THE
SUFFERINGS OF A BLACK WOMAN AS PORTRAYED IN ALICE WALKER’S NOVEL ‘THE COLOR
PURPLE’.
CIA III
Rishika Gopinath
1313243
II PSEnglish
This quote form Ralph Ellison’s
Invisible Man, tells us profusely in just two sentences the life of a black
person: to exist and not live, to be human, but to not be treated like one, to
hope when hope ceases to exist. Maybe these hard hitting realities of their
lives are why African American literature always shakes up the reader. Maybe
that is why; African American literature is more prominent than its counter
parts. It is because African American writers’ sources of knowledge of
suffering are more often than not from their experience in the black community. They have the advantage of creating life like
characters in their novels, because their slave ancestry and sometimes their
own life with years of struggle gave them that opportunity. If there is one
thing common in Alice walker’s The Color Purple, Toni Morrison’s ‘The Bluest
Eye’, Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’ and Kathryn Stockett’s ‘The Help’,
is not the obvious theme of racism but that they all hold the raw truth in
them. And most importantly, the truth about the struggles of a black
woman. How it is a double curse to be
born a woman in the black community, when racism was sweltering like the summer
heat at its peak.
Being a girl in a country like
India with patriarchy existing in lavishness, I know it is gender and gender
alone that decides the position of people all over the world. This is truth.
And truth charges, especially if you are a woman. But if you are a coloured
woman it becomes much more gruelling to live in a community. They are
ostracized form society. They have to bear the racist behaviour or violent
behaviour of not just the white men but also the black men. This is what Walker
aims to portray in her novel, the experiences of a black woman. Both Walker and
Morrison ...’’deepen our understanding of the limitations and possibilities of
lives of black Americans…” (Bell, 1987: 269) ‘The Color Purple’ emphasizes on
the fact that it is harder to be a black woman than a woman in the United
States. That the coloured woman in America have endured more than what is
humanly possible and yet survived.
Having received the Pulitzer
Prize ,’The Color Purple’ is the story of Celie, a poor, scarcely educated
Southern black woman who battles to escape the ruthlessness and degradation of
her treatment by men. In spite of the fact that it is not simple to dispose of
the patriarchal society, the protagonist manages to override these conditions. Black
community itself has plenty of impediments that keep black women from realizing
their identity. Among these impairments, there are rape and incest and colour.
‘The Colour Purple’ begins with
the protagonist’s rape. “Celie is 14…stepfather, whom she believes is her
father, begins to rape her”. He threatens her saying “you better shut up and
git used to it” She cannot relieve her trauma by telling about her rape to
anyone. She is in a very difficult place, as seen in Celie’s expressions “But I
don’t never git used to it. And now I feell sick used to it. I be the one to
cook. My mama she fuss at me an look at me. She happy, cause he good to her
now. But too sick to last long” Also it is very saddening that Celie’s mother
is unaware of what is happening to her daughter, because the step father rapes
Celie when her mother is not at home.
Something that most people do
not know is that, this rape scene is based on Alice Walker’s great grand
mother’s life. She was raped and impregnated at the young age of only 11, by
her master. This real life incident and its reference show the condition of
black woman and portray a black family and how rape and incest rape are
undeniable facts of most black people’s lives.
I find this scene of
significance because there is no issue of race. Celie is black, so is her stepfather.
And that is what makes it more devastating. Besides being slaves and treated
like animals in the white man’s world, black women are treated equally bad by
their men. Celie represents a black woman’s life. Celie is the representation
of the oppressed black woman.
In the black community itself,
the degree of one’s blackness moulds the behaviour of people towards one
another. In the novel, the mistress of Celie’s husband is a representation of colour
of skin. The mistress who has a dark black skin, as seen in Celie’s eyes is
“the woman in control of her life”; “with only positive thoughts about her very
black skin”. This reveals how there is almost another smaller segregation
system within the black community which is awful because of everything that the
black community goes through, that last thing they should be doing is be
looking down on each other.
What I find most inspiring in
all African American Literature that demonstrate their struggles is the undying
spirit of struggle and hope; how even when seemingly unchanging truths are placed
before them they would hope against all odds rather than be helpless. How Shug
Avery is an independent woman and advices Celie not to be dependent in times of
prevalent racism is a proof of their strong spirit. Even Mr. ________’s sister,
Kate is an example of this. All she does constantly is push Celie to fight
back. “You got to fight them, Celie, she say. I can’t do it for you. You got to
fight them for yourself”
Black characters in Alice
Walker’s ‘The Color Purple’ withstand racial attitudes, gender discrimination,
sexual abuse and violence, thus successfully displaying the sufferings of a
coloured woman, written with the impact of experiences of slave life. Walker
shows the growth of Celie throughout the novel. How Celie grows onto to be
someone with a lot of internal strength and finally emerges victorious. How she
first was an object of both black and white brutality, but in time with the
help of her friends Celie realizes that it is all in her good hands to act the
way she wants and not be oppressed if she chooses to.
So this book symbolizes
this invisibility and emptiness of the black people, particularly the black
woman. With the harsh truths of reality it displays sufferings like mother
hood, rape, violence, pain, and racism. How the white society discriminates
them for their God-given colour. How black women are viewed as entities without
feelings. How sadly, unlike Celie many black women characters wouldn’t dare
object the discrimination and thus led a life of misery to the end.
REFERENCES
Alice Walker. The Color Purple: Phoenix,2004. Print.
Ayademir Yasmine.
"The Suffers Of Black Women In Alice Walker’s Novels The Color Purple And
Meridian And Toni Morrison’s Novels Beloved And The Bluest Eye." The
Journal of International Social Research 5.23 (2012): 437-444. Print.
Bernard W Bell. The Afro-American Novel And Its Tradition. USA: The University Of Massachusetts Press,1987. Print.
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