Examples Of Oppression In The Color Purple

The Latin root means “pressed against,” and oppression feels like a pair of hands pressing your head, keeping you down. In The Color Purple by Alice Walker, there is physical as well as psychological abuse. In spite of this heavy misery, there is a great extent of personal strength, fighting spirit and courage in the characters. There are various types of oppression in The Color Purple, and the novel majorly demonstrates double-oppression, by sex and race. Another minor form of oppression is religious oppression.

Firstly, gender oppression is shown throughout the novel, and it is even known for being a feminist book. Gender oppression is shown by the way males and females are divided, the treatment of women by men, and the systematic

White people like the mayor and his wife assume that it’s a great honor for a black woman to be a white lady’s housemaid. However, since Sofia is unwilling to place herself in a degrading position, the white mayor and police beat her in order to reassert their racial dominance. Racism is normalised and this presented itself within the black community itself. “She seem like a right sweet little thing, I say to Sofia… Yeah, say Sofia, with a real puzzle look on her face, I wonder why she was ever born. Well, I say, us don’t have to wonder that bout darkies,” (106). Sofia and Celie joke about the differences between white and black people. Sofia, because she’s been a victim of racism and racial violence, is puzzled that a white child can be nice. They also mention how they “don’t have to wonder that bout darkies”, this indicates that the reason black people are born is definite, and although this is a joke, it shines the light on some truth, and that is that black people back then were often products of rape or “made” for labour work. “Well, say Sofia, I was so use to sitting up there next to her teaching her how to drive, that I just naturally clammed into the front seat… That’s the problem, she say. Have you ever seen a white person and a colored lady sitting side by side in a car, when one of 'em wasn’t showing the other one how to drive it or clean it?” (109). The mayor’s wife feels no shame in saying that a black person in the front seat is abnormal, in fact it seems as though she has no problem with it, therefore this shows that racism is widely