celie.docx

1、celieFrom Degradation to Dignity: Analysis of Celie in The Color Purple1 Introduction The Color Purple (1982), written by the famous Afro-American female writer Alice Walker (1944- ), won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1983. She is the first Afro-American woman who wins this award. The novel was

2、adapted for film in 1984 by Spielberg and this adaptation brought her a world wide fame and popularity. Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944 in the small rural town of Eatonton, Georgia. She was the eighth and last child of Willie Lee Walker and Minnie Tallulah Grant, two sharecroppers. Her par

3、ents experiences with the oppressive sharecropping system and the racism of the American South had deeply influenced her life. Violent racism and family poverty had left a permanent impression on her writing. In 1965, Walker was involved in Civil Rights Movement following her graduation, which influ

4、enced her writing of her novels, such as The Third Life of Grange Copeland (1970), Meridian (1976) and The Color Purple. She even married a Jewish Civil Rights lawyer, Mel Leventhal. Another movement that influenced her deeply was the Womens Liberation Movement which she regarded as white womens mov

5、ement. She became interested in the conditions of black women who suffered the double oppression-racism and sexism. The latter came from white men, even from black men. She realized the necessity for them to achieve freedom. So the concern of black women and the impact of racism and sexism on them b

6、ecame the major themes of Walkers novels. She endeavored to explore an ideal way for black women to fight against racial and sexual discrimination and to establish their identity. As a result, she wrote her famous novel The Color Purple, which exposed black mens sexual abuse and prejudice against fe

7、male blacks. It is the story of Celie, a poor Southern black woman who struggles to escape the degradation of the treatment by men. Many people abroad are interested in Alice Walker and her novel The Color Purple. Mel Watkins regards it as “striking and consummately well-written.”(7) Dinitia Smith s

8、uggests that the novel marks a major advance for Walkers art: “because the book is superb, it places her in the company of Faulkner, from whom she appears to have learned a great deal: the use of a shifting first person narrator, for instance, and the presentation of a complex story from a naive poi

9、nt of view.”(183) These positive remarks reveal that The Color Purple is probably Walkers most artistically mature work which transcends the boundaries of the female gender to embrace more universal concerns about individual autonomy and self-reliance.Similar to the foreign scholars and with the pas

10、sion for American minority literature, more and more Chinese critics and scholars show great interest in Alice Walker and her works. Liu Yuan asserts in “The Color Purple and Alice Walkers Womannism” (2006) that the novel gives a full expression of the ideological emotion of womannism and a vivid de

11、scription of black womens struggle for liberation and equality. In “The Pattern of Chang in Alice Walker” (2000), Liu Ying argues that the pattern change in Alice Walkers heroines shows her understanding of the process that black woman must undergo to achieve their vision. Zuo Yaqin says in “The Nar

12、rative Technique of The Color Purple” (2005) that the novels narrative techniques are helpful to express the authors idea successfully. Based on the present knowledge of foreign and domestic research on Alice Walker and her novel The Color Purple, this thesis aims to analyze the gradual process of t

13、he protagonist Celies self-consciousness fromapathy to awaking. It is divided into five parts. Part One briefly introduces Alice Walker, The Color Purple and the literature review on the novel. Part Two focuses on the patriarchal domination over Celie, including that from her stepfather and husband.

14、 Part Three deals with how Celies self-consciousness begins to be aroused, with the encouragement, help and love from Shug, Sofia and Nettie. She escapes the degradation of the treatment by men and wins dignity at last. Part Four discusses the change of the relationship between Celie and her husband

15、 Albert from inequality to harmony. Part Five, by summarizing the contents mentioned above, concludes that Celie liberates herself from the patriarchal domination and obtains freedom and independence. Alice Walkers true intention of writing this novel is to point out a bright way for the freedom and

16、 liberation of black women as well as the other oppressed women all over the world.2 Patriarchal Domination over Celie Patriarchy in its wider definition means the manifestation and institutionalization of male dominance over women and children in the family and the extension of male dominance over

17、women in the society in general. It implies that men hold power in all the important institutions of society and that women are deprived of access to such power. (Gerda, 45)Another definition of patriarchy is provided by Robinson Victoria: “Patriarchy is the power of the fathers: a familial-social,

18、ideological, political system in which men-by force, direct pressure, or through ritual, tradition, law, and language, customs, etiquette, education, and the division of labor-determine what part women shall or shall not play, and in which the female is everywhere subsumed under the male.”(57)In The

19、 Color Purple, patriarchal oppression over women can be seen through the patriarchal domination of Celies body and mind by her stepfather and her husband. 2.1 Patriarchal Domination by Celies StepfatherThe story begins with Celies letter to God: “Dear God, I am fourteen years old. I have always been

20、 a good girl. Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me.”(3)From this letter, we can see Celie is troubled with something serious. Later we learn that she has been raped by his stepfather for years from 14. She is too frightened to tell anybody about her affliction, for he

21、r stepfather threatens: “You better not never tell nobody but God. Itd kill your mammy.”(3) When she can not stand the sexual abuse and cries, her stepfather chokes her and gives her a threatening command: “You better shut up and get git used to it.”(3) Finally, the constant sexual abuse makes Celie

22、 lose child-bearing ability. Whats worse, it leaves an incurable scar on her mind. Besides sexual abuse, Celie also suffers from her stepfathers physical violence. She is always beaten by him with a fabricated reason. “He beat me today cause he say I winked at a boy in church.”(6) “He beat me for dr

23、essing trampy but he do it to me anyway. (9) What more, her stepfather, with his patriarchal superiority and power, forces her to do all the household chores. Under the patriarchal domination of her stepfather, Celie has no say in her own fate. When she first gets pregnant, her stepfather forces her

24、 to quit school, never considering how she loves school. The little education results in Celies slow self-unconsciousness of her oppressed situation. Her marriage is also determined by her stepfather. When she is 20 years old, he is tired of her and chooses Albert-a widower with four children-as her

25、 husband. Celie calls him “Mr._” instead of his name Albert, because she doesnt understand him at all and is not willing to understand him. Her stepfather describes her to Albert, “she ugly. But she aint no stranger to hard work. And she clean. And God done fixed her. You can do everything just like

26、 you want to and she aint gonna make you feed it or clothe it.”(10) His comment gives Celies would-be husband such a negative impression of her that he will not respect her and even maltreat her worse than his father-in- law. For Celie, her marriage is only a deal between two men. Celie, like a slav

27、e, is handed over from one master (her stepfather) to the other (Albert). Celie describes her marriage deal in this way: “He say, Let me see her again. Pa call me, Celie, he say Like it wasnt nothing. Mr._ want another look at you.I go stand in door. The sun shine in my eyes. Hes still up on his hor

28、se.He look at me up and down.Pa rattle his newspaper. Move up, he wont bite, be sayI got closer to the steps, but no too close cause Im a little scared of his Gorse.Turn round, Pa say.I turn round.Mr._say, That cow still coming?He say, Her cow.” (12)Under the patriarchal domination of her stepfather

29、, Celie suffers from his physical and sexual violence. After his tiredness of her, he arranges a marriage for her, which, like a slave-auction deal, is destined to be another shackle for Celie.2.2 Patriarchal Domination by Celies Husband Marriage doesnt mean liberation for Celie from the patriarchal

30、 domination, for the master of her life transfers from her stepfather to her husband. And the two men are surprisingly the same in the way of treating women.For Albert, Celie is just an object for his sexual desire. As she says: “he never ast me nothing about myself. He clam on top of me and fuck an

31、d fuck, even when my head bandaged.”(97) “Most times I aint there. He never know the difference. Never ast me how I feel, nothing. Just do his business.”(68) Undoubtedly, Celie never enjoys sexual orgasm and it is impossible for her to have initiative in sex. Meanwhile, Albert likes beating Celie. H

32、e takes it for granted to beat her without feeling guilty. When his son, Harpo, asks him why he beats her, he says: “cause she my wife. Plus, she stubborn.”(22) He also educates Harpo that “wives is like children. You have to letem know who got the upper hand. Nothing can do that better than a good sound beating.”(34)Albert also abuses Celie spiritually. In his eyes, Celie is of no beauty, dignity or value at all. When his sister suggests buying some clothes for Celie, he answers: “she need clothes?” and “he look at me. It like he looking at the earth.”(20) After seeing Celie