The Walker of Fame
This literary form of epistolary is a novel of composed letters. There are two theories on the genesis of the epistolary novel. The first claims that genre originated from novels with inserted letters, in which the third portion containing the third person narrative in between the letters was gradually reduced. The other theory claims that the epistolary novel arose from miscellaneous of letters and poetry; some of the letters were tied together in a plot. Both claims have some validity. The importance of this form is that the reader is privileged to know the thoughts of the character who is writing the letters in the letters in their own words. Words are weapons in novellas and evoke debate, controversy, shock, and awe which Alice Walker provoked in the Color Purple.
Walker uses the novel’s epistolary form to emphasize the power of communication. Celie writes letters to God, and Nettie writes letters to Celie. Both sisters gain strength from their letter writing, but they are saved only when they receive responses to their letters. Therefore, although writing letters enables self-expression and confession, it requires a willing audience. When Celie never responds to Nettie’s letters, Nettie’s letters, Nettie feels lost because Celie is her only audience. Nettie grows disillusioned with her missionary work because the imperialists will not listen to her and because the Olinka villagers are stubborn. Only after Nettie returns home to Celie, an audience guaranteed to listen, does she feel fulfilled and freed. In addition, this literary form brings out the folklore throughout the novel. Another example that brings that emotional tone is when Celie writes “A dust devil flew up on the porch between us, fill my mouth on dirt. The dirt say, anything you do to me, already done to you. I’m pore, I’m black, I may be ugly and can’t cook, a voice say everything listening, but I’m here.” (207). Walker makes her audience love Celie, although Celie does not have love. Mary Agnes renames herself to show her refusal to let the man in her life gain interpretive control over her.
Walker emphasizes throughout the novel that the ability to express your thoughts and feelings is crucial to developing a sense of self. The espistolary assists in showing the power of strong female relationships in a feminist perspective. Throughout the Color Purple, Walker portrays female relationships as means for women to summon courage to tell stories. In turn, these stories allow women to resist oppression and dominance. Relationships among women form a refuge, providing reciprocal love in a world filled with male violence.
The female ties take many forms, some motherly or sisterly, some are in the form of mentor and pupil, some are sexual, and some are simply friendships. Sofia claims that her ability to fight comes from her strong relationships with her sisters. Nettie’s relationship with Celie anchors her through years of living in the unfamiliar culture of Africa. The most important is Celie ties to Shug bring about Celie’s gradual redemption and her attainment of a sense of self.
The color purple is the color of flowers in the field. I always understood that the flowering field became “god” for Celie when she could no longer believe in the God from the church that couldn’t/wouldn’t answer her letters. I think its creative and the epistolary really ignites the realism of the time of the novel and makes this prominent not only in the African American canon but probably what she calls the “Womanist” theory.

Works Cited
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple, New York Harcourt,2003
The Officers of the Alice Walker Literary Society
http://www.jamesweldonjohnson.emory.edu/alicewalker.htm