Blog Topic #5: personal review

Blog Topic #5: Personal Review
I found this book to be very educational because it provided amazing insight into the life of a young, black woman when discrimination was at its peak. It was hard to read about Celie’s life because her descriptions are so raw, yet it is important that I see the hard lives that some people have to endure. I felt almost sick having to read about how horribly her father treated her, but if the descriptions weren’t so blunt they wouldn’t have been as powerful. Celie wrote things exactly how they occurred, not sparing any details or using any euphemisms; I liked this style of writing because it seemed more realistic; if the letters had been in proper, sophisticated English it would have seemed more like a story than real life. There was no part of the book I did not like; having to read about Celie’s sexual inclinations toward woman was not enjoyable for me, but, once again, it made the story seem real. Since so many men abused Celie throughout her life it was very obvious why she didn’t feel any love towards men; women were the more logical choice. The raw, candid style of writing in this book is one of its best aspects.
The other reason I liked this book is because it showed the attitude that men used to have towards woman. Woman were supposed to be totally compliant to their husbands, and there lives revolved around keeping their husband happy. I cannot even imagine having to grow up in a world where your only achievement in life in having kids, and everything else you do goes unnoticed. Woman were not encouraged to challenge their intelligence; in fact men preferred a woman who was uneducated because then the man appeared even more superior. It is quite incredible how much America’s values have evolved within the last hundred years, and how many strides toward equality have been taken. Being able to compare the social norm from back then until now is the other reason I found his book so interesting and important for people to read.