Miss Millie In The Color Purple

A common human behavior due to illusory superiority is to overestimate skill, capability or perception of oneself in comparison to others or underestimate it. Alice Walker, a black woman herself, and a partaker of feminist and anti-racist activism creates a scenario that nearly every person from any cultural background can identify with. Miss Millie in The Color Purple has internalized racism and refuses to acknowledge it, maintaining that she is “less racist” than the “other white people”. While viewing herself as superior among blacks and whites, Miss Millie remains in denial about her subtle racism. She is unaware of the fact that her comments are insults rather than the compliments she assumes them to be. This disconnect fuels Sofia’s response,

“Hell no”, as an offended person of color. Through the use of imagery, language, and the character’s unconscious and conscious motives, Walker accurately depicts a scene bursting with themes of racism, sexism, and cultural stereotypes.
Alice Walker was born in 1944 and lived in a critical era of civil rights for blacks in America. A victim of the systematic injustice and internalized racism inflicted upon her due to skin color, she has written a book set in 1909-1949 that could be read as if it took place today. Consequently, her personal life and the lives, experiences, and traits of the people around her have unconsciously affected the text. The encounter between Sofia and Millie can be identified by cultures throughout the US. An experience witnessed and lived through by many people. Internalized racism between races and within cultures is apparent in the novel, “Just what is it bout this Shug Avery anyway, he say. She black as tar, she nappy headed. She got legs like baseball bats,” Albert’s father refers to Shug Avery, wounding and disparaging the common traits of an African American woman, although he is black as well. Common stereotypes of the African American community, e.g. “they smell dirty”, “dreads are unprofessional”, and “blacks are lazy”, the novel dismisses these same stereotypes that permeate our society.
Publishing the novel in 1978, Walker lived through the 50’s oppression and the 60’s civil rights movement along with its radical feminism. No doubt has this affected the creation of such polar opposite characters that are Sofia and Miss Celie. Miss Celie, a withdrawn shy woman has become quieted and insecure due to the years of sexual abuse and subservience. However, Sofia, a strong, independent woman, has fought her way through abuse from her family and husband in order for her survival. Differences of personality and mindset aside, the racism and sexism of the time deeply affect both of them. Harpo’s struggle to make Sofia conform to wifely duties and his control lead to her leaving him, while Celie with Shug’s help is able to find herself and leave Albert. The sides of racism are not only a harsh truth, but also an unconscious parallel on Walker’s part.
Sofia has survived with her hands and words as her only ally.

In her eyes, growing up with a family that would beat on her, leaving an abusive and diffident husband, and doing a man’s work in the fields, her "Hell no" is not only a result from Millie’s comments. “I had to fight my brothers. I had to fight my cousins and my uncles. A girl child ain’t safe in a family of men. But I never thought I’d have to fight in my own house. She let out her breath. I loves Harpo, she say. God knows I do. But I’ll kill him dead before I let him beat me” (Walker 423). To Sofia, the thought of subservience under a white woman would be a crime against her character and ultimately, her freedom. The mere implication of being a maid under control of another woman and to care for her children is an insult in itself. Not only is the question an outrage, but an audacious question of utter disconnect and disrespect as

well.
Miss Millie, a post-colonial white woman, reaps the benefits of high social standing and light skin.

Thus, being praised for doing nothing outstanding or even having character, Millie suffers from an illusory superiority complex. The Dunning-Kruger study investigates the cognitive bias that leads incompetent men and women to believe they are higher in character, skill, and adequacy than others, "The miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others." (Dunning-Kruger 1127) Her actions are offensive and comments more so, but as a result of such a bias, Millie believes that she is better than the rest of society. However, as the novel goes on it is revealed that Millie has no friends and is unable to drive. Miss Millie takes praise in that she is less racist than other white people, “Oh, she say, I couldn’t ride in a pick-up with a strange colored man,” but is in fact racist in subtler ways. Her complex allows her to believe she is an overall good person and forego her racist comments. These comments based on stereotypes are not actually compliments, but insults to Sofia's race. “ Cute as little buttons though, she say. She stop, put her hand on one of the children head. Say, and such strong white teef…“She say to Sofia, All your children so clean, she say, would you like to work for me, be my maid?” Millie grabs the children, disrespecting personal space, and gawks at

their cleanliness as if blacks cannot take care of themselves. In treating Sofia’s children this way, toys, Millie has internalized racism herself. She has strict notions and stereotypes of the black community and believes that when these ideas are not true, her comments would be compliments. Despite this, Millie is not necessarily a bad person. She is a product of her times and her society. The social standing she has maintained places her, in her mind, above whites and blacks altogether.
Sofia and Millie are similar as they both have unconscious intentions during their encounter. A repressed desire and fear in Millie drives her impulse question to have Sofia as a maid. She views such clean, well-behaved children and her own insecurity as a mother comes to light. Whereas Sofia’s “Hell no” has more meaning in her subconscious mind than just a simple answer to white power and racism. Herself, an abused black woman, is not responding to just Millie. Sofia’s direct stern answer is directed to every white person and every black person that has tried to take advantage and or will try to take advantage of Sofia in the future. The “Hell no” is a statement of survival and vitality.
The Color Purple is an example of literature that has remained constant in its relevancy since its publication. Sofia’s encounter with Millie is a daily occurrence in nations worldwide. Her “Hell no” is a warranted response to the subservience white people have forced upon African Americans in addition to the constant abuse and misogyny black women face. Millie is an example of the everyday white woman whose class and social standing prompt her unawareness about social problems and her own racist misgivings. Alice Walker’s novel explores this deep-rooted racism intertwined with social class and sexism. Walker writes from the events that have marked her life, other’s lives, and the cruelty that has scarred the black community for years. Hence, the softened racism in the form of stereotypical comments, white superiority complexes, and the sexism towards women of color that fills the novel.