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Sexism and womanism in the color purple
Essays on women's issues in the color purple
Sexism and womanism in the color purple
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In this essay, I will discuss a scholarly analysis of the film, The Color Purple, by Hardev Kaur. Kaur examines the film through the lens of third-wave feminism and racial oppression (Kaur). The article explores how women are silenced and repressed in patriarchal families and expressing one’s owns desires can be an of resistance. It also explains how women can gain power by developing strong friendships with other women. It asserts that sisterhood is the key to black female liberation. In the article, Kaur points out how patriarchy silences women’s voices and ignores their desires. The Color Purple addresses this through the Celie’s character, a teenage girl who suffers abuse at the hands of her father and is burdened with
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.
Alice Walker's The Color Purple is a touching story of one African American woman's journey through abuse and oppression to finding her own voice and self-worth as well as definite place in the world around her. The novel is written in an epistolary format and has a very confessional and emotionally raw tone. Through using this format, Walker has more freedom to weave an impressive network of heartfelt themes and colorful characters, in addition to displaying her talents for delivering to her readers an addictive and suspenseful plot.
Patriarchal silencing can be enforced in three different ways; physical abuse, emotional abuse, and social demands and/or expectations. Although both books have opposite cultural and racial factors that influence the way in which the women in the books are treated, we can still see that these three ways of silencing women are present. In Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple”, the form of patriarchal silencing that is most prominent is the viole...
There are numerous works of literature that recount a story- a story from which inspiration flourishes, providing a source of liberating motivation to its audience, or a story that simply aspires to touch the hearts and souls of all of those who read it. One of the most prevalent themes in historical types of these kinds of literature is racism. In America specifically, African Americans endured racism heavily, especially in the South, and did not gain equal rights until the 1960s. In her renowned book The Color Purple, Alice Walker narrates the journey of an African American woman, Celie Johnson (Harris), who experiences racism, sexism, and enduring hardships throughout the course of her life; nonetheless, through the help of friends and family, she is able to overcome her obstacles and grow into a stronger, more self-assured individual. While there are numerous themes transpiring throughout the course of the novel, the symbolism is one of the strongest prospects for instigating the plot. In The Color Purple by Alice Walker, numerous symbols influence and drive the plot of the novel.
It is very evident that genders dictate the standing of people all around the world. This statement more often concerns women's roles. By adding the aspect of color to this situation makes everything much more restricted, making it very difficult to live in any community. These women are isolated from society. The worst of their hardships include having to tolerate the violence and racist behaviors of both white men and women. A colored woman not only has to face a harsh and racist society, but also the abuse from black men. This topic is very obvious as a main component utilized by both contemporary writers Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. Both these authors aim to portray the experiences of black women in their novels. In Walker's The Color Purple (along with its screen adaptation, directed by Steven Spielberg [1985], the main character, Celie, is required to take care of her family after the death of her mother. In Morrison's Beloved, the main character, Sethe, describes her life when she meets a ghost that turns out to be her child that she killed in order to save her from slavery. Both works discuss the power of the community, the graphics of violence and rape, and most of all the equality of men and women. Although these topics were discussed in depth in both works, the description of the acts in Beloved proved the cliché 'a picture is worth a thousand words' wrong.
When an author writes a novel, a narrative method must be chosen which will effectively and uniquely convey the plot and characters to the readers. Epistolary novels are written as a collection of documents which are usually in the form of letters. This method of using letters to present the plot adds realism to stories by mimicking real-life letters and allowing the voice of a specific narrator to be experienced more intimately. This method of storytelling is most exceptionally presented in The Colour Purple, by Alice Walker, as the novel is made up of letters written by Celie, the protagonist and her experiences in an era when women had little power. In fact, her ability to write these letters allows the reader to recognize both her attempts at gaining power and her desperate struggle against her male-dominated society. This novel focuses on the oppression of African-American women, specifically by males, during the twentieth-Century in America (Christian 2). Walker writes this novel in an epistolary form so that it allows her protagonist to establish her own life as an individual while also telling the story that Walker so intricately wants to weave. Walker’s excellent use of these letters reveals Celie’s struggles to gain self-esteem, independence and to remove herself from the isolation she so desperately experiences. Walker’s intricate use of the letters allows the reader to connect to Celie on a far more personal and intense level than a regular form of narration would permit.
The Color Purple depicts the struggle within the life of the female protagonist, Celie. Celie, a clear victim of abuse, narrates the story through a collection of writings that starts with her confession of “Dear God.” Celie’s story encompasses around her life and the characters that breaks the common gender depiction. The story heavily addresses the subject of social and behavioral standards for either men and women. It raises an issues on traditional marital subjects, family patriarchy, and social topics. In a traditional take of the family structure, the man often exhibits the dominant male figure head with the final say. The father provides the money and security for the wife and children as well as claim authority over the family. He becomes very work oriented and cares for the children only in times of need. On the other hand, the woman acts to be passive and pleases her husband. She plays a major role in raising and educating the children in every way possible. Often times, the woman takes a small part in maintaining a profession; although, she holds responsibility for all house work. The societal perspective of the patriarchal family system relies so heavily on gender roles that it becomes an expectation and the regulated norm. The Color Purple disrupts this gender norm by introducing characters that faces marital issues due to being the opposite of the typical gender role. Because they embody the opposite gender’s likely attributes, it becomes a questioning issue that leads to striving to live up to social norms or dealing with society disapproval. Within the progression of the novel, the women possess a sense of empowerment while as the men accept how things are in the world. The introducti...
In The Color Purple, Alice Walker explores the life of a beaten, black woman who triumphantly finds her way in life, Celie. She writes letters to God, then transitions into letters to her sister Nettie throughout the course of the story. The book begins with Celie at age 14 and ends with her at an estimated age of 55. At a young age, she is raped by her ‘father’ then is forced to marry a man named Mr.___, or otherwise known as Albert. Celie is a sensible woman who learns to deal with the curveballs that are thrown at her. She raises Mr.___’s children, looses her sister, and takes regular beatings from her husband. Soon, Shug Avery is introduced; she is Mr.___’s long time mistress, a blue’s singer, and a lover. Celie and Shug’s relationship starts out rocky, but they end up just as sisters. Shug is pivotal to Celie’s growth throughout the book. Celie is the ultimate one in control of her life, she grows a thick backbone and becomes a successful woman on her own.
Alice Walker grew up in rural Georgia in the mid 1900s as the daughter of two poor sharecroppers. Throughout her life, she has been forced to face and overcome demanding lessons of life. She transferred the struggles of her life into a book, that got her awarded a Pulitzer Prize and she became known as a world renowned author. The Color Purple is a compelling novel about redemption and revenge. The conflict between racism, sexism, and the power of strong female relationships is how Alice expressed her life and incorporated it into the story.
By situating part of her novel in Africa, Walker creates an all black space where she can decouple racial and patriarchal oppression. In doing so, she brings to light how a history of oppression toward women within black communities has limited the freedom and agency that black women are able to attain. More than this, Walker’s novel serves to recast black women’s role not only within black communities in America, but also within black communities in the diaspora. Through The Color Purple, Walker is responding to movements aimed at improving the lives of black people that ignore the patriarchal systems of oppression that put down black women. By developing a complementary story line set in Africa, Walker is able to show that solving racial oppression alone in America will not ameliorate conditions for black women.
Life can be unfair and cruel, but it can also be filled with love and caring people. Some people forget all the good in the world and focus on the bad. The Color Purple is a very empowering novel that explores sexism and discrimination through the 1900s to the 1950s. Women in the novel, like Celie and Sofia, are treated differently because they are female and they are also black. Celie finds her voice by the end of the book because of certain powerful situations she has to overcome through her life. Sofia gets her family back after being abused by the white power. Then, Mr.__ is influenced by gender oppression and treats women cruelly. Mr. __ starts to learn how strong woman is and how cruel he used to be. Celie, Sofia, and Mr. ___ all make
In today’s advanced societies, many laws require men and women to be treated equally. However, in many aspects of life they are still in a subordinated position. Women often do not have equal wages as the men in the same areas; they are still referred to as the “more vulnerable” sex and are highly influenced by men. Choosing my Extended Essay topic I wanted to investigate novels that depict stories in which we can see how exposed women are to the will of men surrounding them. I believe that as being woman I can learn from the way these characters overcome their limitations and become independent, fully liberated from their barriers. When I first saw the movie “Precious” (based on Sapphire’s “Push”) I was shocked at how unprotected the heroine, Precious, is towards society. She is an African-American teenage girl who struggles with accepting herself and her past, but the cruel “unwritten laws” of her time constantly prevent her rise until she becomes the part of a community that will empower her to triumph over her barriers. “The Color Purple” is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker which tells the story of a black woman’s, Celie’s, striving for emancipation. (Whitted, 2004) These novels share a similar focus, the self-actualization of a multi-disadvantaged character who with the help of her surrounding will be able to triumph over her original status. In both “The Color Purple” and “Push”, the main characters are exposed to the desire of the men surrounding them, and are doubly vulnerable in society because not only are they women but they also belong to the African-American race, which embodies another barrier for them to emancipate in a world where the white race is still superior to, and more desired as theirs.
The Color Purple revolves around the life of Celie, a young black woman growing up in the poverty-ridden South. In order to find herself and gain independence, Celie must deal with all manner of abuse, including misogyny, racism and poverty. When she is a young girl of just 14, Celie is sexually assaulted by a man she believes is her father. She has two children by her rapist, both of who he takes to a Reverend. When her mother dies, this man known as "Pa" marries Celie to a man she will only refer to as "Mr. ___."
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 Color Purple is a story of transformation, of the will of one woman against all the men in her life, of the strength faith and friends can give one another, and finally of the happiness one finds in being content with what one has. Although there are stereotypical elements for both men and women, within the multi-dimensions of main characters, traditional roles are replaced with more complex concepts. Living during the early 1900’s, a young girl overcome years of abuse, betrayal, and becomes an independent, confident woman. Through strength and endurance, Celie is able to find truth through the female bonds and friendships of unconditional love. By investigating the direction and strength of casual relationships between gendered phen...