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The Color Purple Feminist Analysis

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The Color Purple unfolds the panorama of black female reality of neo- slavery period that takes shape in the smithy of black male brutality towards black females, racial/ patriarchal oppression and misogynist assumptions. The novel focuses on the process of the self-discovery of an unlettered black southern woman. It traces the gradual growth of her radicalization and empowerment through female bonding, education and self-employment. The black feminist analysis reveals how black female radicalism, embracing of womanism, exploration of black heritage and resultant self- determination bring to fruition Celie’s quest for identity and history.
Celie succeeds in her quest for identity and history by developing an understanding of her roots and heritage and acquiring the awareness that she has a right to happiness, passion, creativity and emotional fulfilment. To exercise her rights as an individual, Celie learns to resist the advances of black men who hinder her self- fulfilment. Alice Walker has been vehemently criticized within the African- American community for her portrayal of black men as abusers and rapists. Like her literary predecessor, Zora Neale Hurston, who was criticized during the Harlem Renaissance for her feminist writing, Alice Walker has withstood the criticism. She has held on her convictions and continued to be a spokesman for the cause of the oppressed black woman. In her oeuvre, she explores,” the issue of the spiritual survival of black people” ( Smith 450)

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