Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia. Her mother, Minnie Tallulah Grant Walker, and her father, Willie Lee Walker, were poor sharecroppers. As the eighth and youngest child in the family, she grew up in the midst of violent racism, which combined with her family's poverty left a permanent impression on her writing. Her works are known for their portrayals of the African American woman's life. She depicts vividly the racism and poverty …showed first 75 words of 1273 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1273 total…Her central character triumphs over adversity and forgives those who oppressed her. This central theme of the triumph of good over evil is no doubt the source of the book's great success. Using her life as the mainstay for the novel, Alice Walker was able to pour her ideals into the novel. She shared her thoughts on racism, poverty, women, family, self-reliance, and religion with the world through her award winning novel The Color Purple.