Literary Devices

So far, in my book The Color Purple by Alice Walker, I've read 130 pages. Throughout my book Walker uses the literary device imagery very often. I think she uses this device because it paints a picture in the readers head and that helps the reader experience what their reading. Not only does it  engage the reader even more, it can also help the reader understand a certain scenario exactly. An example of imagery is, "I stand in front of the glass trying to make something out of my hair. Too nappy to be kinky, to kinky to be nappy. No set color either. I give up, tie on a headrag"(walker107).
In those lines the author is giving the reader a description of a generic African American women in the deep South. I think for this book it's important to put a face to the characters for Celie especially. She focuses on her appearance a lot, only how she's ugly. It never went into deep detail how she looked and these lines create that picture of a crazy haired, no real style, young women who throws a rag on her head and is ready for the day. It helps further the characterization of Celie and gives a better understanding of what life is like in the south during the 1930's to 1940's. Secondly, Walker described the pain Celie feels and her emotions one night, and it was the first time I felt for her myself truly. Walker said, "I start to cry too. I cry and cry and cry. Seem like it all come back to me, laying there is Shug arms. How it hurt and how much I was surprise. How it stung while I finish trimming his hair. How the blood drip down my leg and mess up my stocking. How he don't never look at me straight after that. And Nettie"(Walker112). I felt Celie's pain, as if she was just being the normal 14 year old girl she is and was having a mental break down. For a 14 year old though, she has gone through the some of the worst situations ever and in the book thus far, she has never had her moment of defeat with her emotions. She complains, but never breaks down. I heard the sobs of a truly innocent 14 year old girl when I read that, aching for some sort of normalcy because her life was any thing but. I felt the chest pains and through those lines the author accomplished placing the reader in Celie's shoes, feeling her emotions and understanding Celie is suffering more than what meets the eye to the reader. A third example where Walker uses imagery is when Nettie writes to Celie how Mr.____ tried to attack her. She states, "I had to rest, and that's when he got down from his horse and started to try to kiss me, and drag me back in the woods"(Walker126). These line give further proof as to the monster Mr.___ is and I pictured it as almost a scary seen from a movie. He acts like a predator and this show how he is one. Using imagery through out novels is very important because it places the reader in that moment in the book, it almost comes naturally while reading. Not only does it help the reader experience the book like there a character, it helps develop the story.


Nettie & Mr.__ in woods
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXkTFMqV_b4