Analysis Of Alice Walker's Images Of Black Masculinity

729 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender issues in literature

Brandon Woody ENGL-3326-101 Dr. Terrence Tucker 6/17/2015 Alice Walker?s Images of Black Masculinity ?The Third Life of Grange Copeland?, the debut novel of Alice Walker, was published during a pivotal time in literature. Along with Walker, women writers such as Toni Morrison, Germaine Greer, and Kate Millet, were offering their unfiltered views on femininity to a literary world that had long held narrow-minded standards in regard to women discussing subjects such as gender, race, and sexuality; Alice Walker?s aforementioned 1970 novel touched on all of these topics. Walker, like writers such as Richard Wright and James Baldwin, wrote of the struggles African Americans experienced as the endured …show more content…

narrative focuses on a father and son, Grange and Brownfield Copeland, and illustrates how their respective demons and destructive tendencies affect the people around them. In the opening chapter of the novel, the reader is introduced to Grange as he exhibits abusive tendencies towards his wife, Margaret, while he is in a drunken state. ?Late Saturday night Grange would come home lurching drunk, threatening to kill his wife and Brownfield, he threatened Margaret and she ran and hid in the woods with Brownfield huddled at her feet? (Walker 14). Grange?s prolific consumption of alcohol seems to be a conscious effort to blunt the feeling inferiority he feels as marginalized citizen in southern society. Grange Copeland?s fits of violent anger seems to be misdirected at his family instead of the person whom he truly hates: Shipley. Shipley?s intimidating presence presents a plethora of problems for Grange Copeland and his family. Walker illustrates that the mere sight of Shipley strikes fear into the very soul of Grange, a feeling that his young son experiences as well, ?Brownfield was afraid of his father?s silence? his father?s face froze into an unnaturally bland mask, curious and unsettling to see? …show more content…

Brownfield seeing his father paralyzed by fear when in the presence of another man causes him to lose respect for the patriarchal figure and his reverence for the Caucasian landowner to grow, ?Brownfield, trembling?filled with terror of this man who could, by his presence alone, turn his father might as well been a pebble? (Walker 10). Brownfield?s mental image of his father being a masculine figure to be respected and feared is forever ruined. Not only does Shipley cause Brownfield to become disillusioned with his father, he also creates a chasm between Grange and the most important person in his life: Margaret. The author presents a scenario towards the end of the book where Grange reminisces on a bygone time in which he failed to protect his wife from being dishonored by the man whose land he sharecrops on, ??Grange, save me! Grange, help me!? He had plugged his ears with whiskey, telling himself as he was not to blame for his wife?s unforgivable sin?he had blames Margaret he blamed Shipley, all the Shipleys in the world?

Show More
Related

  • The Character of Judge Pyncheon Revealed in Hawthorne's The House of Seven Gables

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The House of Seven Gables, reveals Judge Pyncheon’s character in a strategic manner to show the shallowness in Judge Pyncheon’s good deeds. The author uses the position of details, diction, and tone to express his dislike for Judge Pyncheon’s character and also to reveal the judges character as two-fold, first good, then evil.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Samuel Butler's 'The Way Of All Flesh'

    1508 Words  | 4 Pages

    Early into the novel Overton gives an overview of the conditions Theobald is growing up in; along with most boys of the upper class Theobald’s father “thrashed his boys two or three times a week and some weeks a good deal oftener, but in those days fathers were always thrashing their boys.” (Butler, 17). “As a child, (Ernest) believes all that is told: that he is, for example, a wicked, ungrateful boy who deserves Theobald’s frequent beatings,” Deborah Core analyzes Butler’s novel as focusing on how naïve Ernest is as a result of the way his father has treated him (Core). In continuation to Core, Butler points out how the parenting styles of the time period work against their main goal; Ernest ended up in prison and against Christianity entirely after attending Cambridge University at the orders of his

    Read More

  • Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, and Paule Marshall

    5114 Words  | 11 Pages

    Walker and Marshall write about an identity that they have found with African-American women of the past. They both refer to great writers such as Zora Neale Hurston or Phillis Wheatley. But more importantly, they connect themselves to their ancestors. The see that their writings can be identified with what the unknown African-American women of the past longed to say but they did not have the freedom to do so. They both admire many literary greats such as Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, and Jane Austen, but they appreciate these authors' works more than they can identify with them.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography On Black Masculinity In The South

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    Richardson, Riche. Black Masculinity and the U.S. South: From Uncle Tom to Gangsta. University of Georgia Press, 2010. Print.

    Read More

  • The Creation of Women's Identities in the Color Purple by Alice Walker

    550 Words  | 2 Pages

    If we read The Color Purple with 'gender on the agenda' as required we can identify how the form contributes to the impact of the narrative. The Color Purple is a story that unfolds through the writing and exchange of letters. Opening with the line 'You better not never tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mammy.' A warning issued by the abusive 'father' (later and importantly discovered to be step-father) of the central character Celie who indeed pours out her secret to God and later to her sister Nettie about her life and her pain.

    Read More

  • Racial Struggles and Maternal Creativity: Analysing Du Bois and Walker

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    Du Bois opening of his first chapter with 'Of our spiritual striving ' 'in his literature The Soul Of Black Folks illustrate the soul of a black young boy who saw his life in two different world, the world of a black and white person; the life of been a black and a problem in the hill of New England where he grew up and faced racial discrimination. He was a sociologist,writer and educator; he was a controversial leader of the negro thought. Alice Walker wrote about how creative and artistic our mothers and grandmother were in the 1920s in her essay 'In Search Of Our Mother 's Garden ' Alice Walker grew up in the 1960s in south Georgia where her mother worked as a maid to help support the family 's eight children. She grew up seeing the

    Read More

  • Finn Essay

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...d by the two families show that behind the civilized persona, the true actions of the feud reveal their dark human nature. This darker nature is mob mentality in which the basis of their family feud is a basis of none that can be remembered, causing the feud to be a meaningless struggle between the two families. Through these ironic actions of the Shepherdsons and the Grangerford families, Twain reveals the darker sides of the human nature.

    Read More

  • Adopted Heritage in Alice Walker's Everyday Use

    1707 Words  | 4 Pages

    Each of us is raised within a culture, a set of traditions handed down by those before us. As individuals, we view and experience common heritage in subtly differing ways. Within smaller communities and families, deeply felt traditions serve to enrich this common heritage. Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" explores how, in her eagerness to claim an ancient heritage, a woman may deny herself the substantive personal experience of familial traditions.

    Read More

  • Alice Walker

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alice Walker is an African American essayist, novelist and poet. She is described as a “black feminist.”(Ten on Ten) Alice Walker tries to incorporate the concepts of her heritage that are absent into her essays; such things as how women should be independent and find their special talent or art to make their life better. Throughout Walker’s essay entitled “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens,” I determined there were three factors that aided Walker gain the concepts of her heritage which are through artistic ability, her foremothers and artistic models.

    Read More

  • Alice Walker: Eyes into the Soul of a Black Woman

    1305 Words  | 3 Pages

    Realism is often portrayed by writers such as Alice Walker. Her poems, essays, short stories, and novels portray her views on feminism and civil rights while giving a realist approach that has provoked readers for many years. Her horrific and brutally honest writing style made the world see a different view of minority women and allowed her to receive the Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Color Purple (“Alice Walker”). She lived a life of poverty and racial discrimination, which led her to become an opinionated feminist. Walker’s realistic writing style portrays her obscure upbringing and her feminist opinions; in her work The Color Purple, she shows the aspects of growing up as a minority woman and the frequency of racial discrimination.

    Read More

  • Influences That Shape Gender Roles in The Color Purple by Alice Walker

    575 Words  | 2 Pages

    Both males and females have influences that help decide the ways in which they think, dress, speak, and act within the situation of society. Cultural and personal gender roles are a big influence on the way people live. Learning plays a role in this process of shaping gender roles. Peers, parents, movies, teachers, television, books, and movies could all teach and reinforce gender roles throughout the lifespan.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Leon Forrest's A Tree More Ancient Than Eden

    1515 Words  | 4 Pages

    By using figures such as Louis Armstrong, Abraham Lincoln, and Harriet Tubman, the author deals to provide a relevance to the readers. Some characters within the novel are old enough to remember slavery and their presence lets Nathaniel be influenced by their experiences. The author introduced us Jericho who was half-white; yet, his own father treated him as a slave. The history of his family and other African Americans pushes the narrator to develop a perspective of being disliked because of his race. The incorporation of slavery in his ancestor by the author revives history and its effects on the narrator. The novel deals with the 1960’s as well as connecting to the past through Sweetie’s letter to the president. We are introduced to issues such as the War on Poverty and student revolts, along with African American concerns. In addition, Forrest’s indulgence of various historical events are purposed to evoke the moods of darkness and fear. The detailed episodes of the Great Flood, Middle Passage, and the migration of African-Americans, along with the vision of a black Mary under a tree more ancient than Eden, invokes the conscious acknowledgement of the suffering of the black race from centuries ago. The author injects such episodes into Nathaniel’s stream of consciousness to suggest the continuity

    Read More

  • Intersection of Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality define Social Positions in Alice Walkers The Color Purple

    1352 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Post Feminism In Alice Walker's Color Purple

    1516 Words  | 4 Pages

    For centuries, women struggle to obtain equality with men. They are invisible and not given opportunities because of their gender. Feminism is the matter of consideration in social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. The feminist movement has been the key to give the rights to women who have been stricken of their equality and privileges that men had fail to give them. It is believed that women have every right to be equal with men and feminism is achieving this gradually. Feminism is favorable to the men, women, and their families because it gives an equal opportunity in life

    Read More

  • The Sociological Criticism of Alice Walker

    1447 Words  | 3 Pages

    The definition of sociology is the study of society. Social criticism is the practice of analyzing a literary work by examining the cultural, political and economical context in which it was written or received. Alice Walker’s work demonstrates this type criticism very well; from The Color Purple to Everyday Use, or any of her earlier short stories. The majority of her work reveals the struggle of African Americans in society, especially women. Furthermore, her stories mirror a lot of the social characteristic that were taking place in America, from the 1940’s on; thus, making Alice Walker the epitome of sociological criticisms.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Alice Walker's Images Of Black Masculinity

Open Document