Another example of symbolism in “The Colour Purple” is laughter as a representation for healing. For instance, when Corrine is speaking about her child, Celie is in obvious emotional pain since she has the suspicion that this is actually her own daughter- the child looks painstakingly similar to Celie. To this, Corrine replies with a kind laugh or chuckle.Corrine chuckles since she realizes the underlying sadness felt by Celie. This laugh is meant to attempt to heal Celie’s emotional pain.
“Somebody ole would have eyes like that. So I call her ole Livia. She chuckle.”“The Colour Purple”- Page 16.
Moreover, this symbolism can also be illustrated when Celie and
Sofia are talking about their husbands beating them. Sofia initially feels anger towards
Celie for telling Harpo to beat her. However, she starts to feel sorry for
Celie because Mr.
constantly beats Celie. Accordingly, Celie is apologetic for telling Harpo that
he should beat Sofia. Even so, Celie remains jealous of how Sofia can stand up
for herself, while she can not. Nevertheless, the scene ends with them both
laughing together. Celie and Sofia are both laughing to
ease each other’s
painful situations. They are attempting to make the situation better and heal
one another’s
burdens. The laughter depicts hope and attempts to heal the painful domestic
disputes of both women.
“Not much funny to me. That funny. I laugh. She laugh. Then we both laugh so hard us flop down on the step.”“The Colour Purple” -Page 44.
The author uses symbolism
here to indicate how at times, laughter truly is the best medicine, and that we
can benefit from laughter to help us through tough times, as displayed by the
characters in “The Colour Purple”.
These characters are provided with emotional support from each other,
through the joy of laughter, and in the end this helps them achieve a better
quality of life. Overall, the author utilizes laughter to indicate a
person healing emotionally.