I found it interesting that Celie compares men to frogs several times in the book. I was wondering: why frogs? Frogs in fairy tales are usually associated with males, but not because they are repulsive; they’re associated with kissing and turning into princes. The men in The Color Purple who Celie compares to frogs don’t turn into princes; they stay frogs forever in her eyes. The frogs in fairy tales start out repulsive, but then they convince the princesses to kiss them with their charms. Once they’ve been kissed, they become physically attractive to the princesses. The opposite is true of the men in the book. Once Celie’s relationships become physical, she is more repulsed than she was in the first place because of the abusive way in which she is treated.
I guess I just wouldn’t have chosen frogs because they don’t bother me. I always liked catching frogs when I was little, but they are quite revolting to some people. So I wanted to see if anyone else has an opinion as to why Alice Walker chose frogs to compare men to in this book. Any ideas?
I was wondering about this as well. I thought about the prince thing. I wondered about Mr.______ and how in the end, he ends up coming full circle from where he had been. He almost did turn into the prince, however it was far too late to save the princess. On another line of thought, frogs are slimy and cold. "Bloodless" or "lifeless." "No heart." I'm just talking from what initially is coming to my mind. Also, when I read about men being frogs, all I could think of was the shape of their bodies. When you hold a frog up from it's arms, they have very wide top half and very gangly legs. I'm sure the frog analogy goes far deeper than physical appearance, but you have to admit that when you think about it really hard, me kind of do tend to have similar body shape. haha
I found it interesting that Celie compares men to frogs several times in the book. I was wondering: why frogs? Frogs in fairy tales are usually associated with males, but not because they are repulsive; they’re associated with kissing and turning into princes. The men in The Color Purple who Celie compares to frogs don’t turn into princes; they stay frogs forever in her eyes. The frogs in fairy tales start out repulsive, but then they convince the princesses to kiss them with their charms. Once they’ve been kissed, they become physically attractive to the princesses. The opposite is true of the men in the book. Once Celie’s relationships become physical, she is more repulsed than she was in the first place because of the abusive way in which she is treated.
ReplyDeleteI guess I just wouldn’t have chosen frogs because they don’t bother me. I always liked catching frogs when I was little, but they are quite revolting to some people. So I wanted to see if anyone else has an opinion as to why Alice Walker chose frogs to compare men to in this book. Any ideas?
I was wondering about this as well. I thought about the prince thing. I wondered about Mr.______ and how in the end, he ends up coming full circle from where he had been. He almost did turn into the prince, however it was far too late to save the princess. On another line of thought, frogs are slimy and cold. "Bloodless" or "lifeless." "No heart." I'm just talking from what initially is coming to my mind.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when I read about men being frogs, all I could think of was the shape of their bodies. When you hold a frog up from it's arms, they have very wide top half and very gangly legs. I'm sure the frog analogy goes far deeper than physical appearance, but you have to admit that when you think about it really hard, me kind of do tend to have similar body shape. haha