The Spirit of Freedom in The Color Purple and Their Eyes Were Watching God
Freedom takes many different forms. There is personal freedom, societal freedom, mental freedom, and physical freedom. Freedom is not tangible, but may be achieved through many experiences. Different aspects of freedom are apparent in both The Color Purple and Their Eyes Were Watching God. In The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, the freedom moves from the outside into Celie and then out again. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, the freedom stems from within Janie but is prompted by certain outside forces. Both women experience freedom, and the freedom grows from within and is radiated outward.
In The Color Purple Celie evolves from being oppressed by Mr.____ and society to being free in every possible sense. The spark of freedom starts from within her and radiates outward with each new catalyst. Shug is Celie's first source of freedom. She teaches Celie to be free in her thoughts and to respect what she thinks and feels. Shug makes Celie realize that it's okay to think what she thinks and to feel what she feels. "Why Miss Celie, she say, you still a virgin" (Walker p.81).
Sofia is Celie's second source of freedom. While Sofia herself does not tell Celie anything, she relates free feelings and ideas to Celie. For a time, Sofia was, in every way, unfree. And Celie knew that Sofia did not want to be that way. Celie learned that she could never give up hope, and that made her actions free.
Although Mr._____ oppressed and hindered Celie, he was finally a source of freedom. When he gave Celie the telegram that said Nettie was dead, and all her letters t...
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...her life. When he was gone she had nothing else to look after in life except herself. She was like a little seed, able to blow in the wind and go wherever she chose to go. Janie's mind, spirit, and body were free. "She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net... [and] she called in her soul to come and see" (Hurston p. ?).
Freedom is a central theme in these two novels. Freedom is a subjective concept and each person must ultimately find his or her own freedom in order to be truly free. The character's freedom often stems from other characters or events but is always a result of inner strength and will-power. The supporting characters or events act only to bring out the inner freedom and to empower that freedom. As Epictetus once said, "He is free who lives as he chooses." And both these characters were finally able to live as they chose.
Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God describes the life of Janie, a black woman at the turn of the century. Janie is raised by her Grandmother and spends her life traveling with different men until she finally returnes home. Robert E. Hemenway has said about the book, “Their Eyes Were Watching God is ... one of the most revealing treatments in modern literature of a woman’s quest for a satisfying life” I partially disagree with Hemenway because, although Janie is on a quest, it is not for a satisfying life. I believe that she is on a quest for someone on whom to lean. Although she achieves a somewhat satisfying life, Janie’s quest is for dependence rather than satisfaction.
In Zora Neale Hurston’s romantic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, two settings are contrasted to reinforce the author’s theme of a search for true love. The setting of Eatonville, Florida, where main character Janie experiences life as the mayor’s wife, is contrasted with the Florida Everglades, where Janie lives with Tea Cake in a much more relaxed atmosphere.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, freedom can be defined as the quality or state of being free: as liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another. During the 1800’s there were thousands of slaves in the southern region of the United States hoping to achieve a state of liberation. One of those slaves was a young woman by the name of Harriet Jacobs. She became the author of a slave narrative titled Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, which describes her life as a slave under the pseudonym Linda Brent. I believe Harriet Jacobs used Linda Brent to tell her story not only to protect those who were involved, such as her children and her grandmother, but also because she was an escaped slave and had been under the constant threat of being tracked down and having her freedom taken away from her. Like the majority of those enslaved at that time, freedom meant everything to Harriet Jacobs. To Harriet Jacobs freedom meant having individual liberties, but more importantly having the somatic rights to choose what happens to her body and who has claim to it, if at all. Discovering exactly what these freedoms meant to her will mean taking a look into her story through Linda.
The book The Color Purple was written by Alice Walker. The book was not written in a conventional manner. It was a series of letters spanning the life of Celie, the main character. Most of the letters were written by Celie and some by her sister Nettie. The theme of the book is to be true to yourself in spite of difficulties and never let go of what you believe in. Do not let people make you think you are something that you are not, then you have the will to survive during the worst of times.
Freedom is very important in Stephen King’s Novel, “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.” Andy, is a clear example of how the author feels about freedom as well as what freedom means to him. “I asked him once what the posters meant to him, and he gave me a peculiar, surprised sort of look. 'Why, they mean the same thing to me as they do to most cons, I guess,' he said. 'Freedom. You look at those pretty women, and you feel like you could almost ... not quite but almost step right through and be beside them.”(King 1982:32). Posters inspire freedom in Andy, allowing him to feel free in ways of imagination, but also, feel as if he were being portrayed in the posters. Andy also feels the same way in relation to freedom, whilst portraying an attitude as if he were a free man. “Andy Dufresne wasn't much like me or anyone else I ever knew since I came inside. He brought in five hundred dollars jammed up his back porch, but somehow that graymeat son of a bitch managed to bring in something else, as well. A sense...
The idea of freedom can be seen throughout Collection 2 in our textbook. Freedom can be seen in the short story “The Censors” by Luisa Valenzuela when it talks about the freedom of speech. Addition to that, an article “A People’s History Of The 1963 March On Washington” by Charles Euchner shows freedom in its article when it talks about the segregation occurring to colored men. Lastly, freedom is shown in the graphic novel “Persepolis 2: The Story Of A Return” by Marjane Satrapi as it shows high restriction.
This essay has compared the differences between the societies in these two novels. There is one great similarity however that both make me thankful for having been born into a freethinking society where a person can be truly free. Our present society may not be truly perfect, but as these two novels show, it could be worse.
The second most important relationship that develops in Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple”, is the relationship between Celie and Shug. Even before Celie meets Shug, she is envious of her; she starts with just word of mouth, then a picture, until finally they meet. Shug represents everything that is frowned upon in the patriarchal society. She is fatherless, sexually promiscuous, and a very talented singer. She is a strong, independent, and free woman, and because of this she is outcast from society.
Mosquitoes, fever and even death may be some of the things that come to mind when we're asked to think about West Nile Virus. Many of us would consider mosquitoes a small trade-off for what the summertime provides, but what if there were more at risk than a bump above your skin and an itch? In a not so distant past West Nile Virus ascended into news broadcasts all throughout the country and alarming it's residents. Today however, that all seems to be an afterthought. The intentions today are to cover the first found cases of West Nile Virus, the symptoms of West Nile Virus, and finally West Nile Virus' impact on the United States. Through the research here, the hope is that we can all have a better understanding of how West Nile Virus works.
With the second wave of women's rights surfacing, Disney upgraded their roles of females as well. With The Little Mermaid(1989), Aladdin(1992), and Beauty and the Beast(1991), they all had different roles, and they shared one specific trait: curiosity. They also strived for something new. Belle was the most remarkable with the fact that what defined her was her brains and intellect. Beauty and the Beast really pushed the patriarchal views of women in France at the time. Gaston being th...
Butler, Stephanie. "Lip Smackin’ Good: Southern Barbecue." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 02 Aug. 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Briefly introducing the background of this book, the time period of this book is in the early 20 century after abolition of slavery. But even slavery was abolished, the issue of slavery had remained in this era. This paper describes the evidence of slavery in The Color Purple after abolishing legacy of slavery.
... Janie is free-spirited and unconcerned about what others think of her. When she returns to Eatonville after Tea Cake’s death, she shows no shame for what she has done or where she has been, because she is finally able to live the life she always wanted to lead. Hurston’s own struggles in life for individuality and an outlet for her suppressed spirit clearly contribute to the development of Janie’s character. Just as Hurston struggled for recognition, equality, and purpose in the literary world during the Harlem Renaissance, Janie’s struggle for the recognition, equality, and purpose in her relationships.
...ed her horribly and degraded her by saying she was unfit and promiscuous. The confusing relationship she had with Hamlet and death of her father led to Ophelia’s madness and soon after suicide. He was the cause of the murder this is the deterioration of his character and see it when he confesses his love for Ophelia at her funeral that its too late.