The Color Purple: Character Analysis – Alphonso and Harpo

Alphonso

Pa is a remorseless child molester at the beginning of the book, and unfortunately no better at the end of his life. He has a fetish for teenage girls, and our first introduction to him is when he rapes his fourteen-year-old step-daughter, Celie. He seems to only value women for sex and take care of his home. Even as an old man when Celie confronts him about not being her real father, Pa feels no guilt about his treatment of Celie. He’s also married to a fifteen-year-old girl named Daisy.

 

Harpo

Harpo has some issues. Naturally, he’s a really nice guy and enjoys domestic activities like cooking and taking care of a house. However, because society and his father’s behavior tells him that the domestic realm is for women only, Harpo runs into a lot of unnecessary conflict in life. If left to his own devices, he’d be happy to be in a harmonious relationship with his wife, Sofia. However, believing that “manly” men dominate their wives, he’s constantly causing himself marital problems.
    Over the course of the book, Harpo begins to feel more comfortable with himself and realizes that he’s pretty happy being a stay-at-home dad. Harpo is one of the numerous examples in this novel of characters not fitting into the gender roles.