A Study Of The Narrative Techniques In The Color Purple

This thesis aims to explore the narrative techniques in The Color Purple. Written by the famous African-American woman writer Alice Walker, The Color Purple has been under the focus of study by a large number of researchers. And it is worth our notice that former researchers mainly adopt the thematic point of view. For example, researchers have studied the transformation of women from the feminist perspective. And some other researchers have studied the racial theme in the novel. Besides, the form adopted by the novel is also under the discussion of many researchers. Based on the studies of the scholars both at home and abroad, this thesis explores the narrative techniques in The Color Purple.Besides the introduction and the conclusion, this thesis can be divided into three chapters.Chapter One studies the narrative characteristics of Alice Walker's The Color Purple. Some terms are borrowed from narratology to analyze the narrative characteristics of the novel, such as narrative model, reliable narrators, focalization and its violation, narrative structure and the shortening of distance. In the novel, there are double narrators: Celie and her sister Nettie. And in the narration of the two characters, the first-person narrative is used to shorten the distance between the narrator and the readers and arouse the readers' sympathy for the two female characters in the story. What is more, in the novel, Alice Walker uses reliable narrators, i.e. the author makes the two characters reliable narrators by means of characterization in the novel to further shorten the distance between the readers and the author, and to make sure the readers' values and judgments conform to those of the author in the end; with the choice of the first-person narrative, sometimes focalization is violated to achieve a certain artistic effect, which shows the variety of the author's narrative techniques in the creation of the novel. Then by analyzing the deep structure and the surface structure of the novel, this thesis points out that the differentiation of the two levels of representation makes the story more complicated and allows the narrative structure to convey more significance. What is more, with the development of the story, the readers' affection distance for the male characters represented by Mr. Albert and Harpo and for the white people represented by the mayor's wife and her daughter is gradually shortened by the author, which reflects the author's exploration in the balance and harmony between men and women as well as the white and the black. Moreover, in the creation of the novel, the omission of some details creates in the novel a kind of suspense, and draws the readers' attention to the development of the story in order to make the readers continue reading. As far as language is concerned, free indirect speeches abound in the novel, which are used by Alice Walker to help to introduce the characters' words with fluency instead of hesitation, to highlight the intimate feelings and communication between the female characters in the story, to reflect the communication and understanding between men and women and to present the female character Sofia's rebellious spirit.Chapter Two explores the narrative tension in the novel. Narrative tension here has two aspects of meanings: first, narrative tension refers to what keeps the readers reading the story, because they're wondering what's going to happen next; and second, it connotes a kind of aesthetic significance. And four aspects of narrative tension are pointed out: narrative tension from the contrast between the insignificance of the heroines and the power of the society, narrative tension from the limited information provided by the narrative "I", narrative tension from the description of the characters, and narrative tension from the extending of space by double narrators.Investigation in Chapter Three focuses on the unity of the form and the theme, i.e. thematic function of the narrative structure. In The Color Purple, the theme and the form are becoming an organic whole, and the choice of the form successfully highlights the theme of the novel. There are mainly three points to this: the first point is about the unity between letter writing and the motif of survival. The second point is the unity between the choice of the epistolary form and the motif of feminist "space of power". The third point is the unity between language and motif. And in the third point, two parts are differentiated: first, the employment of the black vernacular reflects Alice Walker's racial pride as an African American writer; second, the change of language style in the novel highlights the motif of transformation. From the above three points, we can see unity between the theme and the form is achieved by the author in The Color Purple.From the above analysis, we can see that The Color Purple is a masterpiece of narrative art, which embodies Alice Walker's brilliant narrative techniques. The conclusion drawn in the thesis is that the art of the novel is not only reflected in the great narrative tension, but also in the unity of the form and the theme, with the theme highlighted by the form. Especially the employment of letters creates an "imaginary space of power" for women, and thus highlights the feminist theme effectively, and the employment of the black vernacular reflects the author's national pride and foregrounds the racial motif.