The Color Purple And Women’s Issues Women have battled for centuries to be equivalent to men. In “The Color Purple," Alice Walker illustrates the theme of women’s heartache, racist acts, and complications of a day to day woman. The Color Purple took place during a demeaning era to not only African American women but African Americans in general were treated inhumane. African American women submitted themselves to controlling men due to the belief of that’s how it should be. During this time, women were used for manual and sexual labor. They were referred as one’s property, hardly spoken of or treated like human-beings. Women faced lack of self-love and identity therefore the definition of love was clouded. In The Color Purple, the main character …show more content…
If you don’t have self-love, it’s hard to find what you aren’t familiar with. “Over and over again, Celie accepts abuse and victimization”(Henderson 67). Through victimization, self-blame starts to form over time. Celie wanted a clear statement of what was actually happening to her and why. She redirected her thoughts to the higher power, God.”Dear God, I am fourteen years old. I have always been a good girl. Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me.”(Proudfit 53) Blaming themselves, woman often search for the missing piece in their …show more content…
Walker made known she believed that despite the challenges in your life you can over come with guidance and motivation. “ Women in general are not a part of the corrupt of the past so they give a new kind of leadership” (Royster 85). The novel is based on the revolution of women out of a form of slavery.” Celie finds a glimpse of courage when she identifies with the character, Shug Avery. Celie is exposed to confidence and self- love. “Transformation from a life of shame to self esteem occurs when Celie receives the embrace of the real Shug Avery”(Byerman 91) This foreign world of cherishing one’s self was amazing. After carrying herself as irrelevant and empty, suddenly she aspired to be more. “Celie’s ability eventually to stand up and leave due in part to her discovering a definition of God that is large enough to encompass even the poor, ugly black women that feels to be herself. Also a part in discovering within herself the ability to love and to be loved”(Winchell
Alice Walker’s love of Zora Neale Hurston is well known. She was the only one who went looking for Hurston’s grave. She describes her journey to get to the unmarked grave in her book, In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens. During that journey, Walker started to feel as if Hurston is family to her, an aunt. “By this time, I am, of course, completely into being Zora’s niece… Besides, as far as I’m concerned, she is my aunt – and that of all black people as well” (Ong). Walker’s book, The Color Purple, was influenced by Hurston and her works. Walker was greatly influenced by Hurston and her book The Color Purple has similarities to Hurston’s book Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Reading this novel gave readers a related experience to the character of Celie because of the knowledge we acquire about the past centuries. Walker wanted to expose the racism, violence, and sexism of the early era and she did in fact do it correctly. This book has been banned in several places because of the contents of the novel. This just goes to show that Miss Walker accomplished the message that she was trying to get through to her readers. Of course, parents did not approve of her novel because it was too visual even though children learn about a rhetorical device called imagery in middle
According to Webster’s dictionary, abuse is treating (a person or an animal) with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly. In The Color Purple, abuse appears to merge into daily routines; whether it is physically or mentally, all characters appear to face abuse. The way people are abused can directly relate in how they treat others. Those who are abused often end up abusing others as well. Throughout The Color Purple, Mr.--, later to be revealed to be Albert, oppresses many of those in his life because when he was younger, he himself was oppressed, but as things in his life change, he learns how to love and to ignore the societal norms around relationships.
...novel Celie’s traumatic experiences have had a great impact on the entirety of her life. Once married she constantly lived in fear being incapable of love and unable to control her misguided sexual emotions.
No person today views women as someone to look down to anymore. Women have earned their spot in world. Thanks to the women in our past, we the future have the power to control our lives. Alice Walker’s book The Color Purple really makes the reader understand that no one should take what comes easily to us now for granted. Yesterday that is something they fought for. Walker uses the main character Celie as an example of someone who fought for her life. Walker portrays Celie as a women during the time period who has absolutely nothing,no rights at all. Then as time goes on she gains a fortune just as women today have every moment of the day. We are now able to learn and work, we can even vote or rule over men in certain cases. We have the power and it all started with the women who fought for their
The Color Purple is focused on a young fourteen-year-old girl named Celie who grown up fast in the South. Celie was raped by her father and gave birth to two children of her own. Celie was told her children died in childbirth. Her mother died leaving her and her siblings living with her father. Her father pushed her into marriage to a widower, which made her a stepmother to his children at a young age. She was abused physically and mentally, but not spiritually because her faith was in God. She addresses God in her letters. She had challenges in her life with her family and marriage. She became stronger and overcame different obstacles in her life with the help of her faith in God, sister Nettie who helped her learn how to read and write, before Celie's husband tried to attack, and rape her.
Alice Walker’s writings were greatly influenced by the political and societal happenings around her during the 1960s and 1970s. She not only wrote about events that were taking place, she participated in them as well. Her devoted time and energy into society is very evident in her works. The Color Purple, one of Walker’s most prized novels, sends out a social message that concerns women’s struggle for freedom in a society where they are viewed as inferior to men. The events that happened during and previous to her writing of The Color Purple had a tremendous impact on the standpoint of the novel.
Throughout history, man continues to make decisions, whether they may be harmful to others or not. In older times, society found it acceptable to beat women and order them around as though they are slaves and pets, doing as they will. It was more often portrayed that African women were the subjects of their husband’s wrath if they refused to do as told, whether the abuse occurred as physical, mental, or verbal. Alice Walker’s The Color Purple effortlessly portrays that men commonly overrule women within the African American society when abuse was completely acceptable.
imprisoned for a subjective seven years. Grange finds the North unfulfilling and comes back to Bread cook District, which is the main place he is aware of as home.
Colorism has became a huge issue in today’s society. Colorism is an issue because, it is a form of racism, it reflects back on the days of slavery, it is overall rude, and jail terms are affected.
Patriarchal silencing can be enforced in three different ways; physical abuse, emotional abuse, and social demands and/or expectations. Although both books have opposite cultural and racial factors that influence the way in which the women in the books are treated, we can still see that these three ways of silencing women are present. In Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple”, the form of patriarchal silencing that is most prominent is the viole...
There are numerous works of literature that recount a story- a story from which inspiration flourishes, providing a source of liberating motivation to its audience, or a story that simply aspires to touch the hearts and souls of all of those who read it. One of the most prevalent themes in historical types of these kinds of literature is racism. In America specifically, African Americans endured racism heavily, especially in the South, and did not gain equal rights until the 1960s. In her renowned book The Color Purple, Alice Walker narrates the journey of an African American woman, Celie Johnson (Harris), who experiences racism, sexism, and enduring hardships throughout the course of her life; nonetheless, through the help of friends and family, she is able to overcome her obstacles and grow into a stronger, more self-assured individual. While there are numerous themes transpiring throughout the course of the novel, the symbolism is one of the strongest prospects for instigating the plot. In The Color Purple by Alice Walker, numerous symbols influence and drive the plot of the novel.
Alice Walker is an American author who wrote a controversial novel during the civil rights movement. This novel, ‘The Color Purple’, is based on the ideas of racism, sexism, and freedom. As an author, Alice Walker was very active in the civil rights movement and her childhood greatly influenced her writing. In her novel, Walker uses diary entries to create a musical sense which makes her novel connected and rhythmic. Also, Walker’s work embraces black culture and how people had to live during times of racial segregation. Alice Walker bases her characters on her own life struggles to convey a message to the readers of staying strong and having perseverance through challenges in life.
...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.
horrible treatment of others towards her. Celie then meets a singer named Shug Avery. Through Shug’s love, Celie begins to realize her own self-worth, which increases her ability to stand up for herself and to not to only love and take care of others, but to love and take care of herself.