An Ideal Home Made of Love and Tolerance ——An Analysis of Black Women’s Love and Tolerance in the Color Purple

【Abstract】：Alice walker is one of the most famous contemporary American writers， she advocates womanism to fight for black women’s rights. The Color Purple is her most representative work. In the novel black women not only emancipated themselves but also saved the black men and finally set up an ideal home for all the blacks. This paper will analyze how Alice Walker appeals to her womanism in The Color Purple.

【Key Words】： the Color Purple; Love; Forgiveness; Ideal home

Alice walker is one of the most remarkable contemporary African-American writers. Her harmonious black community not only includes a community of black women but also extends to the black men.

LOVE IN THE AIR

1. the Kinship Between Nettie and Celie

The Color Purple consists of 92 letters. The story begins with Celie’s first letter to God： “I am fourteen years old， I have always been a good girl.” （1; ）. Later we know that Celie was raped by her stepfather. And her two children were given away. Nettie was her only family. She moved to live with Celie to protect herself from her stepfather. But she was threatened to leave after she refused Albert. Her letters to Celie were hidden by Albert. The two sisters were out of touch with each other.

2. the Friendship Between Celie and Sofia

Sofia is Celie’s daughter-in-law. She is strong-minded and independent. She is one of the few woman who dare to fight against men. The first time Harpo took her home， Albert contempted her： “young womens no good these days， he say. Got they legs open to every Tom， Dick and Harry，” （30; ）. "To Celie’s surprise， Sofia said “Harpo， you stay here. When you free， me and baby are waiting”. Finally they got married. Harpo tried to make Sofia submit to him by means of violence， but he failed. On the contrary， he got rebellion from Sofia. Celie told Harpo to “beat her” （35; ）. Sofia came fiercely to Celie after she knew the truth： “ you told Harpo to beat me”. Celie felt ashamed of that， “I say it cause I’m a fool， I say it cause I’m jealous of you. I say it cause you do what I can not” （37; ）. However， they were soon reconciled after talking about their miserable lives. From then on， they became friends who rely on each other and help each other.

DISTILLATION OF LOVE

1. the Sisterhood Between Celie and Shug

Shug was Albert’s lover and she lived with him. The first day Celie came to live with Albert she was attracted by Shug’s nice picture. She knew that Albert is still in love with Shug. Celie took care of her without outright complaints When Shug was ill. “I want her here. I say， too quick. He look at me like maybe I’m planning something bad” （45; ）. Shug dedicated a song Miss Celie’s song for her. Shug played an important role in leading Celie to search for her personal growth. She protected Celie from being beaten， she helped Celie find out the long lost letters from Nettie. She encouraged Celie to make her own living by designing and manufacturing pants. Finally Celie turned from a numb woman into an independent woman.

2. the Sisterhood Between Sofia and Squeak

Sofia and Squeak were both Harpo’s women. Sofia is a strong black woman who dared to revolt against all of the violations upon her. She refused to work as a maid for the mayor’s wife and got the mayor down. As a result she was sentenced to be in jail for 12 years. Squeak was a black woman who behaved like Celie. Harpo was with her after Sofia left him. It was Squeak who brought up Sofia’s children for her. Also she was the first one to offer her personal help to save Sofia. She did not get Sofia out of the jail directly， but her sacrifice saved Sofia’s life. Her tolerance and sacrifice was appreciated. “Harpo say， I love you， Squeak. He kneel down and try to put his arms round her waist”. “she stands up， my name Mary Agnes， she say” （92; ）.

3. The Friendship Between Nettie and Corrine

Nettie started her missionary life with the Samuel in Africa. Samuel and Corrine were both warmhearted. “Although I work for Corrine and Samuel and look for the children. I do not feel like a maid”. Nettie admired Samuel. She thought “Corrine is a lucky woman to have him as her husband” （133; ）. But people started to wonder if Nettie is Samuel’s another wife because the children look like Nettie a lot. Corrine had been tolerant about this. “Corrine said to me this morning， Nettie， to stop any kind of confusion in the minds of these people”， “and don’t let the children call you mama Nettie.” （155; ）.When she was dying she called Nettie and Samuel to explain why the children look like Nettie. Nettie was trying to get Corrine remember the day she met Celie. “Do you remember buying this cloth？ Pointing to a flowered square. And what about this checkered bird？” （181; ）. “She traced the patterns with her finger， and slowly her eyes filled with tears. She began to cry in earnest.” （182; ）. Finally Corrine believed Nettie. “in the middle of the night she woke up， turned to Samuel and said： I believe. And died anyway” （182; ）

CONCLUSION

The deep sisterhood emancipated black women from the patriarchal system. Not only did they obtain respect and freedom， but also they understood their men brothers. In a patriarchal society， black males are living under a dilemma situation. On the one hand they are oppressor owing to sexism; on the other hand they are discriminated owing to racism. So they had to redefine themselves by bullying and ordering their wives and children. Finally they established warm friendship and set up an ideal home for all the blacks.

WORKS CITED

Alice，Walker. The Color Purple. New York： Harcourt， 1982. Print.

Harold， Bloom. Alice Walker. Philadelphia： House Publishers， 1989. Print.

Lagrone， Kheven. Alice Walker’s the Color Purple. New York， 2009. Print.

關心子. 《紫色》中的婦女主義. 長沙：湖南師范大學， 2004. Print.

孟佩. 《紫色》：后殖民語境中婦女主義聲音. 湖北：武漢理工大學，2007. Print.

施利虹. 《紫色中的婦女主義》. 湖北：武漢理工大學，2007. Print.

聶英杰. 構建黑人婦女的烏托邦-“婦女主義”反觀下的《紫色》情懷.吉林大學， 2005. Print.