GRE阅读考生回忆：the color people

 　　general intro：

　　The Color Purple is a 1982 eistolary novel 书信小说 writtenby American author Alice Walker that won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fictionandthe National Book Award for Fiction.

　　Taking place mostly in rural Georgia， the storyfocuses on female black life in the 1930s in thesouthern United States， addressingnumerous issues including their exceedingly low position in American socialculture.

　　Plot summary (只选了关于书信那一截，大概晓得是为撒子写信就行了)The Color Purple spans the years 1909 to 1949， relatingthe life of Celie， a Southern black woman virtually sold into a life of servitude toher brutal¹ husband， sharecropper Albert. Celie， the protagonist² and narrator of The Color Purple， is a poor， uneducated， fourteen-year-old blackgirl living in rural Georgia.

　　Celie starts writing letters to God because her stepfather， Alphonso， beats andrapes her. Celie pours out her innermost thoughts in letter form to her sisterNettie， but Albert has been hiding the letters Nettie writes back， allowingCelie to assume that Nettie is dead.

　　Letters Alice Walker highlights the power of communication throughthe characters letter writing form.

　　The letters that Celie writes to God， and later to hersister Nettie， symbolize³ a certain voice that only Celie has and one that she isonly able to express in her letters.

　　She is able to express her true desires only in her letter.

　　These letters allow her to display any emotion， and theyare very personal to her as well.

　　In the beginning， when she was writing letters only to God， the letterswere very private and Celie would not have wanted anyone to see them.

　　The letters are the only way she can represent her true feelings anddespair as she is abused.

　　Later， the letters she gets from Nettie give her hope that she will bereunited with her sister again.

　　Celie writes to God for a lack of someone else to write to. She writesto her sister because she gets mad at God because of her past and the peoplewho have been hurt because of it.

　　She asks God "Why?" which is a question that cannot beanswered.

　　The last letter she writes is to everyone， includingGod showing that she has forgiven Him， and that her storyhas gone through a full circle of maturation.

　　theme：

　　In the short story “The Color Purple，” author Alice Walker describes the life of Celie， a blackwoman growing up in the South. She must overcome racism⁴ and poverty to establish herself as anindependent person. The novel also follows the maturation of her sister Nettie and thelives of Shug， Albert， and much of his extended family.

　　A motif⁵ in “The Color Purple” is the recurring⁶ concept of roundness.

　　The concept of roundness relates to the shape of the human body， andespecially the female body.

　　The letters are also another motif in the novel.

　　The letters play an important role in conveying Celie’s thoughtsand emotions throughout her life.

　　Walker suggests that oppressed people can unite with solidarity⁷ toovercome their oppressors.

　　A sub theme of “The Color Purple” is the harm inflicted⁸ on the Black community， both by theirown cycle of violence and the racially motivated hatred⁹ of Negroes in the South.

　　Symbol：

　　The title of the book is an important symbol.

　　Celie goes through life having a hard time noticing the beautifulaspects and appreciating them.

　　She had a difficult life and was abused as an adolescent.

　　"The color purple is continually equated¹⁰ with suffering andpain.

　　Sofia's swollen¹¹， beaten face is described as the color of 'eggplant'.

　　Purple is the color of Celie's private parts， the site ofher sexual violation¹².

　　However， later Shug points out to her that life must be enjoyed. When theyare in a field of purple flowers， Shug tells Celie to look at the flowers and embrace their beauty. "Youmust look at all the good and acknowledge them because God placed them all onearth". After learning this， Celie has a better respect for life and everything it has to offer.

 

1 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

2 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！

3 symbolize   

vt.作为...的象征，用符号代表

参考例句：

• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。
• Dolphins symbolize the breath of life.海豚象征着生命的气息。

4 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

5 motif   

n.(图案的)基本花纹，(衣服的)花边；主题

参考例句：

• Alienation is a central motif in her novels.疏离感是她小说的一个重要的主题。
• The jacket has a rose motif on the collar.这件夹克衫领子上有一朵玫瑰花的图案。

6 recurring   

adj.往复的，再次发生的

参考例句：

• This kind of problem is recurring often. 这类问题经常发生。
• For our own country, it has been a time for recurring trial. 就我们国家而言，它经过了一个反复考验的时期。

7 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

8 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

9 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

10 equated   

adj.换算的v.认为某事物（与另一事物）相等或相仿( equate的过去式和过去分词 )；相当于；等于；把（一事物） 和（另一事物）等同看待

参考例句：

• Production costs for the movie equated to around 30% of income. 这部电影的制作成本相当于收益的30%。
• Politics cannot be equated with art. 政治不能同艺术等同起来。

11 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

12 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。