Previous
Personification
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
The Color Purple is set in the American Deep South—specifically Georgia, where Celie was born, raised, and currently lives—as well as Africa (during the sections of the novel in which Nettie shares her perspective). These two settings are juxtaposed with one another: the rural Deep South, where Celie and Nettie grow up, is relatively sheltered from other regions of the country, let alone foreign countries.
Both Nettie and Celie take for granted that the conditions they were raised in are the conditions all Black people must endure. As they grow older, they learn to challenge those assumptions and deviate from the behavior and attitudes society prescribes for them. The knowledge Nettie acquires through her travels—both to New York and Africa—offer a broader view of the world, a more diverse and varied look at the experiences of Black people. These settings are critical to both Celie and Nettie's character growth and self-actualization.
Over time, as both Celie and her sister change and develop as people, Georgia becomes less of a dismal place and more of a home. Both women learn that found family is just as important—if not more so—than the family into which a person is born. As the two women learn to make their own families, "home" shifts from an inhospitable and toxic place to a comforting one.
Related Themes:
