Name: M. Avanthi Seneviratne
Register No.: 1313233
Class: II PSENG
Character Analysis of Sofia
Sofia Butler is one of the key
representations in the novel of an atypical or asymmetrical view of a woman of
colour in 1930’s southern United States. The author mainly uses this character
and Shug Avery to represent the independent women, who think and act of their
own free will and not according to what men and the larger society expect them
to be. They break the boundaries set by tradition about male and female roles
in society.
Sofia is first introduced into the
story when she catches the eye of Harpo at church, and though she is just
fifteen years old, she emanates a sense of confidence and strength about her.
She soon falls in love with Harpo and is impregnated by him, and eventually
marries him. They live together happily in their shack for a time, but
eventually things begin to go awry between herself and Harpo because of the assumed
gender roles in power and authority.
As stated before, Sofia represents a
subverted idea of the typical female. The author here uses the character to
defy gender stereotyping in most aspects. Firstly we see that in physical
appearance itself, Sofia is described as “strong”, “muscular”, “large”,
“determined”, and so on, instead of slim, petite, weak-willed as would be
expected of a submissive wife, like Celie. Harpo is on the other hand is described
as smaller and less assertive. He is unable to control his wife, and when he
attempts to subdue her through physical violence, he himself gets a good
beating from her. Traditional gender roles dictate that men ought to be
dominant, large in size, strong and educated, but here we see that Sofia is
characterized with these qualities. She herself prefers to fix the roof and do manual
labour, and let her husband take care of the children. She even takes on the
role of being a pall bearer at her mother’s funeral which is a traditionally
male duty.
Her lack of subservience and
assertive power is not limited only to her husband or the people of her own
race, as she openly communicates her full emotions without restriction
throughout the novel, except during her jail term. She replies “Hell no,” at
the mayor’s wife’s inquiry as to whether she would like to be her maid and care
for her children to which the mayor, insulted, hits her, only to be given a
reciprocal blow himself. Sofia’s
character resists all attempts at sexual oppression in the private sphere and
racial oppression as well, in the public sphere. She has internalized violence
or aggression as a defence mechanism because she was brought up in a home where
she had to fight off the advances of her father and brothers. Thus, she creates
a blur between the rigid lines of categorization of gender roles and as in Mr.
_____’s words, “Sofia and Shug not like men… but they not like women either.”
Sofia’s emotional responses to
people and events also do not mirror the expected response (or lack thereof) of
women in that society. She lets her opinion be known regardless of the
circumstances. For example, she very bluntly suggests that Celie bash in Mr.
_____’s head as a solution to all her troubles and as stated before, she
blatantly refuses the Mayor’s wife’s offer for work. When unhappy she takes her
children and leaves Harpo to go stay with her sister instead of succumbing to
the abuse inflicted by him. She also exhibits her ability to control and be
authoritative, through her subtle domination of the ‘Prizefighter’, who allows
her the freedom to do as she pleased. However, we also see her spirit broken
during her jail time, and see a glimmer of its revival towards the end when she
gets back together with Harpo.
Her ability to endure and not
succumb to the will of the oppressor is exhibited in her strained relationship
with her charge, Eleanor Jane who considers her a second mother. Sofia refuses
to take up the role of ‘second mother’ as it would mean relinquishing ties with
her own children in service of the oppressor’s offspring. She shows a sense of
allegiance to her African American community, but also exhibits the possibility
of reconciliation between the communities through love and cooperation despite
the racist social structures.
Through her character, the author
also shows the limits of blindly asserting rights. She survives racism
dependent upon her family for support, though the care they provide, a shelter
for her children and herself, and on her friends and even rivals. It was Squeak
after all who first attempted to get her out of jail, followed by her relatives’
manipulation of the warden to get her out, for fear she would die there.
She is a central and important
character to the novel because she is the first woman to actively model
resistance in a way that captures the protagonist’s attention and shows her
that submission and passivity are not the only responses to the expectations of
a patriarchal and oppressive society. Sofia’s character is seen as full of
self-respect, dignity and uprightness, especially in the eyes of Celie.
References:
- Hsiao, Pi-Li. "Language, Gender, and Power in The Color Purple: Theories and Approaches."Feng Chia Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 17 (2008): 93-120. College of Humanities and Social Sciences Feng Chia University. Web. 20 Aug. 2014.
- LaGrone, Kheven. Alice Walker's the Color Purple. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2009. Print.
- Lupack, Barbara T. Take Two: Adapting the Contemporary American Novel to Film. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State U Popular P, 1994. Print.
- Tapia, Elena. "SYMMETRY AS CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR IN WALKER'S THE COLOR PURPLE." International Journal of English Studies [Online], 3.1 (2003): 29-44. Web. 20 Aug. 2014
- Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. London: Women's Press, 1992. Print.
- Wyatt, Gina E., "The portrayal of black men and black women in selected works of selected black authors" (1988). ETD Collection for Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center. Paper 344. http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/344
This a very informative analysis. Thank you for sharing!
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