Srishti Banerjee
1313287
II PSEng
Prof. Arya
American Literature
EST331
1313287
II PSEng
Prof. Arya
American Literature
EST331
28 August 2014
The Background
History and Context of ‘The Color Purple’
“The history of the American Negro is the
history of this strife, -- this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to
merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes
neither of the older selves to be lost... He simply wishes to make it possible
for a man to be both a Negro and an American...” (W.E.B. Du Bois)
The African-Americans or the
‘Black Americans’ are members of those ethnic groups in the United States that
have, throughout history, been looked down on by the white community. Most
members of the African American race are descendants of the Africans who were
taken captive in Africa and brought to the United States between 1619 and 1865.
Blacks, descended from immigrants who came across to the States from the
Caribbean are also considered part of the African-American group.
This group of Americans has
faced discrimination and has suffered atrocities unimaginable by most. Their
history is filled with the plight of their people and their constant struggle
to attain freedom; physical freedom, from slavery, and also the freedom to be
treated as an equal citizen of the United States, through justice and basic
rights such as the one to vote.
During the American Civil
War, in 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation,
which called for the liberation of slaves in the South. However, this turned
out to be a failure because, although issued with the right sentiments, it did
not do much to release the blacks from their oppression. The various laws that
came about after 1863 actually seemed to make the Proclamation a “mockery and delusion.” (What The Black
Man Wants, Frederick Douglass)
Instances like the Jim Crow
laws and the actions of the Ku Klux Clan further worsened the condition of the
blacks who were supposedly free citizens of America. No matter how much they
fought, the battle against the whites never seemed to end, and each time they
thought they had a brief period of progress, something came about which drew
them back into their abyss of injustice and discrimination.
The blacks never gave up,
however. Even though they had been “seared
in the flames of withering injustice” (I Have A Dream, Martin Luther King
Jr.) Throughout their lives, the black
Americans kept fighting for a time when justice would “roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (I
Have A Dream, Martin Luther King Jr.) They
truly believed that freedom would never be given to them on a silver platter;
it is to be won through hard work, courage, strength of mind, and
determination.
In the 20th
century, a lot of Black American literature came about as people began to voice
their opinions against slavery and discrimination much more than before. The
literature began to serve as accounts of their struggle while also being a tool
of propaganda to motivate the African-Americans to rise and speak up and act
against the injustice being done to them. The Black American community had
finally had enough and were no longer going to remain silent. They had been
pushed too far, and refused to be humiliated further.
One of the many writers of
this century is a woman who may be one of the most influential writers of her
age and her most famous work, ‘The Color Purple’ is one of the most significant
novels of Black American literature. This woman, Alice Walker, is an
African-American novelist, short-story writer, poet, and activist.
“I love the natural world – it comes from my culture, which grew out of
a people enslaved.”
Born as a black woman in the 20th century, to a family of
Georgian sharecroppers, Alice Walker faced a life where blacks, though officially
“free”, still struggled under the heavy burden of discrimination. However, Walker’s
discrimination was two-fold. Being a woman as well as being black, she faced
hardships not only from the whites, but also from men of her own race. Growing
up, she had to overcome poverty, racism, sexism and harshness. However, instead
of allowing the adversities she faced to deter her, Walker channelled her
experiences into literature. Thus, her creativity was rooted in the economic
issues, racial terror and culture of the African-Americans.
Walker believed that, “the most common way people give up their power
is by thinking they don’t have any.” This is a value that was instilled in
her early in life when she grew up living under the injustice of the ‘Jim Crow
Laws’. Her parents resisted the landlords who wanted black children to work on
the farms all day, choosing instead to provide them with an education. A white
plantation owner had once said to the Walkers that black people had “no need for education”, and Minnie Lou
Walker, her mother, had replied saying that he better not “come around here again talking about how my children don’t need to
learn how to read and write.” Her parents never gave into the whites and
so, neither did Alice.
Alice Walker once said, “womanist is to feminist as purple is to
lavender.” A womanist writer, according to Walker, was one whose writing
focused on the African-American women of twentieth-century America. Works by
such writers tend to deal with the oppression of these women, not only by the
racial dominance but by both white and black males. The women in such novels
must often fight for their survival, and the survival of their families. Famous
‘womanist writers’ include Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, and
of course, Alice Walker.
This brings me to Walker’s
best known novel, ‘The Color Purple’, which is regarded as a “woman’s
novel”. The novel follows the story of a
young black girl named Celie, who was born into a world of poverty and
segregation. It is an account of her life and the lives of those who surround
her. As the tale comes to an end, Celie finds in her life the power of happiness
and develops a spirit of joy and individuality which frees her from the past
that had been haunting her for so long and reunites her with her loved ones. Thus,
we see the power of redemption that becomes central to the novel and was
something Walker herself strongly believed in.
Alice Walker, in her novel, felt sense of oneness with the main
character, Celie. In the preface of her Tenth Anniversary Edition of ‘The Color
Purple’, she explained that it was in this novel that she was able to express a
new spiritual awareness and while writing, had realized feelings that she had
experienced and taken for granted as a child. The novel, then, can be seen as a
spiritual journey for both Celie and Walker. The two women, the character and
the author, basically share a common path through the story.
Through Celie we gain an insight into the author and her life, by means
of Celie’s character and life. Walker’s family, much like Celie’s, lived on a
plantation. In the novel we see instances where families are forced to work on
the fields and are expected to pay taxes for water and also in order to live on
a land that they once owned. The conditions of living and the taxes levied were
similar to those Walker had witnessed, growing up.
Through this paper we see that it was not only Walker’s personal life
that influenced her, but also her race and the consequence of being black. The
historical background of her novel is deep-rooted in her black ancestry, the
lives of blacks in her age and the life of her family. The setting of the novel
is taken from the South which was the hub of slavery and discrimination and was
the part of America that Walker grew up in.
Though Walker’s personal life and her experiences throughout greatly
influenced her to write a novel on the oppression of black women, not all
credit goes to this aspect of her life. By virtue of being black and sharing
the history of an oppressed people, Walker knew more about the reality of
slavery and discrimination than one who is not coloured. Her skin is the root
cause of the hardships she faced and thus, the context of her novel is rooted
in the history of her people.
Martin Luther King Jr. believed that people should be “judged not by the colour of their skin, but
by the content of their character”. This is exactly how the world judges
Alice Walker today. We see her as a proud and successful American. Yes, Alice
Walker is a black woman. However, she has broken all barriers and stereotypes
that people have for both ‘blacks’ and ‘women’. She is now a strong and
independent citizen of the United States, and is an inspiration to us all.
Even though the racial and economic disparity still exists in the world
today, certain individuals have transcended race and are in great positions of
power and influence while maintaining and being proud of the black culture that
they were born into. Such persons have gained their importance in society, not
by being silent and accepting their fate, but by standing out of the crowd and
letting their voice be heard by the world. Today, people like Alice Walker,
President Obama, Maya Angelou and Oprah Winfrey are probably some of the most
well known and respected individuals on earth. Had they not written and spoken
at great length about their experiences, they would not have been able to
change their own lives and the lives of so many inspired by them, for the
better. As President Obama said, it is “change
we need”, and indeed, it is change that these personalities brought about.
References:
Walker, Alice: The Color
Purple
Jr. King, Luther, Martin: I
Have A Dream
Douglass, Frederick: What A
Black Man Wants
New Georgia Encyclopaedia: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/alice-walker-b-1944
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