It is evidenced by Celie as she struggles to survive and to define oneself apart from the controlling, manipulative, and abusive men in her life. Celie lived her entire life surrounded by a male-dominated society. She became a
The myth of Philomela and the Color purple show how women were victimized and censored by society where men hold power and women are excluded from it and stop women or silence them not to speak out. For instance, in Ovid Men have power over women and they are in control, as Tereus is given Procne to marry him because he protected Athens and Procne has no say or has no right to refuse the proposal. On the other hand, in the Color Purple, Celie’s stepfather treat her mother like an object as he keep her pregnant which lead to her death.
In the novel women stick together, they empower each other and help one other in issues that they go through. Feminism is the main theme of this novel Sofia, Celie and Shug all portray the idea of feminism, standing up as women and being empowered as women. Literature criticism looks at feminism in literature and the color purple is an example of novels that use feminism literature feminism- feminism literature criticism looks at the equal treatment of women in socially, economically and politically in the color purple women are oppressed socially, economically and politically. Characters in the color purple are challenged with the challenged of actually challenging the patriarchal society. Celie was oppressed socially, economically and psychologically, she was a slave to the society she lived, she was abused by her father and husband and everyman that was in her life, even to some point she felt like she was a slave to God that God was just like any other man in her life that just use her and never taker her seriously.at the end Celie start free and she gains her strength, the pants that makes symbolizes her breaking free from the patriarchal society that she lived in and also her challenged the patriarchal society and its rules.
During the early 1900’s, women were treated with less respect than men. They were obligated to be married at a young age and their education wasn’t a priority. Imagine being a black women during this time. That’s was how it was for Celie, a young black women in rural Georgia. Celie was raped by her father, had her two children taken away from her, and forced into marriage, where she is more a servant than a wife, before she was in her late 20’s.
In The Color Purple, Celie extreme oppression by the patriarchal males in her life forces her to not have respect for herself or other women. Alice Walker, depicts Celie as a young girl who is oblivious that what is happening to her is amiss. She is constantly told she is ugly and not good enough. These statements allow her to be raped, bullied, and prevented from having
Celie is able to change who her trusted confidant is very quickly, showing God was never a friend; instead He was a placeholder for someone Celie could openly trust. This was a turning point in the novel because Celie is rejecting God from her life. Mahdi Deghani attributes this rejection to the “fear of God [which] has prevented her from standing up to her tyrannical patriarchal force which is imposed upon her” (Dehghani 452). At the start of the relationship, Celie was afraid of God instead of loving Him, showing the fear Celie had on all the authoritative men in her life. To Celie, God is just another man who never responds to help her, which is why the relationship never allowed her to become more self-confident.
The proper historical orientation is very important to realize and restate the inherent forms of violence in The Color Purple. The era of racial segregation and black woman’s turmoil is critical in forming Walker’s vision in The Color Purple. Though much has been talked about feminist issues and political elements in the novel, yet very few have critically analyzed it as a novel of Violence- Violence through acts, speeches and social commentary. It is a story which links silence to violence. Before we dwell into the paper, let us read the broader definition of violence which would weave the pattern of my paper.
For instance, when Alice Walker was younger she was “Afraid of interacting with other children and adults, [so] Alice began to spend more and more time reading, writing poetry, and quietly observing the people around her” (Fish and Fish 10). This is much like how socially awkward the character, Celie, was described in The Color Purple. Celie many times often referred to herself as ugly in the novel and as well as Walker who “didn’t know any of the other students and she refused to look at them because she was ashamed of her appearance” (Fish and Fish 9). As one can see these two young women had very similar mindsets growing up. Another example would be, in the novel whenever Celie would get pregnant her father would take them away and the reader would infer that the child would then be killed by him.
Family Family is a large part of The Color Purple. Alice walker says makes many points about various subjects, but her opinion on family is clear. Family is not defined by blood relation or marriage, or any traditional connection. This is very clear in The Color Purple, through the life of Celie and her journey as a person Celie is introduced as an abused child/mother of her Pa’s children. She is raped by him often, and has fathered many of his children.
“The colour purple” explores the struggle of several black women of the rural Georgia in the beginning of the twentieth century. Walker uses Celie as her central protagonist, and narrator of The Color Purple. She is a poor, uninformed, fourteen-year-old black girl living in rural Georgia. Celie starts writing letters to God because her father, Alphonso, hits and rapes her. Alphonso has already impregnated Celie once.