The Color Purple, written by Alice Walker, is a very heavy book to read. The author focuses on the very difficult and harsh aspects of the lives of poor, African-American women at the beginning of the 20th century. Alice Walker truly shows that no one is exempt from the possibility of a happy life and conscious connection with themselves and all that surrounds them in nature, regardless of the trials and tribulations of their past. Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944. She grew up in Eatonton as the youngest child of eight children. His parents, Minnie Grant and Willie Walker, were poor sharecroppers. Alice grew up in a poor family and with a life of violent racism. Her environment left a lasting impression on her writing ("Alice Walker"). When she was eight years old, Alice and her brother were playing "Cowboys and Indians" when she became blind in her right eye. This incident occurred near a BB gun pallet. She was teased by her classmates and misunderstood by her family and became shy. She isolated herself from her classmates and explains: “I no longer felt like the girl I was. I felt old and, because I felt it, I was unpleasant to look at, full of shame." He had the amazing opportunity to have his cataracts removed when he was fourteen. It was removed, but her vision in her right eye never returned. When she was in high school she was voted prom queen and graduated as the school's valedictorian. Alice continued her journey by entering Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia ("Biography"). When she was a freshman she was invited to attend the home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1963 she heard King's "I Have A Dream" speech. Walker was given the opportunity for a scholarship to Sarah Lawrence College and she accepted. She was one of very few black students at Sarah Lawrence College ("Alice Walker"). In Alice's senior year she experimented