1313238, Mridula- Development of Clothworking as a Symbol in 'The Color Purple'

Mridula
1313238
II PSEnglish
Submitted to: Professor Arya Aiyappan
CIA 3- American Literature

Development of Clothworking as a Symbol in ‘The Color Purple’, by Alice Walker

Alice Walker’s ‘The Color Purple’ captures and highlights the adversity and bitterness African-American women experienced in the early 20^th century.  She demonstrates the emotional, physical and spiritual revolution of an abused black girl into an independent, strong woman.   The novel largely focuses on the role of male domination and its resulting frustrations and black women’s struggle for independence. The protagonist, Celie’s, gain of an independent identity, away from her family, friends, work, and love life, forms the plot of the novel.

Girls from a young age are exposed to the idea that by looking right and dressing right, they can receive financial support, love and affection from men. Colette Dowling calls this the Cinderella Complex, a network of largely represented attitudes and fears that keeps women from full use of their minds and creativity. The Color Purple shows how this myth can be broken and reinforced in a manner that empowers women both economically and socially. This essay highlights how clothing in the novel, becomes a symbol of race, gender, strength of character and transformation of the self. (Lupton)

Clothing as an Expression of the Self

Clothing protects, decorates, describes and gives the first impression of a person. It acts as an external symbol of the person’s desires, fantasies and thoughts and also as a connection between the self and others.  It is the way in which we choose to present our personalities to the outside world in a manner in by which we can convey our uniqueness and at the same time, form a link with others. This idea of expression and repression of the self is seen effectively in images of clothing, sewing and quilting in the novel. (Fiske, 150) Instances of these include intricate descriptions of Shug Avery’s clothing as noticed by Celie, Nettie’s and Celie’s observations of what other people wear, its contrast to their own clothing and their consequent feelings about it and so on. Celie also finds personal refuge and economic freedom when she takes up designing and sewing clothes for a living.

Such images convey subtle ideas of the true nature behind this largely feminine activity. Walker’s clothing and clothworking images depict the main themes of the novel- self-definition, need for self-creation in women, self-sharing, creative power of human spirit and the importance of shared bonds in creation of familial and relational bonds. (Tavormina).

Shug Avery suggests to Celie that pants would suit her and her work life, even though they are not traditionally worn by women. (Bloom, 155)

“What I need pants for? I say. I ain’t no man.Don’t get uppity she say. But you don’t have a dress do nothing for you. You not made like no dress pattern, neither. “(Walker, 124)

Celie soon comes to realize that clothes, in general, and pants, in particular, made with her skill suit people physically, emotionally and behaviourally. This marks the start of Folkspants Unlimited, an enterprise designed to suit the wearer’s needs and not sexual or social stereotypes/expectations of these needs. Traditional roles and their consequent constraint on outward expression of self are negated via this simple craft. Shug tells Celie, “You making your living, Celie. Girl, you on your way.” (Walker, 181) It is not a one-size-fits-all concept which shames and constricts the self. “Mr.___ ask me what was so special about my pants. Anybody can wear them, I said.” (Walker, 230)

Only “colorless” white people, according to Walker, feel naked and embarrassed without their clothes. This mental and physical construction distances them from nature and natural intentions and processes. According to Walker, black people are different. They dress for comfort and celebration and as an expression of their culture’s historical pathos and ethos. “Since they are covered by colour they are not naked.” (Walker, 232) This concept is demonstrated when Celie embroiders Olivia’s diapers with flowers and stars as an expression not only of her love, but also her creative spirit and playfulness in the midst of her confusion and misery over Fonso’s sexual assaults. (Significance of Color)

Clothworking for Celie becomes a medium of creation rather than destruction. Celie starts making pants to avoid killing Mr.___- “A needle and not a razor in my hand.” she says. (Walker, 125) However, it helps nurture her talent into a countenance of her love for Nettie, Shug, Jack, Odessa and Squeak and shows her amazing choice to remain true to herself despite her life conditions. Thus, cloth transcends Western utilitarian biases to become a medium capable of creative and spiritual powers. Discovering the self becomes a way of discovering the creativity and presence of God in the self. “He is always making little surprises and springing them on us when us least expect.” (Walker, 168)

This medium of self-expression is not restricted to women alone. The Olinka men in the novel feel no threat to their masculinity from their quilt-making skills. (Tavormina). Also, Mr.___ learns sewing from Celie and follows the same black principles of comfort, usefulness and attractiveness for the wearer. Albert even designs comfortable shirts to match Celie’s pants. Walker hereby demonstrates that all human beings are capable of calling on their creativity for use and art. Thus, according to Tavormina, “making is living; destroying is death and nothingness.”

Clothworking as Creating Bonds between Members of a Community

Clothing is an important medium that creates familial bonds. This is seen when mothers buy clothes for their children, or decorate them as Celie does. When Celie meets Corrine, Corrine is buying cloth material for Olivia. The pleasure that Celie derives from this meeting with Olivia is seen when she drapes “a piece of cloth close to her face.” (Walker, 14)

This emotion behind cloth creation extends to other family members as well. When Celie stitches pants for Nettie, she describes “every stitch I sew will be a kiss.” (Walker, 182)  Clothworking also becomes a symbol of Celie’s development of self-awareness and respect as aided by others. Forced to wear second-hand clothing her whole life and share her clothes with her siblings, when Kate, Mr.___’s sister, gives her a new dress, the first one made just for her, Celie’s pleasure is profound and moving. (Tavormina) “It’s all right Celie. You deserve more than this.”
(Walker, 20)

Celie, Sofia and Shug also take curtain scraps and bits of Shug’s yellow dress, to create a quilt in the “Sister’s Choice” pattern. Tavormina describes this as a quilt made of  love and trouble and dreams, of flour sacks and “of little yellow pieces, look like stars” (Walker, 53) The Olinka mothers sew during hot afternoons and “it is in the work that the women get to know and care about each other.” (Walker, 141)

Sewing is a form of union, connecting not only disparate pieces of one’s self but also a totality binding different support systems and creative entities into one useful whole. (Fiske, 152)

Conclusion

Thus, cloth and clothworking exemplify and supplement the quest of all the characters in the novel towards the Spirit and the creative, suffering “Dear God” within each self and shared with other selves. (Fiske, 154)

Celie’s identity transforms from the need to acknowledge the spirit in her to the need to communicate it to others and the need to discover its presence in everything- human life, history and all of creation. (Lupton) We learn that we must also lovingly and patiently dress our Spirits and others’ Spirits, in a comfortable manner, in any way we have at our disposal.
(Bloom, 156-158)

(1254 words)

Works cited

1.  Bloom, Harold. “Bloom’s Modern Cortical Interpretations: The Color Purple by Alice Walker.” New York: Infobase Publishing, 2008. Print.
2. Fiske, Shanyn. “Piecing the Patchwork Self: A Reading of Walker’s The Color Purple.” The Explicator. 66.3 (2008): 150-160. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 August 2014.
3. Lupton, Mary Jane. “Clothes and Closure in Three Novels by Black Women.” Black American Literature Forum. 20.4 (1986): n.pag. JSTOR. Web.
   24 August 2014.
4. "Significance of Color in "The Color Purple"." StudyMode.com. StudyMode.com. October 2013. Web. 
   http://www.studymode.com/essays/Significance-Of-Color-In-The-Color-40251373.html
5. Tavormina, Teresa M. “Dressing the Spirit: Clothworking and Language in The Color Purple.” The Journal of Narrative Technique. 16.3 (1986): n.pag. JSTOR. Web. 24 August 2014.
6. Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. London: Women's Press, 1992. Print.