2010 Level II First Place Winner

Shannon Ferrie, Grade 8, Columbia Middle School, Berkeley Heights

Teacher:  Donna Marcy

Letter written to Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple

Dear Alice Walker,

            Unwanted and left alone with no visible bruises to be shown.  This is the result of verbal abuse.  A person’s heart is left with a combination of low self-esteem and self-pity.  It is something overcome not in a day or even a month, sometimes not even in a year.  It is a journey on which we embark from the moment when our offender is turned in.  The person who turned him in does not matter.  If we can conjure up the courage to do it ourselves, that just means that we are more strong-willed than many others.  I say “we” because I too have embarked on this journey as did Celie, in The Color Purple.

            Celie suffered more unforgiveable abuse than I have, but we were both too ignorant to realize it.  I just thought he was being mean.  He took advantage of our innocence, my brother and me, but my mother, she understood for this was not her first turn with abuse.  She will not admit it to me, though the look on her face betrayed her. You could feel the pain vibrating through her skin.

            My mother has the strength that I have not developed yet.  She managed to free herself from the grasp of his claws.  She was able to free her thoughts into the abyss and lose herself long enough to call the cops.  My mother stopped him in his tracks, his stampede was brought to a halt and although she is still hurting, she is making progress toward getting better.

            My mother used the police and my brother and me as her ventilation system.  Celie used Shug to carry her through to a period of happiness.  Shug brought her from the dark basement and through the dimly lit stairway to the beautiful new day of the top floor.  I too help my mother to get to that top floor, but you have shown me that it is going to take time.  She has to make this journey on her own.  The first steps are her choice alone, but Ryan and I will be there to support her along the way.

            I must make my own journery of self-discovery and find a renewal of faith.  A faith in mankind to know that there is such a thing as love.  I have to realize that persistence is the key to redemption.  I need to be able to believe that I am beautiful and that it is my right to be happy.  I too need to find faith in the color purple.

            Thank you, Alice Walker!  Through Celie my journey was guided and she set forth the path I followed.  She is an inspiration for all of us who have been abused and felt unloved.  She shows in her unconventional way that we can change how we are treated by changing our choices and the choices others make for us.  I hope to become as prosperous in my dreams as she was in hers.

Love always,

Shannon Ferrie