Black Women in the Black Patrimony: Self Discovery in Alice Walker's The Colour Purple


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Authors

  • Nirjharini Tripathy Lecturer in English Department of English Prananath Autonomous College Khordha, Odisha, India

Keywords:

Lesbianism, Letters, Oppression, Patriarchy, Racism, Sexuality, Subjugation

Abstract

The Color Purple, Alice Walker’s third novel, won the American Book Award for Fiction and the Pulitzer Prize. This paper analyses this novel that is centred on black women and written in an epistolary form. The whole novel is written in a sequence of letters that becomes the genesis of intimation and revelation of the story of the principal character Celie. These letters evinces the inner psychological and emotional conflict, implicit distress, suppression of spirit of Celie. It also manifests Celie’s intensifying inner vehemence and her ultimate triumph. The novel is a saga of a woman’s battle against patriarchy, racism, sexism, and social determinism. The novel also probes the man-woman relationship and the suppression, subjugation and sexual exploitation of the black women in their relationship with black men. The novel somehow asserts the requisite for sisterhood that appears a prospect for black women liberation. The Color Purple accentuates the universal exploitation and persecution of black women through the character of Celie. It is concerned with sexual-politics and attacks on male dominance, predominantly the brutal assault of black women by black men.

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References

Adrienne Rich, Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution. New York: Norton, 1976.

Alice Walker, In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens, 291.

Alice Walker, The Color Purple. San Diego: Hareourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982.

Daniel W. Ross, “Celie in the Looking Glass: The Desire for Selfhood in The Color Purple”, Modern Fiction Studies, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Spring 1988) 70.

Houston Baker Jr. and Charlotte Pierce Baker, “Patches: Quilts and Community in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” Southern Review, Vol 21, No 3 (July 1985) 706.

Mae Henderson, “The Color Purple. Revisions and Redefinitions,” Sage Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring 1985) 16.

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Published

2018-02-28

How to Cite

Nirjharini Tripathy. “Black Women in the Black Patrimony: Self Discovery in Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple”. The Creative Launcher, vol. 2, no. 6, Feb. 2018, pp. 218-25, https://thecreativelauncher.com/index.php/tcl/article/view/803.

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Section

Research Articles

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