Alice Walker's The Color Purple holds enormous historical and social relevance across a thirty-year spectrum of time periods and movements, including the Harlem Renaissance, the gradual development of civil law and women's human rights, the destruction of rich African civilizations by European companies and the outbreak of World War II. Over the course of a person's life, major social issues and their subsequent historical significance undergo a kind of evolution, as with each new era new problems emerge. The life of Miss Celie, a poor southern black woman in the early to mid 1900s evolves with questions of historical significance throughout her life. Walker uses Celie as an emblem of what it meant to grow up and develop in the United States during a time when slavery was a recently abolished practice. Celie represents, in a way, an entire population of abused black women who have begun to fight for their rights, to find their pride and worth, and, as a result, to refuse to defend the abuse they have suffered for so long. In stark contrast, Walker also uses Nettie's journey to show the horrific destruction of African culture by white Europeans in pursuit of power and wealth. In further analysis and development of historical significance, Walker uses Shug Avery to demonstrate the importance of black culture and the Harlem Renaissance. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Walker uses the historical context of his novel as a basis upon which to analyze the presence of God and what it truly means to understand the importance of the simple beauty of finding one's purpose in such an omnipresent world of things. meaning indifferent to time or place. She, in fact, uses the setting of oppression and abuse to demonstrate how irrelevant the setting is to finding one's life purpose. The Color Purple is so rich in historical context and related analysis of that context, that it would be impossible to examine the novel without noting the importance of the historical setting and Walker's masterful manipulation of it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay In the early 1900s, poor Southern African American communities where abuse was tolerated and considered normal were common. Since African Americans had just gained their basic human right to freedom, there was also a startling lack of education among Black Americans. Both of these issues affected Celie's early life drastically. Her stepfather molested her and harshly disposed of the resulting children, scolding her to “never tell anyone but God” (Walker, 3). He also frequently abused her before practically selling her to Mister, a violent black man described in the musical as someone who “holds the whip like he has a horse waiting,” whose wife she became (Russell, 27). Mr. continued Celie's childhood abuse, perpetuated Celie's accepted rape, and further threatened her safety at every turn. In this historical culture, “an adult child [was] a dangerous thing” (Walker, 59). Celie, like so many others, was, in her nature as a young adult woman, an innocent and undeserving target for culturally appropriate abuse and destructive behavior; it was an object to be “sold” (Walker, 26). As Celie's life progresses, she finally learns to stand up to her domestic oppressors and demand to be treated as more than a human being. He forces the Mister to recognize that he is a person worthy of dignity by subtly but powerfully stating, “I am here” (Walker, 196). Celie,, 1982.