Walker demonstrates through her writings that the oppression of Black women is both internal and external. Like most of the characters in her novels, Walker is a product of her racist, rural, Southern environment in which the rural Black woman faces oppression at every turn. Walker was born in Eatonton, Georgia in 1944 at the beginning of the Civil Rights Era (Whitted). Walker faced segregation and discrimination while growing up in one of the most notoriously racist Southern states of the 19th and 20th centuries. She ... ... middle of paper ... ...27 Aug. 2013.
Black people were seen as lesser beings in contrast to their white counterparts. However, not only are all of the colored characters within The Color Purple forced, by means of oppression, into their social positions because they are not white, but also because some of them are women, lesbian, and lower class. As Crenshaw explains, “[b]ecause of their intersectional identity as both women and of color within discourses that are shaped to respond to one or the other, women of color are marginalized within both” (Crenshaw 5). Celie, the main character in the novel, is given enormous adult responsibility from a young age. After the death of her mother, she is pulled out of school in order to... ... middle of paper ... ...in their respective Black (home) communities and the White (Georgia) dominated community they are apart of.
Ira Mark Milne. Vol. 20. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center.
Vol. 70. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Literature Resources from Gale. Web.
Southwest Review 82.2 (Spring 1997). Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Anna J.
Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. Timpe, Eugene F. "Hesse's Siddhartha and the Bhagavad Gita."
Janet Witalec. Vol. 143. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center.
Black female writers have become increasingly aware of the negative stereotyping and oppression suffered by black women. In an article entitled "Dear Black Man," Fran Sanders discussed the plight of the black woman in American society (73-79). According to Sanders, the black man is already seen and heard by society (73). The black woman, however, has been misrepresented throughout history by historians, novelists, and statisticians as a "castrating matriarch" (74). Sanders stated that black women have long been a "secondary consideration" in relation to other genders and races in society (74).
The writings of both the poets strictly tend to focus on the issues concerning racism, ethnicity, prejudice; slavery, inner struggles, and the pursuit of achieve freedom and equality in the society. Both Nadine Gordimer and Patricia Smith are regarded as two of the most renowned contributors to this field of literature. When reading both pieces of literature I noticed a few differences to the story as well. One of the differences was in the poem “what it’s like to be a black girl” the main character was coping with growing up and dealing with all the struggles that being a young black girl goes through. With “country lovers” the conflict was interracial.
Detroit: Gale Group, 1999. Literature Resource Center. Web. 2 Apr. 2012.