The Color Purple has been described by critics as a feminist novel, do you agree?

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The Color Purple  has been described by critics as a feminist novel, do you agree?

Alice Walker once told an interviewer, "The black woman is one of America's greatest heroes. . . . She has been oppressed beyond recognition."

Few novels of so recent vintage as ‘The Color Purple’ has generated as much critical uproar.  The Color Purple, the third novel by the Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker created a storm of controversy and deeply divided intellectual opinion.  In what has been described as “one of the most successful and controversial books ever written” (Angeli Rasbury), the central character is forced to deal with her incestuous father, an abusive husband, and separation from her sister and children.  Several critics claim Alice Walkers depiction of black males is too harsh and one dimensional.  "While I know that some black men have raped their daughters, I know that the vast majority have not." (Brown: 1986) Many men attacked the book on political grounds, arguing that the stress on violence and cruelty in the portrayal of the central black male characters threatened the unity of the African - American community in its struggle for civil rights.  The novel has been reviewed many times over, but even though the critics analyze and pull apart what very well could just be an enjoyable yet thought provoking story, they agree that one thing is clear, The Color Purple affirms the idea that the survival and liberation of women can only come through learning from our past misfortunes and manipulating them to meet beneficial ends.”

        

The Color purple gives the account of life of poor black women who must suffer social ostracism due to gender and skin color and who suffer greatly at the hands of men.  This is true in terms of infidelity, physical, verbal and sexual abuse.  The novel sends out a social message that concerns women’s struggle for freedom in a society where they are viewed as inferior to men.  It tells the story of Celie, a young black woman growing up in the poverty ridden south, who is transformed from a rape victim and incest survivor into a successful business woman, property owner and mother.  Yet in order to gain independence, Celie must deal with all manner of abuse, including misogyny, racism and poverty.  As befits any feminist heroine, Celie must go through many trials and tribulations to gain her final victory.  When she is a young girl of just 14 she is sexually assaulted by a man she believes to be her father.  She has two children by her rapist, both of whom are taken away from her as soon as they are born. Even sadder is that after her mother dies, not only must she take care of the house and her sisters and brothers, but she has to willingly offer herself to Alfonso in order to spare her sister, Nettie.  Alfonso is a true abridgement of a tyrant, using his authority for degenerate ends,“Never had a kine word to say to me”, Celie says, “Just say you gonna do what your mammy wouldn’t…When it hurt, I cry.  He start to choke me saying, you better shut up and get used to it.  But I don’t never git used to it”.  His reasons for marrying Celie off to Albert are because she “aint no stranger to hard work and God done and fixed her”, in other words she has been left infertile as a result of being repeatedly raped by Alfonso.  The rape that Celie is forced to endure at the hands of Alphonso is reminiscent of the sex female slaves were made to have with their white land-owning masters.

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Of course Albert begins the same way.  No love materializes between the two.  Instead, Celie is subjected to a life where she is exploited as a household drudge.  She suffers the hardship of caring for Mr._____‘s children in isolation and in primitive conditions.    She has neither identity nor a voice.  When Celie’s sister Nettie comes to stay, she observes “it is like seeing her buried”.  It is significant that Nettie correctly identifies the root of Celie’s problem, and she is the first of several women who tells Celie to fight back.  Celie is reluctant to resist because she ...

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