Throughout The Color Purple there is a clear sense of racial tension running alongside the issues of feminism which are continuous. Each member of Celie’s family along with her husband’s children and Shug’s family are poor, ill educated, badly housed and exploited blacks living in poverty in the American South although Mr_______ seems to be a landowner and comfortably off. The characters in the novel who are exempt from this description are Nettie’s benefactors, Samuel and Corinne who resort to travelling to Africa in order to achieve fulfilment by becoming successful as missionaries; however this is not an economic compromise; their religious zeal appears to sit above their desire for material possessions. Later in the novel Nettie tells Tashi’s father about why the education of women is so important. This quotation clearly depicts Nettie’s uniformed views that women and men should be treated as equals. At this stage in the novel she finally sums up the courage to tell someone, more importantly a man that “the world is changing. It is no longer a world just for boys and men.” This is a clear cut example of the fulfilment she gains from her African experiences in feeling able to share her views without fear of persecution or judgement.
Unfortunately, their mission was blighted when the Olinka people, whom they aimed to save and evangelise did not take them seriously – likening them to white men; interfering and useless. Comparably Hester Prynne is expedited by the puritan society as she bears the scarlet letter on the scaffold whilst in full view in the market-place, below the governors, amid the townspeople. “Ah, but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart” unmistakeably displays the undertow of sexism which lies beneath the religious fervour in the Scarlet Letter as the quotation appears to place blame only in the hands of Hester Prynne and ignores the responsibility of the man whom is jointly responsible for the conception of her child, Pearl which is comparable to the racial undertow beneath the feminism in The Color Purple.
The minority of the characters in the novel who become fulfilled serve to emphasise the plight of the rest. Shug Avery, as a successful blues singer lives a life of comparative luxury as she is able to travel and sustain financial independence. Some of this affluence comes also to Celie as her ambitions are fulfilled when her dressmaking business takes off. Nettie’s hopes of being part of a loving family are accomplished when Samuel and Corinne foster her and aid her in achieving an education as well as a career. Similarly as the character of Hester develops throughout the novel, however instead of being nurtured herself Hester becomes the maternal figure with respect to society, uncovering the unstated fact that her punishment stems in part from the town fathers’ sexism and the sexist forces under which women themselves suffer. Hester, by the novel’s end has become a protofeminist mother figure to the women of the community – a woman who anticipated modern feminist concepts yet lived in a time when the term “feminist” was unknown. Hester helped them to break free from the pressures of society and enabling them to fulfil the duties they have to themselves as human beings, rather than the obedient women they have been groomed to be.
Sofia’s story in The Color Purple illustrates the hazards of being a black woman in Georgia during the nineteen thirties. The character of Sofia is independent, strong and spirited yet the spark of her assertive character is diminished when she is reduced to utter helplessness at the hands of the mayor after she dares to answer back to his wife, Miss Millie. It is certainly possible that Walker created the character of Miss Millie merely to highlight the character of Celie; she is a spineless creature whose weakness is emphasised by Sofia’s strength, both physically and her strength of spirit. Sofia refuses to be patronised and makes the mistake of ‘looking like somebody’ driving in a car, which as a black woman was unusual in itself. Her character is truly revealed however when Sofia replies to the mayor’s wife’s offer of menial work with a “Hell, no”. Further to this, the beating she receives is out of all proportion to the offence she committed but the ruling class of whites show no mercy to an “uppity nigger”. The extent of the insanity of society at the time is brought to light by the reactions of her friends with regard to her seven year prison sentence for striking the major after refusing to be Miss Millie’s maid. Sofia’s friends are not shocked or surprised by this extreme punishment however clearly do not condone the fact that there had never been any true justification for the severity of the sentence she received, or the ten years domestic service she had to endure. The occasion in which Sofia is allowed to visit her family at Christmas time undoubtedly demonstrates the ignorance of the whites when Miss Millie insists on being driven home a very short while after Sofia’s reunion with her children after such a very long time apart from them. Walker is able to authenticate that it is certainly possible for black and white people to relate to each other whilst accepting their differences. By the closure of the novel Sofia and Miss Millie have formed a friendship free of racial constraints; Miss Mille begins to appreciate Sofia as a woman rather than a faceless black person, no different from the rest of her race .
Throughout The Color Purple Celie struggles to find religious fulfilment. The church is a fundamental aspect of the community to which Celie belongs and at the beginning of novel she is a staunch member and continues to be so, working as hard there as she does for Mr and his children. Celie’s letters are addressed to God and she writes “As long as I can spell G-o-d I got somebody along.” Her relationship with God is extremely important to her and acts as a constant source of support although in reality she receives very little help from her fellow church goers. In a sense Celie’s faith begins as pure and childlike however as the novel unfolds and her faith begins to be challenged it undergoes a number of revisions. Shug Avery gives Celie support to enable her to challenge her perception of God and Celie comes to the realisation that the God she needs is not “like some white man work at the bank” as she had always envisaged. There is significance in the fact that Celie believes God to be white and old until Nettie’s letters begin to explain that God is more like her than he is a white man “with hair like lamb’s wool” not, “white” at all. Celie begins to realise that her faith has been conditioned by the illustrations in the white interpretations of the bible. These changing beliefs are continually challenged by Shug’s unconventional interpretations of God and His purpose. By rejecting the Church and its narrow morals and false perceptions Shug shows that she prefers a more personal religion in which God figures “Not as a she or a he but a It.” Celie begins to understand this wider philosophy and Shug’s revelation takes a hold of her.
Together these women begin to admire the natural world and all the beauty, variety and richness, including sexuality, believing that in order to worship one should simply “lay back an just admire stuff. Be happy.” In effect there is a strong relationship between worship and sexual satisfaction evident when Celie asserts, later in the novel, that she and God “make love just fine”. The derivation of the title of the novel’s title is this philosophy. Shug declares that it “pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field and don’t notice it.” This philosophy is accepted by Celie as part of her general emancipation and it liberates her to the same extent as her sexual fulfilment with Shug and her economic success. In a number of ways Shug was a pillar of strength and support for Celie in times of need, illustrated when she tells her “I brought you here to love you and help you get on your feet.” By the conclusion of the novel she is much less rigid in her religious beliefs and Celie finds the purpose in her life irrespective of the Church, reminiscent of Shug’s flexible beliefs and states “for the first time in my life, I feel just right”.
Nettie’s religious experiences are dissimilar to Celie’s in terms of being more conventional in the missionary setting in Africa. However she too eventually finds herself much more relaxed and tolerant with regard to her outlook as her experiences with the Olinka tribe are educational in that they clarify the conventions of organised religions and note that they are far from liberating and are often restricting. The way in which she accepts the ceremony of the roof lead as “not Jesus Christ, but in its own humble way is it not God?” is significant as is the decoration of her hut with native artefacts rather than the stereotypical images of saints and the missionary. Nettie’s relationship, like Celie’s transforms into a more personal and spiritual relationship with God and she becomes enlightened as she begins to notice, as a result of the time spent in Africa that the narrowness of the conventional practice of religion hinders rather than helps ones journey towards the Almighty. It is evident that both sisters have completed a personal journey towards a deeper knowledge of God by the ending of the novel, as Celie’s final letter begins with “Dear God, dear stars, dear trees, dear sky dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God.” This opening portrays simple, naïve but sincere and optimistic qualities of Celie’s character.
As a citizen in a strict puritan society Hester is frequently subjected to male dominance and fair treatment of men and women - but especially the latter - by the church dominated authorities is practically nonexistent. In Salem there is a very clear aspect of male dominance which presents an obvious comparison to the Color Purple when Mr. ______ say’s “Men s’pose to wear the pants.” This novel also deals with the female struggle for equality in both America and in Africa. It takes various forms, not least of which is battle against sexual aggression. In the very first letter, Celie tells of the abuse she receives at the hands of the man whom she believes to be her father for a long time. Similarly, Mary Agnes is raped by the white uncle she approaches for help in order to get Sofia out of prison and before Nettie’s departure from his house Mr. ______ attempts to force her to submit to him. Until Celie found Shug her sexual encounters brought her no happiness or fulfilment. Celie describes her sexual encounters with her husband, Mr. _______ in an unloving sordid manner, “Just do his business, get off, go to sleep.” Celie has been so groomed to accept the way women are treated by men, that she no longer feels any emotions during these encounters, as Shug remarks “make it sound like her going to the toilet on you.”
The key message in the novel is that women must stand up against the unfair treatment they receive at the hands of men and that they must do this by helping one another. The women in the novel, even those who have interests in the same men, nevertheless band together in a sisterhood to support and sustain one another throughout the novel. The bond of sisterhood is important, both literally in the persons of Nettie and Celie, Sofia and Odessa and metaphorically in the persons of Mary Agnes and Sofia, Albert's sister and Celie, Tashi and Olivia and of course Shug Avery and Celie, who embody the twin roles of sisters and lovers in their relationship.
Shug Avery is possibly the best example of a liberated woman in the novel, although she suffers verbal attack from the church elders due to her lifestyle. Her career as a blues singer enables Shug to experience much more freedom than the other women whose lives are bound by home, work and child care. She is also much more sexually liberated than many other females, having numerous affairs and enjoying her sexuality with no restraints or false guilt. She holds a strong belief in God which is unfettered by convention and her relationship with Celie is a central theme of the novel. It is Shug who liberates Celie in all aspects of her life, guiding her into, sexual emotional and financial independence and combining the roles of sister, friend and lover. Shug possesses equality because of her own integrity as a person, and she transfers this on to Celie. It is no accident that the enterprise which gains Celie her independence is, paradoxically, a "woman's job"- sewing - but the product is trousers, for women to wear – this is a symbol of power in itself.
Masculine and feminine temperaments are also addressed in the novel. Shug is described by Albert as being "more manly than most men", but as Celie rightly points out to him, those qualities of honesty integrity and independence, are equally valid as feminine qualities. What the novel asserts is that people are either weak or strong, and gender should not dictate perceptions of qualities which are essentially human.
Walker, as an acclaimed writer has been highly praised by feminist critics for vividly portraying the brutality that women have faced throughout the years, however a number of critics have argued that the positive note on which the novel ends makes light of the offenses suffered by the female protagonist and runs in direct contrast to reality. Conversely, some reviewers have defended the novel's upbeat ending, claiming that it is not disloyal to feminist concerns, but rather furthers the idea that a woman—especially one surrounded by a community of nurturing women—can overcome affliction.
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Bibliography
The Color Purple. Alice Walker. The Women’s Press Limited, 1983.
The Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Ticknor, Reed and Fields 1850.
