eyes Were Watching God)

“She thought awhile and decided that her conscious life had commenced at Nanny’s gate. On a late afternoon Nanny had called her to come inside the house because she had spied Janie letting Johnny Taylor kiss her over the gatepost.” (Pg. 10)

Janie herself says that this was the moment her life began to take place. She was sixteen and blooming, this was when she became conscious of her sexuality. In this moment in the story we see Janie’s difference with her grandmother, who wanted her married right away before she turned out to make the mistakes she had made. Janie wants to experiment, but her grandmother realized that she was getting old and Janie would have to start taking care of herself soon (or be taken care of by Logan Killicks).

“So Janie waited a bloom time, a green time and an orange time. But when the pollen again gilded the sun and sifted down on the world she began to stand around the gate and expect things… She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman.” (Pg.25)

This is the second stage in Janie’s growing up. She realized that she could not love Logan like she wished. That love does not come after marriage. This is when she begins to separate herself a bit from Logan. There is no romance between them from here on out, or before this for that matter, but at this time Janie is aware of it. Logan begins to treat her differently, making her work; this drives Janie farther and farther away. At the gate, Janie meets Joe.

“Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south. Even if Joe was not there waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good.” (Pg. 32)

Janie decides to leave Logan, she decides that she doesn’t want that for herself, to not live and experience, and to never fall in love. Janie leaves to meet Joe, who makes her feel more important and wanted, she is ready for a new chapter in her life.

“She stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her. Then she went inside there to see what it was. It was her image of Jody tumbled down and shattered. But looking at it she saw that it never was the flesh and blood figure of her dreams…She had no more blossomy openings dusting pollen over her man, neither any glistening young fruit where the petals used to be. She found that she had a host of thoughts she had never expressed to him…Things packed up and put away in parts of her heart where he could never find them. She was saving up feelings for some man she had never seen…” (Pg.72)

Janie was Joe’s trophy wife, he would not let her speak and made her work in the store. She always had to be dressed nicely and keep everything in order. Right before this “2nd epiphany” that Janie has, he slapped her for a badly cooked dinner. This “epiphany” is the second time that Janie realizes that she is not in love, that she is not happy or experienced enough. She has “feelings for a man she had never seen,” this means that Janie realizes that she will not be with Jody forever. She stands up for herself in for the first time in page 75.

“The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair…” (Pg.87)

Jody died and Janie felt a sort of relief. She lets her hair down to symbolize her freedom. From this point on, I believe Janie becomes more of an independent woman, thinking for herself, running her own business and just living life the way she wants to, but first she must play the role of widow. There are many men that seek Janie’s affection, but she finds interest in none of them.

“Tea Cake love me in blue, so Ah wears it. Jody ain’t never in his life picked out no color for me. De world picked out black and white for mournin’, Joe didn’t. So Ah wasn’t wearin’ it for him. Ah was wearin’ it for de rest of y’all.” (Pg.113)

I think Janie is fed up at this point. They are telling her Tea Cake, a man she met in her store, will take advantage of her. What they didn’t know is that he was actually working hard to earn Janie’s affection and asked nothing from her but love. Janie is standing up for her relationship. After this, she leaves to join Tea Cake and get married.

“So the very next morning Janie got ready to pick beans along with Tea Cake. There was a suppressed murmur when she picked up a basket and went to work…” (Pg.133)

This is an important moment in the book because until this point, it was a “deal-breaker” (as we called it in class) for Janie to do hard labor. She CHOSE to work; this shows her growth as a person and in her relationship with Tea Cake. She was becoming independent in a way, earning her own.

“Ah couldn’t love nobody but yuh. And in de second place, Ah jus’uh ole woman dat nobody don’t want but you.” (Pg.180) “No hour is ever eternity, but it has its right to weep. Janie held his head tightly to her breast and wept and thanked him wordlessly for giving her the chance for loving service” (Pg.184)

Janie has been through so much with Tea Cake, especially the hurricane, that I think she has come to realize that she is old. She loves him and wants to care for him, knowing that he will probably die of rabies. I picked this quote because even though Janie said she hated her grandmother and mother, she is in a way “mothering” Tea Cake, even if it is through a romantic relationship. When Tea Cake dies, she realizes that he was her one true love, the one she dreamed of when she was 16.

“The kiss of his memory made pictures of love and light against the wall. Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see.” (Pg.193)

I believe this quote is significant, because it marks the end in Janie’s growth. She brought everything she learned to her “horizon”, the person within her. She is already evolved and she will always be happy.