Examine the author's presentation of men, women and gender roles in 'The Color Purple' and 'Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit.'
Examine the author's presentation of men, women and gender roles in 'The Color Purple' and 'Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit.' 'The Color Purple,' by Alice Walker; a novel in an epistolary form, reveals the story of a young black Georgia girl who faces adulthood believing that she has been raped by her father and that he killed both of their babies. The novel examines her struggle to find love, self-esteem, and continuing courage, despite harsh setbacks; until she eventually achieves freedom for herself. The many characters in the novel break the boundaries of traditional male or female gender roles- it is this that I shall be discussing in greater depth, drawing comparisons to my second novel, 'Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit,' by Jeanette Winterson. This is the story of the young protagonist; Jeanette who retells the story of her life beginning when she is seven years old and living in England with her adoptive parents. Jeanette does not know anyone aside from the other members of the church until at the age of the seven, when her mother is ordered to send Jeanette to school. As this young girl begins to age she realises that she sometimes disagrees with the teachings of her congregation-, which ultimately leads her to explore her sexuality- here, both the church and the protagonist herself question gender roles. 'The Color Purple' and 'Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit' portray
Between Ourselves and Joebell and America The stories are quite different apart from the fact that both are about America, culture and identity.
Between Ourselves and Joebell and America The stories are quite different apart from the fact that both are about America, culture and identity. Between Ourselves is about an Indian girl who has travelled to America for further education. She is Hindu and her mother is telling her not to marry someone from there. She meets and marries an American and of course her parents do not approve. Later the woman regrets the loss of Indian culture. Lovelace's story is about Joebell a Trinidadian who is trying to go to America. He thinks that he is a hero and is risk taker and would have a better life in America. In the end he fails to go to America and then realises that Trinidad is where he belongs partly because he never saw an American fail. Joebell as a character is very different from lots of people: he is courageous and takes risks e.g. he takes a big risk getting the fake passport. Joebell has been influenced very much by American films especially cowboy films. In Joebell's mind America is everything e.g. " Where everybody have a motor car and you could ski on snow and where it have seventy five channels of colour television". This is what Joebell is thinking about nothing else, just watching television all day. I think Joebell has a presence of fame, as he would go in a snackette and would take up a big space and just ask for a toothpick. Above all I think Joebell
Alice Walkers depiction of men in The Color Purple has been controversial - Explore the opinions of the two critics printed below and explain your own view of the way Walker presents men in The Colour Purple.
Alice Walkers depiction of men in The Color Purple has been controversial. Explore the opinions of the two critics printed below and explain your own view of the way Walker presents men in The Colour Purple. In The Color Purple, Alice Walker's depiction of men has been seen by some as controversial. Walker seems to be attacking black men because of their mistreatment of black women. Although, there is another force at work in this powerful, and emotional, book. That force is the unwitting testimony which Walker cannot control, because it was not deliberately written to be part of her story. Between the lines of her story is the strong message of personal rage: rage which cannot be hidden. The rage can be seen throughout the novel in numerous forms; the words used by Walker, that are strong and emotive; the portrayal of the characters, from innocent, like Celie, to evil, like Mr. Alphonso and the realism in which the characters are brought to life, because of the real anger used to describe them. Therefore, in considering the opinions of the two opposing critics, this circumstance must be borne in mind. The first critic, Tony Brown, wrote an article about The Color Purple for the Carolina Peacemaker. He has many views on the book, and expresses those views confidently. Brown admits in his article that some men have raped their daughters, "...some black men have raped their
Fred D'Aguiar's book "The Longest Memory" - review
THE LONGEST MEMORY In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a few European nations ruled America. They grew sugar, tobacco, coffee, ginger, cotton and various other things that were craved by the Europeans. Imprisoned in these plantations were about two and a half million black slaves. Fred D'Aguiar's book "The Longest Memory" is about one man's account of being a slave in America, how he was treated and how it affected him. Fred D'Aguiar shows that the business of slavery corrupts everyone involved in it by using multiple narrators of different status, age and race to give different points of views about slavery to the reader. Each character is corrupt or has been affected by corruption. The main characters in the book "The Longest Memory" are Whitechapel, Mr Whitechapel, Chapel, Sanders Senior, Cook, Lydia and Sanders Junior. First of all the theme of this book is about corruption, slavery. Slaves were bought and sold like cattle. To buy slaves, plantation owners went to markets. The branding that indicated who ruled them was black skin; this was obvious and could be seen by everyone. Any skin colour darker than white skin became a sign that they were inferior, dumb, had no beliefs, reckless and needed to be controlled. Since Africans were brought to America against their will, it was easier to use them as slaves. It was also more economical to use blacks as
Alice Walker Uses Symbolism to Address Three Issues: Racism, Feminism and the Search for Cultural Identity.
Alice Walker Uses Symbolism to Address Three Issues: Racism, Feminism and the Search for Cultural Identity Thesis: Alice Walker Uses Symbolism to Address Three Issues: Racism, Feminism and the Search for Cultural Identity I. Alice Walker background A. Civil Right Activist B. Writings II. Walker's "Everyday Use" A. Setting of Story -1960's B. Synopsis of Story III. Symbols of Racism A. Maggie's Scars, Looking in the Eye B. School Closing, Burning House C. Mamma -Martin Luther King - TV Show IV. Symbolism of Feminist Issues A. Minimized Male Presence B. Mamma is Independent - Self Supporting C. Dee's Feminism - Distance from Her Boyfriend/Husband V. Symbolic Search for Cultural Identity A. Quilts Symbols of the Past (Churn), Maggie B. Pictures of House, Hanging Quilt on the Wall Born on February 9, 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia, Alice Malsenior Walker was the eighth and youngest child of poor sharecroppers. Her father's great-great-great grandmother, Mary Poole was a slave, forced to walk from Virginia to Georgia with a baby in each arm. Walker is deeply proud of her cultural heritage. In addition to her literary talents Walker was involved in the civil rights movement in the 1960's, walking door-to-door promoting voter's registration among the rural poor. Walker was present to see Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech.
What is our reaction or impression when we read or hear the term "white"?
White What is our reaction or impression when we read or hear the term "white"? Quite often, it is simply colour that instantly comes to our minds. Furthermore, many of us are unaware of the various interpretations involving the word. This is not surprising! Let's start with white clothing and its purposes, symbolic, or factual, commonly used in religions as well as in hospitals. The pope, an obvious Roman Catholic, wears white robes to portray his distinctive figure, being the highest authority at the Vatican. Similarly, some nuns wear white habits to reveal their puritanical appearance, and, not surprisingly, a bride of the same faith traditionally wears a white wedding dress to demonstrate her virginal aspect. Looking at a different religion, it is very interesting to learn about the custom in Islamic countries, where the dead are buried naked, wrapped in a white cloth. Their belief is that it symbolizes purity and is a necessary religious practice for the dead to get to heaven. When it comes to facts, we also understand the necessity of white garments used in private or public hospitals, and most clinics. Here, there are compulsory regulations where all medical staff must wear white uniforms, ranging from caps to overcoats and suits. It is the intention of the hospitals to help their patients and outsiders, distinguish the doctors, physicians, nurses and other
Many would argue that men hold the power in "The Colour Purple". Explore the opinions of critics Andrea Stuart and Mary O' Connor and explain your own view of what Alice Walker has to say about the power in "The Colour Purple".
Many would argue that men hold the power in "The Colour Purple". Explore the opinions of critics Andrea Stuart and Mary O' Connor and explain your own view of what Alice Walker has to say about the power in "The Colour Purple". In the novel 'The Colour Purple' power is represented differently throughout. One way in which this power is shown is through men in the novel. At the beginning men dominate and are depicted as a higher authority figure to women, it seems the men rule the women's lives. However we can also argue that women are equally strong whilst others evolve into more powerful figures. Power through sisterhood is demonstrated through the fact that Shug gives Celie companionship, something Celie may not have felt since she was separated from her sister Nettie. Through Celie and Shug's relationship Celie has gained strength in herself and has been shown to stick up for herself. We see this when Shug announces she is taking Celie and Mary Agnes with her as Celie stands up to Albert. This shows us Celie is learning to become independent. This represents one aspect of female power in the novel and it also shows that by having friends to support them these women are able to leave their "lowdown dogs" behind and with the belief in themselves they can build their own future. Female solidarity is shown where we see Celie's protection for her mother and sister Nettie.
How does Celie develop as a character and as a person in the first fifteen letters of the novel? "The Color Purple".
How does Celie develop as a character and as a person in the first fifteen letters of the novel? "The Color Purple" is based on a poor, black girl called Celie and her development through all her trials and tribulations. Her only way of expressing her feelings is through writing letters and this is the way the entire novel is written, it is an epistolary book. In the first fifteen letters Celie matures and changes quite a lot and I am going to explore this. In the first letter she is only fourteen and is pregnant with her first child, in letter fifteen she is twenty-two and is married with several step children but no children of her own. In the eight years in between the two letters she experiences many things such as sexual abuse, grief and marriage. In the beginning of the book Celie's writing is very poor, with many vernacular spellings, "He never had a kine word to say to me" and poor punctuation, "She say It too soon" these back up the fact of her age and that she is poorly educated. During the first fifteen letters Celie takes education in to her own hands and along with Nettie tries to learn to read and write better. We can see the improvement by letter fifteen, "I been chopping cotton three hours by time he come" and although the grammar is quite poor the actual spellings is perfect. Another point to consider is the length if the letter, for the first six letters
Alice Walker's novel "The Third Life of Grange Copeland" - review
Published in 1970, Alice Walker's novel "The Third Life of Grange Copeland" explores the relationship between three generations of poor, rural black people in Georgia from the 1920''s, through to the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960's. Walker was and still is active in the Civil Rights Movement, but due to her portrayal of black men and the relationship between black men and women, her work has not always enjoyed an intense following among nationalist reviewers and critics. Malcolm Bradbury has however, described Walker as "dominant, ... at least in terms of popularity and visibility". (I: Pg101). Alice Walker is often referred to as a feminist writer. F.J Griffin concludes that "...her text participates in the black feminist literary movement of the seventies and eighties." (VI: Pg43), while Walker herself maintains, that she is a 'womanist' rather than a feminist and that she is "committed to the survival and wholeness of the whole people - male and female." (III: Pg107). For her novel "The Third Life of Grange Copeland", Walker states that she is "... committed to exploring the oppressions, the insanities, the loyalties, and the triumphs of black women.". It is therefore necessary to examine these claims for the novel and to determine whether her work does substantiate the statement she makes on behalf of the black women of twentieth century America.
Comment on the way in which Kath Walker makes a social commentary in her poem
ABORIGINAL CHARACTER OF RIGHTS Comment on the way in which Kath Walker makes a social commentary in her poem "Aboriginal Character of Rights" The manner in which Walker expresses her views in the poem is reflective of her background, experience and knowledge. Given that Walk was removed from her family at a young age and made to assimilate with white society, she is able to present an unbiased view of the issue at hand, that is, the needs of the "native old Australians" to no longer be "rank(ed) as aliens" in what was once their own land. Walker makes a social commentary that dwells upon various social issues concerning specifically the rights and needs of the Aboriginal community. She voices a general concern regarding equality on behalf of her people. Emerging from the principle theme of equality are the basic and life-altering needs that the Aborigines call for. The most basic needs are also courteous deeds. Aborigines are longing for "help" in times of assistance, to be "welcome(d)" and to have a "choice" in life. A need for an end to stereotyping and racial prejudice is expressed in the use of wording chosen by Walker. She articulates her anger towards defamation directed at the Aboriginal community. Walker feels the strong need for white society to stop "libelling" and defaming Aborigines as "fringe-dweller" that reside within "missions" "Aboriginal Character of
