Oppression， Resistance and Harmony：A Womanist Reading of The Color Purple

Abstract：Alice Walker is a great African American female writer. Her novel， The Color Purple， embodies her theory of womanist. Focusing on anti-sex， anti-race， womanism advocates the spirit of tolerance and insists on the harmony and equality between men and women.

Key words：oppression resistance harmony womanist

Alice Walker is a distinguished African American female writer， who has a great influence on contemporary American literature. The Color Purple is her masterpiece， which received the Pulitzer Prize， the American book Reward and National Book Critic Circle Reward in 1983. In contrast to the distortion of black women in black male literature and the ignorance of black women in white female literature， The Color Purple portrays a group of positive black women， describes their sufferings and shows us their sisiterhood in helping each other. The Color Purple is a good representation of Alice Walker’s theory of “womanist”.

Feminism is a movement that is to attack men and patriarchy. For Alice Walker womanism is not only to protect women’s rights， but also to awaken men and change their ideas. Men and women are one unity. Focusing on anti-sex， anti-race， she advocates the spirit of tolerance and insists on the harmony and equality between men and women. By analyzing The Color Purple， this thesis is to embody Alice Walker’s theory of womanist.

I. Oppression and Resistance of Black Women

For Alice Walker black patriarchy and sexism is the origin of the oppression of black women. Black men are also the victims of racism. They suffered a lot from the racism. They are hopeless and helpless. So they show their power at home. They abuse black women physically and sexually at home to show their authority. In The Color Purple， Celie was a poor good black girl. Before fourteen Celie was raped by her stepfather and was threatened not to tell others. Celie could do nothing but keep silent. When her stepfather was tired of her， Celie was married to Mr.___ at the age of nearly 20. Mr.___had four children and married Celie as a nurse， a labour and a tool for sex. There is no love and happiness between wife and husband. Celie worked as a slave and Mr.___often beat her. In the male world Celie only experienced violence and indignity. In the patriarchal society black women suffer great pain. They are belittled and ignored. They lose their identity and personality.

Where there is oppression， there is resistance. For Alice Walker sisterhood is a positive and effective way for black women to wake and achieve their independence and freedom. In The Color Purple， we can see sisterhood between Celie and Shug. Shug protected Celie from her husband’s beatings and mistreatments and helped Celie to be economically independent by starting a pants company. The most significant one is that Shug help Celie to desconstruct her original religion and reconstruct a new one. Celie accepted Shug’s God， a divine， self-authorized sense of self. This was a great transition of Celie. After the great transition， Celie stood up for herself and owned her voice again.

II. Harmony beyond race and sex

Alice Walker writes the novel not merely to expose the outrages and oppression of male towards female， the white towards the black. She also insists on the harmony among females， males and females， as well as different races. She advocates the spirit of tolerance and pursues a world where all the people， men and women as well as white and black， live equally and happily. We can see the harmony among Sophia and her five sisters. They were always united. Sophia could seek consolation and help from her sisters whenever she needed. Meanwhile， Alice Walker portrays some ideal male figures such as Samuel and Jack， Sophia’s brother-in-law. Samuel and Corrine loved and respected each other. Jack respected his wife， Odessa， as well as Odessa’s sisters. Harmony is Alice’s contribution to ideal relationship between males and females. Alice Walker also puts forward the possibility of harmony between the black and the white. In The Color Purple Sophia was forced to work for the mayor’s family and gained love of Eleanor Jane， the mayor’s daughter. Jane knew the misery caused by her family and served Sophia willingly. Doris Baines， a white woman missionary， adopted a little African boy as her grandson. They lived happily together.

Bibliography：

［1］Collins， Patricia Hill. WHAT'S IN A NAME？ Womanism， Black Feminism， and Beyond [J]. The Black Scholar. 2001 （1）.

［2］Walker， Alice. The Color Purple [M]. NewYork： Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc.， 1982.

［3］岑瑋. 女性之生存美——也讀艾麗絲·沃克的《紫顏色》[J]. 山東外語教學. 2008（4）.