| The contemporary outstanding Afro-American woman writer—Alice Walker's third novel The Color Purple was published in 1982 and became one of the best sellers. In the next year, the novel won both the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award for fiction. The novel successfully depicts a southern 14-year-old black girl, Celie's growth from an innocent, dependent, fragmented personality without self-identity to a mature, independent and liberated woman with wholeness. The Color Purple widens the theme and horizon of the Black literature. It can be regarded as a novel describing female initiation.This dissertation intends to explore how the novel manages to use the specific literary genre, Initiation Story, to show the growing process of the heroine, and to analyze The Color Purple in contents, characters and structure according to the common characteristics of Initiation Story. Therefore we can come to the conclusion that the novel The Color Purple meets the requirements of Initiation Story in its major characteristics and can be regarded as a typical Initiation Story. Meanwhile, this paper will also briefly explore how the epistolary form in this novel successfully illustrates the protagonist's growth. This dissertation will be divided into six sections:The introduction includes a brief introduction of the author's life and works, the novel's main plot, position and current research status.Chapter One mainly traces back to the origin and development of the Initiation Story and analyzes the common characteristics of this specific genre.Chapter Two analysizes of The Color Purple from the Perspective of Contents. This chapter analyzes the protagonist's alienation from her family and the community and initiation of the protagonist.Chapter Three studies The Color Purple from the Perspective of Characters. This chapter analyzes the characters in The Color Purple who exert influence on the initiation of the protagonist, including initiation guides (positive initiation guides and negative initiation guides) and initiation companions. They play a vital role in the growing process of the heroine.Chapter Four explores The Color Purple from the Perspective of Structure. This chapter mainly studies the major characteristics of The Color Purple in structure, such as formulated plot pattern and epiphany.Chapter Five mainly discusses the epistolary form employed in the novel and shows how this special narrative strategy illustrates the protagonist, Celie's growth.Conclusion: This section summarizes this paper in terms of its successful manipulation of this specific literary genre—the Initiation Story and its significance in the development of this literary genre. |
