Purple 2

© 2019 JETIR March 2019, Volume 6, Issue 3 www.jetir.
org (ISSN-2349-5162)
RACISM IN ALICE WALKER’S THE

COLOR PURPLE
K.Karthi
M.Phil Research Scholar, Urumu Dhanalakshmi College, Trichy.
Abstract
The color purple is a woman’s story about pain, suffering, endurance, and
friendship, a story of hardship and hope, of reunion and reconciliation. Walker
depicts how the black women have been oppressed due to their relationship with
black men and only the sisterhood that can make the black women free and
empowered. The Color Purple is more concerned with politics of sex and self
than with the politics of class and race, its unrelenting, and severe attacks on
male hegemony, especially the violent abuse of black women by black men, is
offered as a revolutionary leap forward into a new social areder based on sexual
egalitarianism. The novel ends with happiness and reconciliation. Walker
emphasizes the universal oppression of black women in The Color Purple.
According to Walker, a womanist is a black feminist or feminist of color..with
outrageous, audacious, courageous or willful behavior. A woman who loves
other women, sexually and or nonsexually.
Introduction
Walker’s women in purple build a wall of camaraderie around themselves.

They share in each other’s pain, sorrow, laughter and dreams, and come to each
other’s rescue. They are sisters in body as well as in spirit and the spirit cannot be
broken. They find God in themselves and they loved her fiercely. The women in
Alice Walker’s fiction do not understand the complexity of their problem because
their limited worlds cannot help them and they are forced to do everything
haphazardly. The distinctive feature of these women is the massive quality with
which they carry their suffering. Some are generous and proud. Some are forgiving
even to the men who mistreat them very badly. Gallery of women in Alice
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© 2019 JETIR March 2019, Volume 6, Issue 3 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162)
Walker’s work is the living example of man’s inhumanity to woman. The focus of
our attention will be Alice Walker’s womanism. Alice Walker’s in an interview
with John O’ Brien said: “I am preoccupied with the spiritual survival, the survival
of whole of my people. But beyond that. I am committed to exploring the
oppression, the insanities, the loyalities, and the triumphs of black women.
The concept of oppression entails “any unjust situation where,

systematically and over a long period of time, one group denies another group
access to the resources of society”. Race, ethnicity, class and gender are
inextricably linked together, and even though African- American men have also
been the victims of oppression in American women, since they also faced
oppression in terms of gender, in a different way than African-American men have.
The first dimension concerning economic oppression , relating to the

exploitation of black women’s labor, is present in the fact that Sofia is more or less
forced to work for the mayor, because she is punished if she resists. The Mayor’s
wife asks her to become her maid, but Sofia rejects her offer. The Mayor then slaps
her for disrespecting him and his wife, to which Sofia reacts by hitting him back.
As a result, Sofia is sentenced to work as the mayor’s maid for twelve years.
Moreover, Celie is economically dependent on Albert, though this dimension
remains in the background.
The second dimension regarding political oppression is explained by Collins

as the denial of the vote, but it is present in the novel on a more personal level in
the male domination that exists in the novel. Celie does not receive proper
education, because she is taken from school by her stepfather when she becomes
pregnant. She is only literate because her sister Nettie taught her how to read and
write. Her father also takes her children away from her, rapes and beats her. He
also forces her into marriage with Albert, who beats her as well, his excuse being
that it is because Celie is his wife. Although the political dimension may not be as
clear as first sight, it is definitely present in a way in which women are treated as
the lesser persons in American society.
The third and last dimension, which considers ideological oppression in terms
of stereotypical images of black women, can also be found in The Color Purple in
several scenes where images are reflected upon the characters. The characters are
aware of the gender roles that American society expects from them, and feel
pressure to behave according to these socially constructed images. For example,
Sofia and Harpo feel like they need to adhere to the particular gender roles that are
seen as normal in society, even though it is not what either of them wants. Harpo
likes to do women’s work and working in the household, while Sofia likes to do
more physical work. This clearly describes the fact that the characters know what
they will be happiest if they let go of that pressure and take on the role in the
marriage that they would want for themselves. In a way, Walker criticize this
ideological oppression, by reversing the stereotypical gender roles and creating
female characters who have more masculine characteristics, and vice versa.
Moreover, Celie criticizes Albert when he mentions to her that he thinks Shug acts
like a man. She tells him that she thinks the characteristics that he appropriates to
men, are womanly.
The domination made by men in the novel starts from the beginning of the
novel. “You better not never tell anybody but God. It’d kill your mammy”. In The
Color Purple the role of male domination in the frustration of black women’s
struggle for independence is clearly the focus. Walker explores this theme in the
love triangle of Albert, Shug Avery and Celie. Celie and Shug become friends, and
their friendship even evolves into a sexual attraction between the two. Albert tells
Shug that he physically abuses Celie. Apart from the critiquing of black female
oppression and heterosexism, black feminism can be identified in the fact that
Walker challenges socially constructed gender roles by reversing them, and the
way in which the characters attempt to resist the oppression they face. Sexism,
meaning that she is less important than her male counterparts.
Conclusion
Sexuality binds oppressions of race, gender and class together. In the novel,
sexuality is present in male domination of female sexuality, in the oppression of
gender and the pressure of adhering to stereotypical gender role. However, there
are also strong female characters present in the novel, and there is a change of
consciousness throughout the story. Some types of oppression that black feminism
deals with are present in The Color Purple, including sexism, hetero sexism and
the “culture of dissemblance”. However, not all aspects of black feminism are
represented in the novel.
Besides black female sexuality, The Color Purple has many themes that are
at the centre of black feminism. Works of fiction such The Color Purple were
written to promote political and social change, and deals with notions of sexuality,
gender, race and class. It has become an important part of American literature,
gaining a lot of popularity since it first came out in 1982, and even more after the
release of the film adaptation. Therefore, it is an influential work in American
culture.
REFERENCES
Herton, Calvin. “The Sexual Mountain and Black Women Writers”. Black Scholar
1985.
Hooks, Bell. Feminism. Women and Therapy, 1995.
Morrison, Toni, ‘What the Black Woman Thinks about Women’s, Lib”, New
York Times magazines, 22 August 1971.
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Phoneix: The Woman’s Press, 2004. Print.

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© 2019 JETIR March 2019, Volume 6, Issue 3 www.jetir.

RACISM IN ALICE WALKER’S THE

Walker’s women in purple build a wall of camaraderie around themselves.

The concept of oppression entails “any unjust situation where,

The first dimension concerning economic oppression , relating to the

The second dimension regarding political oppression is explained by Collins

Hooks, Bell. Feminism. Women and Therapy, 1995.

York Times magazines, 22 August 1971.

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