Journeys-the Color Purple by Alice Walker & at Seventeen by Janice Ian

1317 Words6 Pages
Journeys can often involve choices being made when individuals encounter challenges. These choices are significant because they often impact ones success or failures. Whether they give up or if they fight against all odds. In the novel “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker, the protagonist, Celie experiences pain, discrimination, abuse and neglect for most of her life’s journey. As her life progresses, she realises that she is capable of standing up for herself which makes all the difference. Similarly, the text “At Seventeen” by Janis Ian, the persona experiences difficulties during her teenage years in which she decides to stay at home, be anti-social and not expect much because the beautiful girls already have it all and she is not one of them. Through both of these texts, both protagonists are forced to make a choice whenever they encounter an obstacle. As the protagonist encounters obstacles, he or she must make a choice. Both of the protagonist’s within both texts are faced with countless obstacles within their journey. In the color purple, Celie experiences unhappiness, feels useless and unworthy, follows orders from Mr.____ which is seen through ‘you better git back onto the field’ and had no one to turn to but God. As her journey progresses, she learns how to speak and write English Standard through Shug Avery. This is an important to her journey because she is then capable of communicating to her sister, Nettie whom she has not seen for over 30 years. On page 183, she writes “I am so happy. I got love, I got work, I got money, friends and time” which shows that overtime the choices she has made such as leaving Mr.____ and starting her own pants business has led to a positive outcome. The use of first person and repetition of “I” demonstrate how Celie is now acknowledging and is capable of making those choices for herself. This is in stark contrast to what
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