Male Dominance and Mistreatment of the Black Female in the Color Purple - Research Paper Example

293791 Male dominance and mistreatment of the black female in the color purple: Wise men and intellectuals havewritten thousands of pages on the issue of blacks and whites or blacks in particular, since the abolition of slavery in America, about bringing joy and happiness into the lives of the black people. Enactments and legal provisions can not bring the actual happiness. In Alice Walker’s novel, blacks succeeded in transforming themselves to reach the threshold of happiness, in the latter part of their lives. Walker introduces a rejuvenated Celie’s concluding letter, finally reunited with her lost sister Nettie, Celies embryonic selfdom blooms in its totality... "Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God" (Walker, 1995, p.242). But before that for a long period, they had suffered enough on account of the male dominance and mistreatment -black females especially! Her views about the suffering of the black women are so strong that within the first twenty pages of the novel, she has introduced almost all the important “issues of incest, chauvinism, child abuse, in-breeding, baby stealing, emotional abuse, sexuality, child marriage, and child slavery amongst others.” (The Color…) She takes the help of Celie, the character she carefully nurtures like the tender sapling. Her resentment over the power that men wield over women is showing in every part of the novel. To challenge the authority of men, as an affront, she introduces characters like Shug, the "strumpet in short skirts, smoking cigarettes, drinking gin. Singing for money and taking other women mens. Talk bout slut, hussy, heifer and street cleaner” (Walker, 1995, p.40). The rape of Squeak, by her Uncle is an example of mistreatment of women. The family members are supposed to protect the honor of the womenfolk. What if they indulge in forced sex and cruelty? Outside her home, the black woman has no voice. Within the four walls of the house, she suffers even more, physically and psychologically. To cope up with the oppressive patriarchal and racist practices, seems to be her heritage. No change is one thing and having no hope of change is an entirely different and serious issue. The long period of slavery had shaped the mental make-up of the blacks thus. The story relates to mostly rural Georgia, and the focus of the story is female black life in the 1930s. In that period, black women had only issues, and no support or solutions. Their social position was extremely low in the American social culture. Now let’s examine an example of black vs. black. Both believed that men overrule women. They firmly believed that their kids will grow up to be perfect racists. The character Harpo begins to eat like a glutton to grow big, like his wife Sofia, only to beat Sofia comfortably to prove his man-hood. Sofia expects her children to grow cynical due to the influence of society around them. Even Celie is jealous of Sofias strength and assertiveness and advises Harpo to beat Sofia. One finds varied treatment portrayal of the black, male dominance/mistreatment/violence depends as per the situations in which the characters are placed in, by Alice Walker. Deep South of America is the ‘lion’s den’ of the blacks. With slavery gone, the magical wand of reformation and quick rehabilitation expected by blacks did not materialize. The path ahead was still rough, tough and uncertain. Some original problems remained the original problems! The prosperous blacks used poor blacks as slaves. The book begins with a black (father) doing the worst possible atrocities and sexual crimes on a black girl (daughter). Whether this is to be treated as a family issue or a social issue? In reality, it is both! Whereas the white men of the South used to repress both white and black women and the black men, the black men in turn repressed their black partners or family members, without rhyme or reason. In the book, the opening lines in the first letter are a threat, ‘You’d better not never tell nobody but God. Itd kill your Mammy. The fourteen year old girl makes a shocking statement before the God, and the reader is stunned. With the cruel experience of rape how this young girl feels isolated and what a grave emotional turmoil she undergoes! The recurring abuse, the pregnancy, the birth of siblings and what not! Can a girl of that age, bear anything more annoying and insulting to her dignity? Walker has the firsthand experience of the sufferings of the black people. Her parents put on with and suffered the oppressive sharecropping system and the ugly racism and this influenced her writings. When suffering is intense, the best talent of the writer comes out. Her destiny played its part to increase her suffering. When she was barely eight, one of her brothers accidentally shot, blinding her one eye permanently. This facial disfigurement demoralized her and she was ashamed to mix freely even with the family members. She became an introvert and spent most of the time alone, reading and writing. Upon publication of the book, it raised a controversy. “It instigated heated debates about black cultural representation, as a number of male African-American critics complained that the novel reaffirmed old racist stereotypes about pathology in black communities and of black men in particular. Critics also charged Walker with focusing heavily on sexism at the expense of addressing notions of racism in America.”(Alice Walker…) “In the very first letter, Celie tells of the abuse she suffers at the hands of the man she believes for a long time is her father. Mary Agnes is raped by the white uncle whom she approaches for help to get Sofia out of prison and Mr (Albert) also tries to force Nettie to submit to him before she leaves the house after fighting him off. Celies sexual encounters with her husband, Mr- are sordid and unloving” (Spark Notes…) The exploitation of women is depicted again in the character of Ceile when she is married off to Albert to look after his children. In addition, she is supposed to work on the farm and to submit to all the demands of Albert and that of his children too. She should accept Albert’s affair with Shug. The Preacher attacks Shug, not only because of her loose lifestyle, but by implication to show that men can behave as they wish! Fidelity is of no consequence to men, but women need to be celestial angels! Works Cited: Walker,Alice:Book:The Color Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Pocket (April 1, 1990) Language: English ISBN-10: 0671727796 ISBN-13: 978-0671727796 THE COLOR PURPLE - A Critical Review - Windows Live The oppression of gender identity is a topic highlighted in The Color Purple... glitterspree.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!AEE262789658B45B!1331.entry - 67k-Retrieved on April 25, 2009 Alice Walker, The Color Purple29 May 1998 ... Alice Walkers The Color Purple, published in 1982, tells the story of Celie, a Black woman in the South. Celie writes letters to God in... www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/purple.html - 13k - Cached – Retrieved on April 25, 2009 SparkNotes: The Color Purple: Themes, Motifs & SymbolsThroughout The Color Purple, Walker portrays female friendships as a means for ... In turn, these stories allow women to resist oppression and dominance. ... www.sparknotes.com/lit/purple/themes.html - 37k - Cached – Retrieved on April 25, 2009 Read More