Today I’m continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge! This year I’m doing an A-Z of Colours. I’ll be doing a variety of posts, including haikus and poems, arts and crafts, fashion and beauty, recipes and more!
Keep reading to discover the symbolism behind this colour, read about the novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker and see one of my favourite poems.
Symbolism
Purple was one of the colours of the women’s suffrage movement in the 20th Century and during the 60s and 70s it was associated with psychedelic drugs and music, such as ‘Purple Haze’ by Jimi Hendrix and the band Deep Purple. Like lavender, purple is sometimes associated with the LGBT movement.
Complementary colours: Orange/Yellow
Foods: Blueberry macarons, some sweets eg M&Ms, blueberry icecream, purple yams, red grapes, beetroot, eggplants/aubergines,
Book Spotlight: The Color Purple
The Color Purple by Alice Walker is one of my favourite books. It’s set in the American Deep South in the 1930s and addresses various issues, including the treatment of both women and people of colour. It’s not a light-hearted read. Throughout the novel, women are seen as property, and marriage as a trade. The main character, Celie is abused both physically and psychologically by almost all the men in her life. One of her husbands, Albert, says to her: “You black, you pore, you ugly, you a woman. Goddam, […] you nothing at all”.
The novel has many sad and shocking parts, but Celie never lets her situation break her spirits. She remains hopeful that things will get better and always manages to see the good in everything and keep her faith in God. I really admire that about her.
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it. […]People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.”
‘When I Am Old’ by Jenny Joseph
I couldn’t let a Purple-themed post go by without sharing this gem of a poem:
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat that doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me,
And I shall spend my pension
on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals,
and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired,
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells,
And run my stick along the public railings,
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people’s gardens,
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat,
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go,
Or only bread and pickle for a week,
And hoard pens and pencils and beer mats
and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry,
And pay our rent and not swear in the street,
And set a good example for the children.
We will have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me
are not too shocked and surprised,
When suddenly I am old
and start to wear purple!
This poem always makes me think of appreciating the little things in life and having the confidence to be who you are without worrying about what people think of you.
My Purple Polyvore Creations
I read The Color Purple at school, and thought it was wonderful – even after having to write several essays on it. I love the poem too – I’d love to be just like that when I’m old!
Annalisa, writing A-Z vignettes, at Wake Up, Eat, Write, Sleep
I read The Color Purple at school, and thought it was wonderful – even after having to write several essays on it. I love the poem too – I'd love to be just like that when I'm old!
Annalisa, writing A-Z vignettes, at Wake Up, Eat, Write, Sleep
Blue is my favorite, but purple is a beautiful color.
Blue is my favorite, but purple is a beautiful color.