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 lacks the tools she needs to fight successfully, namely a sense of self and an ability to create and express her own story. She is acutely aware of how others perceive her, “like looking at earth”. Living with Mr.______ Celie completely lacks power; she is essentially an object of others and is passive in her interactions, especially with men. The roles which have been assigned to Celie by the men in her life oppress and demean her and her experiences have taught her to completely fear men. It isn’t until Celie is introduced to the alternative gender models demonstrated by Sophia and Shug that Celie comprehends the possibility of a different way of behaving and thinking. When Harpo asks her what to do to “make Sophia mind”, Celie, having internalized the principle of male domination, answers, “Beat her”. When Celie next sees Harpo, “his face is a mess of bruises”. Sophia becomes Celie’s first model of resistance to sexual subjugation.
Sophia is both emotionally and physically the strongest women in the novel. It is she who stands for the inner strength of women. Significantly, Sophia comes from a family of strong women who support each other. She has had to fight off her father, brother and cousins, “A girl child aint safe in a family of men”. Big and strong, she and her sisters learnt to hit back. When Harpo tries to beat her into submission, she batters him. She knocks down both Squeak and the white mayor when they slap her. Sophia fights against a harsh male dominated society, where stronger abuse the weaker without constraint. She fights for her rights of equality as a woman and as a black. Celie learns a lot from Sophia and Harpo’s relationship; like the fact that a wife doesn’t have to take abuse from her husband. She also learns from Sophia’s outlook on life which is important to her growth, “You ought to bash his head open, she say, think about heaven later”.
Even though Sophia is insulted, beaten and underestimated, she is willing to try to change the system of black women which the American man possesses. Susan Willis commented on how the black woman’s history of suffering necessity her survival. In the Color Purple, Walker forcefully demonstrates men’s injustice to women and the sense of women who rebel. Walker invented the term ‘womanist’ to describe ‘a black feminist or woman of color’. She felt that the term ‘feminism’ was associated more with white Western women than with black women, but disliked the awkwardness of the term ‘black feminism’. She defines ‘womanism’ with the statement “womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender”. Walker’s purpose is to show the ill treatment black women have endured, especially in the early 20th century, in the southern US and also in Africa, and to show how they have struggled to free themselves. During the 1920s in the Deep South, women were considered to be something that a man owned. Once married they were branded for life, where they could have been subjected to persistent rape and the oppression of constant childbearing. Celie was sold to Albert like a slave and treated as though she were worth less than the cow that was sold to with her. Walker talked in an interview about her grandfather insisting that his wife call him “Mr. Walker”, suggesting that within black families the tyranny of slavery was sometime transferred to relations between man and wife. Celie represents many poor black women who were oppressed not only by her race, but also by her gender. However in contrast to being a victim of male brutality, Shug Avery is a high-living, adventurous, independent blues singer, whose lifestyle gives her greater freedom than Celia’s more conventional status.
From the moment Shug is introduced into the novel she makes a powerful impression on Celie, “Shug Avery was a woman. The most beautiful woman I ever saw. She more pretty then my mama”. Whilst nursing Shug back to health, the two women become intimate friends. Shug gives Celie the courage to fight for what she believed in. She shows Celie a whole knew perspective on life. Shug constantly reminds Celie to speak out if something is wrong and not to do only what is instructed by others, “say whatever come to mind, forgit about polite”. Henceforth Celie is no longer afraid of Albert “You a lowdown dog is what’s wrong. It’s time to leave you and enter into the creation. And your dead body is just the welcome mat I need”. She realizes that women do not need men to survive because they can manage on their own. Shug calls Celie ‘Miss Celie’, giving her a new identity. This is critical to Celie’s empowerment and sense of self.
Unlike the men who subjugated Celie, Shug neither seeks to control or possess her. Celie subsequently forms a relationship with Shug which evolves from a maternal to an erotic attachment.
It is through the development of Celie and Shug’s relationship Walker introduces a new dimension of lesbianism into the novel. Celie is sexually attracted to women, not men. She tells us that she looks at women because she is not afraid of them, whereas all naked men “look like frogs”. Walker emphasises the relationship between the development of selfhood and acceptance of female biology. It is through this in which her
idea of varied multi-layered intimacy of women is revealed. Walker understands sexual orientation as a spectrum of possibilities with various degrees of intimacy. One critic noted how “she pays homage to the lesbians by portraying a relationship between two women that reads like a school girl fairy tale in its ultimate adherence to the convention of the happy resolution”. On the other hand, Renee Hoogland has criticized Walker for failing to be realistic enough because she does not understand the implications of her lesbian theme, “Shug and Celie are content to enjoy their relationship in private, without challenging the patriarchal and hetrosexual society about them”
Although Celie‘s introduction to sexuality is rape she discovers how vital healthy sexual experiences are to the development of her self-esteem and her creative powers. Shug initiates Celie into an awareness of her own sexuality and appreciation of her body - for despite the fact that she has had two children, Celie remains a “virgin” in that she has never shared a loving relationship. Since she has never experienced sexual arousal, she assumes that stimulation is a male tribute, “First time I caught sight of Shug Avery long black body….I thought I had turned into a man”. Only when Celie learns the beauty of her own femaleness can she begin to accept her own body and self. This is her first step towards independence and self-acceptance. If Celie, however becomes more self-radiant, Shug becomes more nurturing and caring. In the course of the relationship, both women are transformed.
The art of making quilts in the novel symbolizes women’s solidarity, past and present. Sophia, Shug and Celie all share in the traditional occupation which functions as a way of creating female community in a world that represses female expression. Although associated with woman and women‘s culture, quilting is an art. particularly associated with the culture of rural, black, working class women. It is a fitting emblem of the bonding between women.
Squeak also contributes to the theme of solidarity among women. Hoping to use family connections to persuade the prison governor to look kindly on Sophia, Squeak has instead had to submit to sex with him. The humiliation and degradation of this experience is then turned on its head when Squeak stands and admits that she is to be known by her real name, Mary Agnes. She goes on to become a blues singer in her own right, singing in her own initiative voice. Moreover, the narrative clearly implies that she can sing in public only when she discovers her own name, Mary Agnes not Squeak, and her own “private”, unique voice.
The common bond between women is something present in the Olinka section of the novel as much as anywhere else. Through Nettie’s letters, we learn of the low status of the Olinka women. Nettie is rightly angry at their clear sexism and subordination. The Olinka women aren’t allowed to look a man in the face, nor receive and education. These African traditions suggest the universality of oppression. There is an important parallel drawn between the attitude of the Olinka men to the women and the attitude of black to whites in America. In the Olinka tribe, the husband has the power of life and death over his wife. The women indulge their husbands, yet instead of being respected as they see it, there is irony for the reader as we can see that they are only restricted. They are considered the property of their fathers and husbands. Yet despite all this, even Samuel is confused of the strong friendships the women have with other women, “Samuel is confused because to him, the women are friens and will do anything for each other”. This is yet another example of the generosity women show to other women.
The themes of schooling for girls and women’s writing help to connect the African and American parts of the story. The writing of letters, on both sides of the Atlantic, is a symbol of defiance. Celie’s letters reveal a process of self-examination and self-discovery. Christine Froula, in a psycho-analytical reading, sees Celie’s letters as a breking of the patriarchal taboo on women speaking out about abuse. Her letters to God act as a means of breaking the silence which was so often inflicted upon black women. God is for Celie, “big and old and tall and gray bearded and white”. In linking her notion of divinity to a white, male figure, Celie accepts a theology of self-denial, which validates her inferior status and treatment as a black women in a racist and sexist culture. Her decision to stop addressing her letters to go highlight the development of her individuality. She realises that “the God I been prraying and writing to is a man. And act like all the other mens I know. Trifling, forgetful, and lowdown.”
In Alice Walker’s novels, men are in general the weaker sex, although not the gentler. Albert, Harpo, Alphonso and Grady exemplify male weakness and male impulses to bully. “You no whenever there’s a man, there’s trouble” Albert, like Alphonso, lacks any respect for women. He is fundamentally weak, as most bullies are; he beats Celie because ‘she isn’t Shug’, until Shug makes him stop and he suffers a mental breakdown when Celie leaves him. Like Harpo, Grady is to be seen as a thoughtless man who repeats unthinkingly the opinions of others. Walker was deeply affected by the woman’s movement, and it has become her foremost commitment. Her loyalties were divided when she was obliged to criticize sexism among fellow Civil Rights Activists. By the time she wrote The Color Purple, Walker had decided that she must risk male hostility by an unswerving commitment to the plight of black women abused by men of their own race.
The portrayal of men has been the subject of harsh criticism. Often critics believe that men are described too harshly and seem too mean. The Times summarized Walkers messaeg as “Sisterhood is beautiful and men stink”. The men in the novel are for the most part cruel and unnaturally uncaring. This has led to complaints that Alice Walker is anti-male. However, there are exceptions to these generalizations evidenced by Samuel and also by Sophia’s prizefighter. Some of the women are also described poorly, such as Mrs. Millie. Futhermore, we are allowed to see the other side to Albert as he appears to transform by the end of the novel. His love of Shug units him and Celie and he becomes a more attractive. We are only allowed a degree of sympathy for him, however. He speaks the anti-womanist manifesto at the novel’s heart “You black, you pore, you ugly, you a woman. Goddam, you nothing at all”.
Feminism has been defined as “challenging the relations between men (as a group) and women (as another)… and rebelling against all power structures, laws and conventions that keep women servile, subordinate and second best…women consciously working together for our rights”. Walker has aimed to present a process of emancipation of a woman, body and soul, from the domination of men. At first, Celie is almost entirely in the power of Alphonso and Albert. She grows to be wholly independent of men. The idea of a free woman is more radical and feminist than the traditional idea of a good wife and mother. The novelist’s success with the deleopment of character of Celie supports the controversial arguments she puts forward. This is why, in my opinion, The Color Purlple can be described as a feminist novel. She is a woman who triumphs through adversity to discover a proficient, content and proud woman hidden inside a young timid girl and her story is one that brings hope to any woman. This is shown through Celie’s words, “Im pore, im black, I may be ugly and cant cook. But im here”. Although the critics disagree about many aspects of this novel, one thing is clear- “The Color Purple affirms the survival and liberation of black women through the strength and wisdom of others”.