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Mackenzie Mitchell
Mrs. ODonnell
English II
17 March 2015
The Color Purple
Directed by Steven Spielberg, The film The Color Purple, which is based on the novel
written by Alice Walker, centers around Celie, an African American woman, and her journey
toward self-actualization. Along the way, she falls victim to the racism and sexism that were the
quintessence of the lives of African American women in the beginning of the twentieth century,
as she serves no purpose to her husband other than to serve and obey him. Throughout much of
Celies journey, her sister Nettie is in Africa raising Celies children with another family. Africa
is significant to the story because it symbolizes becoming an adult, which Celie does through a
scene in which she is shaving her husbands face. Spielberg deals with the symbolism by
displaying these two scenes simultaneously, showing the similarities between the two.
The film features a scene in which Celies children in Africa are participating in an
initiation ceremony in order to be accepted into a tribe. This is a common African tradition that
signifies children becoming adults.
Celie also becomes an adult in a sense. In the beginning of the film, she is abused and
belittled by the men in her life, and she accepts this treatment. She even claims to her sister that
she does not know how to fight and only knows how to stay alive. Celie does not stand up for
herself because she is only concerned with staying alive, which is the last thing that she would be
doing if she ever decided to retaliate. The beginning of the novel features a shaving scene when
Celie is a young girl. Her husband threatens to kill her if she cuts him while shaving. Celie is

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terrified by his threat, which is evident from her hands shaking as she tries not to nick him. After
years of her husbands abuse, Celie eventually decides to stand up for herself. This is after
discovering letters sent to her from Nettie, which were hidden by Celies husband. These letters
describe what the world is like outside of her dark life, and tell her that Nettie is coming home.
Celie is filled with hope now that she knows she will soon be seeing the person whom she loves
most in the world, her sister, and realizes she no longer needs to take her husbands abuse. Next,
when her husband slaps her while she is reading one of Netties letters and orders her to shave
his face, Celie is in a situation similar to the one in the beginning of the film. But now, anger is in
her eyes and she is tempted to kill him. She would have done so had she not been stopped by her
friend Shug. The shaving scene is Celies own ritual of becoming an adult because it shows
Celies maturation and growth into a strong woman who is finally ready to stand up for herself.
The African scene corresponds with the shaving scene and Spielberg makes this
correlation clear when he displays the two scenes simultaneously. Both the children in Africa and
Celies husbands heads are lifted backwards, and then at the same time that the childrens faces
are cut, Celie is preparing to cut her husbands face. This is done to show how the two situations
are related.
Africa represents becoming an adult and the African scene is used to show Celies own
ceremony of becoming a woman. Celies self-actualization and newly gained confidence
contribute to The Color Purples theme of female power. It inspires women to stand up against
their oppressors and assert their power through their own rituals.