The Color Purple Analysis

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The Color Purple
The Color Purple depicts the struggle within the life of the female protagonist, Celie. Celie, a clear victim of abuse, narrates the story through a collection of writings that starts with her confession of “Dear God.” Celie’s story encompasses around her life and the characters that breaks the common gender depiction. The story heavily addresses the subject of social and behavioral standards for either men and women. It raises an issues on traditional marital subjects, family patriarchy, and social topics. In a traditional take of the family structure, the man often exhibits the dominant male figure head with the final say. The father provides the money and security for the wife and children as well as claim authority over the family. He becomes very work oriented and cares for the children only in times of need. On the other hand, the woman acts to be passive and pleases her husband. She plays a major role in raising and educating the children in every way possible. Often times, the woman takes a small part in maintaining a profession; although, she holds responsibility for all house work. The societal perspective of the patriarchal family system relies so heavily on gender roles that it becomes an expectation and the regulated norm. The Color Purple disrupts this gender norm by introducing characters that faces marital issues due to being the opposite of the typical gender role. Because they embody the opposite gender’s likely attributes, it becomes a questioning issue that leads to striving to live up to social norms or dealing with society disapproval. Within the progression of the novel, the women possess a sense of empowerment while as the men accept how things are in the world. The introducti...

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...ce of social gender departure releases her from oppression that came with emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. The significant change from her passive self to a feminine assertiveness develops out of her encounter with the people and events that goes against traditional views of social acceptance as it breaks common views on behavior and attributes. The development allows Celie to identify the people around her as the people she loves and care for, essentially becoming her people. The Color Purple becomes a contemporary text that becomes relatable to issues of identity and acceptance as well as addresses the existence of the continuing problem. Just as Celie says at the end of the novel when she narrates the conservation she shared with Mr. ____, the ability to “live her life and be herself no matter what” becomes a capability to her and the other characters.

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