The Colour Purple - Spirituality & Religion :: essays research papers

Alice Walker states that The tinct Purple remains for her the theological work examining the travel from the religious back to the spiritual. How successful is she in revealing her purpose to the reader?In the preface to the Colour Purple Walker identifies her religious phylogenesis as the inspiration for her novel and labels religion and spirituality as the principle themes in the book. There are a number of principle characters who complete this journey however in many instances the religious element of the novel is overshadowed by other prominent themes such as personal development, female relationships and racial issues. These must(prenominal) be taken into consideration when assessing Walkers success in delivering her theological message to her readers.Religion is an extremely broad term, in the context of The Colour Purple, Walkers idea of religion is church based Christianity in which God is presented through the bible as a white man. Although the church is set in a blac k community, the teachings of the church are derived from the teachings of white people. Celie discovers throughout the novel that she, like Shug, can not find God in this anatomy of church that is based on patriarchal religion but searches for him elsewhere. Walkers personal concept of spirituality is pantheism, the idea that God is in whole living things at bottom nature including people. Celie learns from Shug and through her own development that God is within her and she benefits far more from her own spirituality than from the structured religion within the community.Celie is not the only character to undergo a change in her religious outlook and complete the journey from the religious to the spiritual. Nettie also is brought up as a devout believer in the Christian church however throughout her time in Africa and with the help of the Olinka people she discovers a newfangled more internal form of religion similar to Celies new found spirituality. The journey from the religi ous back to the spiritual is reflected in the distance in the midst of the white missionaries in Britain and America and the African tribes. The missionaries represent the formal white church and the Olinka fulfilling the idea of pantheist spirituality. This is a journey Nettie makes physically and spiritually. Shug and Mr.s views on religion also change during the novel, and as Walker intends, all make this journey with courage and the help of others.At the beginning of the book Celie announces her dependence on God by recognising that she can tell nobody but God about the abuse she is receiving from her stepfather.