Forcefully silenced into submission and subject to continuous abuse by the man, she thought was her father, Celie adopts the private mode of letter writing to express her grievances. Growing up in a southern working class household, Celie is exposed to the full force of sexism in a primarily black society. Addressing her concerns to God, the first letter immediately brings to light the plight of the innocent girl child who is rudely forced to acknowledge her womanhood at the age of fourteen when she is constantly raped and impregnated by her step father. The letters are written in the first person but even though she assumes the “I”, she does not sign the letters as she is perhaps aware that her private life is still dictated by the patriarch of the household. This can also be read as conscious attempt on Walker’s part to suggest that the plight of Celie is the plight of most black women of her age, hence the deliberate omission. The novel opens with the silencing of the girl child, “You better tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy” (Walker 8), so that what emerges is the figure of the obedient slave, “the mule of the world…carrying the burden that everyone else refused to carry”(Walker, “In Search Of” 237), who assumes the gender role thrust upon her by a society which seems to sanction abuse.
The letters in the first half of the novel, though addressed to God are more of a dialogue with the self. They are open, honest and provide a black woman’s reality where notions of race and sex intersect as oppressive forces in a predominantly patriarchal set up. Her abuse is limited to the domestic space and continues even when she is married to Mr._ who marries her but for convenience and looks her up and down as he would a farm ani...
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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.
The Color Purple shows the intersectionality of oppression and the issues women had to deal with such as their sexuality,gender,race. One of the biggest problems this book was facing was Sexsism. In the beginning of novel, one of the main characters, Celie reveals to the readers how she has no control over her life. Celie’s mother dies due to a heart break. Her father which is also the father of her two children who she refers to as ”Pa” abuses her on a daily base. She writes many letters speaking to God. She shows that she doesn't respect her husband because she really never refers to his name. The Color Purple faces issues such as sexsim. The power of women was distorted and challenged. Black feminism cues that sexsism, classism,
The overall message of the book is that woman should stand up to men if they are being oppressed by them. Celie learns that she can be who she really is instead of shying away from reality. "Celie, she say, Do you love me? She down on her knees by now, tears falling all over the place. My heart hurt so much I can't believe it. How can it keep beating, feeling like this? But I'm a woman. I love you, I say. Whatever happen, whatever you do, I love you” (Walker 250). A woman named Shug is brought into Celie’s life and they have a deep love and respect for one another. Shug really cares about Celie and she helps Celie learn how to love herself. Feminism is a key theme of The Color
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
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 nobody 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 ...
Celie is a victim of mistreatment and isolation in a world that considers women inferior to men. To instill fear and obedience in women, men conduct themselves in a hostile manner towards women. They manage women similar to slaves and sexually dominate them. When Celie is barely fourteen her stepfather, causing her to become pregnant twice, violates her multiple times. In a letter to God, Celie writes “I cry. He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and git used to it” (Walker 11). Intended merely to satisfy Pa, Celie...
The novel begins with the intense and graphic description of Celie being raped by her father. During this violation Celie states that, “When that hurt, I cry. He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and git used to it. But I don’t ever get used to it” (Walker 1). The very specific dialect that Walker uses in these three short sentences creates a very grim and severe tone that helps deepen the understanding and severity of Celie’s situation. A sense of inferiority is established through Celie’s father’s demand that she must “get used to it” because he is the superior male and she must listen to him. Walker uses this tone to immediately establish the traditional gender roles that are woven throughout the novel. In addition to the male’s
Introduction The movie I have chosen for this assignment is “The Color Purple.” In this film, we follow the story of a young black woman, Celie, as she endures racial profiling and gender expectations during the early nineteen hundreds. This is a film, based off a novel written by Alice Walker, that portrays not only the oppression of one group, but also three (women, blacks, and black women). I have seen the workings of status, gender stereotypes, body image, and sexuality within this film as I watched this woman mature in mind as well as spirit. Movie Summary Raised in an abusive household with her mother and stepfather, Celie gives birth to two children fathered by her stepfather and each is taken away from her soon after their births.
One of the prevalent issues in this book is the numerous sexual encounters Celie is forced or consensually involved in. “You better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy.” (Walker 1) This is the dialogue that opens the book and is warning to Celie from her father. The novel starts when Celie was fourteen years old and is raped by her father for the first time. While she lives with her father and mother she has two children fathered by her father. After she gives birth to the children she presumes them dead after her father takes them. Later in the book readers find out that Celie’...
Shelton, Frank W. "Alienation and Integration in Alice Walker's The Color Purple." CLA Journal 28 (1985): 382-92.
When Celie’s mother left, she played the role of a mother to care and protect her sister, but she started to notice that Mr.__ was looking at her sister in a way that she knew was not okay. Nettie was afraid but Celie knew that God had everything in control (Williams). According to Tate, “The novel evolves as Celie, a fourteen-year-old black girl, confides in God through letters about what has happened to her. She has been raped by a man whom she assu...
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.
African-American people have had to mount over many obstacles to get their standing today. First was the selling of their people into slavery. Then, they endured slavery itself, being treated like animals. After slavery was abolished, colored people still had to deal with racial discrimination, demoralization, subjugation and hatred, especially colored women. Black women have had to face unbelievable odds at obtaining self-assurance.
Sedgewick observes, one’s social position is affected by various axis of classification such as gender, sexuality, race, class and the interplay of these social identities. In The Color Purple by Alice walker, Sedgewick’s observations ring true. Celie, the main character in Walker’s novel, is a perfect example of these observations put forth by Sedgewick. Celie’s social position is indicative of her gender, sexuality, race, and class; as a Black woman living in Georgia in 1910 to 1940, one can expect to witness the general ‘acceptable’ racism present within the novel towards people of color. Despite the ‘acceptable’ racism, the novel accentuates the hardships and struggles the women of color in this novel have to go through. The social positions of the characters, more so Celie and Sofia, in Walker’s The Color Purple are based on the social identities of their gender, race, class, sexuality, and ethnicity.
The concept of racial and gender equality has expanded greatly throughout the twentieth century, both in society and in literature. These changes influence Walker's writing, allowing her to create a novel that chronicles the development of a discriminated black woman. Her main character, Celie, progresses from oppression to self-sufficiency, thereby symbolizing the racial and gender advancements our country has achieved. Celie expresses this accomplishment when she states at the end of the novel that "this the youngest [she] ever felt" declaring that her final step into female empowerment has allowed her to begin her new, independent life (Walker 295).