Reading The Epistolary Form In The Color Purple

The Color Purple, which has won Walker the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award, is an important work in Afro-American Literature and American Literature. Besides its theme, a large part of this novel's significance lies in Walker's adaptation of the epistolary form.By using the epistolary narrative strategy, Walker disperses her own voice from the text and eliminates the didactic nature of the traditional Slave Narrative, the once popular genre in Afro-American literature.On the other hand, the epistolary narrative is a perfect means to correspond with the female voice. Equipping an uneducated black girl to tell her own story in her letters, Walker gives voice to women, especially the oppressed black women. The use of dialect in Celie's letters and the standard English in Nettie's letters forms a contrast, which makes Celie's voice more real and effective. Celie's growth can also be shown from the epistolary form. With the shift of addressees, her change in the sentences in her letters and her ability to control others' voices, Celie grows from a "slave" to an independent and dignified woman. Finally, the adaptation of the epistolary form expresses Walker's Womanist thought. As a symbol of the Womanist co-operation and creativity, quilt-making plays a significant role in Walker's works. The epistolary form, in which the detached letters are pieced into a whole novel just like discarded fragments are woven into a quilt, is fairly suitable to illustrate Celie's creativity and wholeness in her life.