Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Problems with racism in literature
Why are gender roles so important in joy luck club
Why are gender roles so important in joy luck club
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Problems with racism in literature
The Struggles Faced in The Color Purple and The Joy Luck Club
A common bond of struggle links the novels The Color Purple by Alice Walker and The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. Rape, suicide, death, war, oppression, and racism invade the two novels. In The Color Purple, Celie overcomes racism, violence, and other issues to find dignity and love. In the Joy Luck Club, the daughters struggle for acceptance, love, and happiness. Though the characters endure many hardships they survive not only by not becoming bitter individuals but becoming more whole individuals.
Celie in The Color Purple has struggled since the very beginning because of the poor treatment she has received by men. Being raped by her father Fonso, Celie becomes pregnant and Fonso sells both of the children that she has. Celie promises to protect Nettie, her sister, from Fonso's abuse is the first sign of her taking a stance to prevent the horrors which are occurring in her patriarchal existence. When married her husband Albert just uses her as a slave.
He perceives her as livestock, and denies her not only love but humanity (Hall, 3)
The first night together he raped her. She worked on the farm and put up with his children.
At 14 she writes notes to God on the dehumanizing nature of her existence and the humiliations she has suffered (Kirkpatrick, 846).
Although she totally devalues herself, Celie finds her sister very valuable, worth protecting. Her selflessness and lack of bitterness are evident here. Celie shows resentment and bitterness at the way she has been treated by men. Albert also betrays her by hiding all of the letters from Nettie making Celie believe that her sister is dead. She also feels betrayed by God, who seems to her to have condoned much of the strife in her life.
Celie’s life has been one of hopelessness, even longing for death as a relief from life’s hardships (Hankinson, 3)
Shug suggests to her that the ultimate goal for people is life giving rather than life denying.
Celie is also a prime example of trying to overcome her struggle to find who or what she wants to be. Shug Avery is a symbol to Celie of the ideal women that she wants to be. Shug is also a symbol of life, freedom, and love. Celie is submissive and abused often. However, she has not lost her intelligence and keeps her anger in check and doesn’t do anything rash for the sake of seeing her sister again. In ...
... middle of paper ...
... By examining the characters of The Color Purple and The Joy Luck Club, one can conclude that many of the characters face struggles throughout the two novels. Each character finds their own way to deal with their struggles. Celie finds a new self-respect and strength while the daughters in The Joy Luck Club realize the strength and dignity of her mother and learn to appreciate her Chinese heritage.
Works Cited
Hall, James C. “Towards a Map of Mis(sed) Reading: The Presence of Absence in the Color Purple” African American Review (Spring 1992):2-6
Hamiliton, Patricia L. “Feng Shui, Astrology, and the Five Elements: Traditional Chinese Belief in Amy Tan’s the Joy Luck Club” MELUS (Summer 1999):1
Hankinson, Stacie L. “From Monotheism to Pantheism: Liberation from Patriarchy in Alice Walker’s the Color Purple” Midwest Quarterly (Spring 1997): 3
Heung, Marina “Daughter-Text/Mother-Text: Matrilineage in Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club”Feminist Studies (Fall 1993): 3
Kirkpatrick, D.L. “Alice Walker” 1986. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press. 846
Schell , Orville “Amy Tan the Joy Luck Club” March 1989. New York: 1989. 92
Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. 1989. New York: G.P. Putnam
Amy Tan 's novel, The Joy Luck Club, explores the relationships and experiences of four Chinese mothers with that of their four Chinese-American daughters. The differences in the upbringing of those women born around the 1920’s in China, and their daughters born in California in the 80’s, is undeniable. The relationships between the two are difficult due to lack of understanding and the considerable amount of barriers that exist between them.
The Joy Luck Club is an emotional tale about four women who saw life as they had seen it back in China. Because the Chinese were very stereotypic, women were treated as second class citizens and were often abused. Through sad and painful experiences, these four women had tried to raise their daughters to live the American dream by giving them love and support, such things which were not available to them when they were young. These women revealed their individual accounts in narrative form as they relived it in their memories. These flashbacks transport us to the minds of these women and we see the events occur through their eyes. There were many conflicts and misunderstandings between the two generations due to their differences in upbringing and childhood. In the end, however, these conflicts would bring mother and daughter together to form a bond that would last forever.
Alice Walker grew up in rural Georgia in the mid 1900s as the daughter of two poor sharecroppers. Throughout her life, she has been forced to face and overcome arduous lessons of life. Once she managed to transfer the struggles of her life into a book, she instantaneously became a world-renowned author and Pulitzer Prize winner. The Color Purple is a riveting novel about the struggle between redemption and revenge according to Dinitia Smith. The novel takes place rural Georgia, starting in the early 1900s over a period of 30 years. Albert, also known as Mr._____, and his son Harpo must prevail over their evil acts towards other people, especially women. Albert and Harpo wrong many people throughout their lives. To be redeemed, they must first learn to love others, then reflect upon their mistakes, and finally become courageous enough to take responsibility for their actions. In The Color Purple, Alice Walker effectively develops Albert and Harpo through redemption using love, reflection, and responsibility.
Within The Color Purple by Alice Walker, women are treated as inferior to men therefore they must obey them. Through the strength and wisdoms Celie gains from other women, she learns to overcome her oppression and realize her self worth as a woman. The women she has met throughout her life, and the woman she protected since young, are the people that helped her become a strong independent woman. Sofia and Shug were there for Celie when she needed someone to look up to and depend on. Nettie was able to push Celie to become a more educated, independent person. The main source of conflict in this book is Celie’s struggle with becoming an independent woman who needs not to rely on a man. Throughout the book we see her grow as a person and become independent in many ways through her experiences with the powerful women in her life.
...lank and even her own father. Shug Avery saw her true beauty that beauty that she was never able to see. Shug constantly told her in order to help her gain condifence and embrace the beauty that she has. This type of sisterhood is important because Shug was able to be a great friend by supporting her and constantly showing Celie the real beauty that she has always had. Sisterhood is able to make one another realize and see things that are often ignored.
Whitaker, Charles. "Alice Walker: 'Color Purple' author confronts her critics and talks about her provocative new book." Ebony, May 1992, p. 86+. General OneFile, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A12290929/ITOF?u=wylrc_wyomingst&sid=ITOF&xid=fadfb6f0. Accessed 28 Nov.
She wants to escape her cruel and callous relationship with Albert, yet she feels that this is something that she cannot even try to do. However, through interaction with Shug and Sofia, Celie is exposed to new ideas. At the beginning of the novel, based on her experiences with her father and Mr. ______, Celie believes that men have to keep women in their submissive place by beating them. For example, when Celie’s stepson sought advice on his new marriage to Sophia, he asked, “what to do to make Sofia mind”(Walker 35). Celie replied for him to “beat her”(Walker 34). Her action of telling Harpo to beat Sofia demonstrates her acceptance of these gender roles that have been assigned and her willingness to conform to them. However, when the stepson tries to follow this advice, Sofia instead fights back and beats her husband, until his “two eyes close like fists” (Walker 62), when he tries to touch her her. This circumstance allows for a shift in the way that Celie thinks about gender roles, because before this instance it hasn’t occurred to her to fight back and speak up for herself. Moreover, Shug finds out that Albert is beating Celie for lots of mistakes, but most of all Celie tells Shug that Albert beats her “for being me and not you”(Walker 75). Shug is horrified by this instantly comforts her saying “I won’t leave...until I know Albert won’t even think about beating you” (Walker 75). This act of love from Shug
The Joy Luck Club daughters incontestably become Americanized as they continue to grow up. They lose their sense of Chinese values, or Chinese tradition in which their mothers tried to drill into their minds. The four young women adopt the American culture and way of life, and they think differently than their traditional Chinese mothers do, upsetting the mothers greatly. The daughters do not even understand the culture of their mothers, and vice versa. They find that the American way of thinking is very different from that of the Chinese.
In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, Ann-Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying Ying St. Clair are all women who grow up in a traditional China, where there is sexism. They deal with serious problems that corrupt their lives. Through perseverance and the passing of time their lives return to normal.
In The Color Purple by Alice Walker, numerous symbols influence and drive the plot of the novel. One of the most important symbols that Walker incorporates into the plot is the letters written by Celie to either God or Nettie, signifying the power of voice. The epistolary format of the novel itself enables readers to understand Celie, whose letters are initially addressed to God. After being raped by her stepfather at the age of fourteen, he tells her to “never tell anybody but God” (Walker 1); thus, Celie’s original letters are presented more as confessions and prayers. This first letter itself “initiates the story of Celie's unrelenting victimization” (Bloom, and Williams 77-88), and the audience notices that the way in which Celie narrates the events occurring in her life over the course of the next several letters lacks sentiment and opinion....
...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.
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
Celie endures physical and emotional abuse by some of the people around her, including her own family. But in the end, Celie finds a new and fulfilling life through relationships with her sister and good friends. The novel explores the idea that domestic violence is a trait that is passed on from generation to generation but can be unlearned. Domestic Violence was one of the most important and most critical topics that were discussed in The Color Purple. The book begins as Celie describes her initial family.
In the book “The Color Purple” the writer Alice Walker illustrates a story of bravery, struggle and oppression. The main character in the book, Celie, is shown as a submissive woman with no intention of changing. Celie turns into a strong independent woman at the end of the novel, but first she faces some very large obstacles. Walker, from the beginning, illustrates what the story will contain: “You better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mommy.”
The novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker is the story of a poor, young black girl, growing up in rural Georgia in the early twentieth century. The novel follows the protagonist, Celie, as she experiences such hardships as racism and abuse, all the while attempting to discover her own sense of self-worth. Celie expresses herself through a series of private letters that are initially addressed to God, then later to her sister Nettie. As Celie develops from an adolescent into an adult, her letters possess m...