SisterhoodandIdentityincarnatedinTHECOLORPURPLE

XiaoHong-bo

【Abstract】The novel conveys important， political messages exploring the idea of feminism and womens emancipation. Alice Walker demonstrates her views on civil rights and commitment to feminism through Celie. From a womanists point of view， this essay examines the traumatic journeys that Celie goes through， her spiritual and emotional growth， till finally she find her identity and happiness.

【Key words】sisterhood； identity； the Color Purple

Alice Walker grounds her fiction primarily in the experiences of the rural South and Southern blacks. “And as a woman writer， she is especially sensitive to the life of the Southern black woman. She tells stories of the initiations of black girls into womanhood， defining in the process the complex meaning of being a black and female in a culture that has denigrated both qualities.” “Her insistence on depiting black females lives as a result of the interplay of both sexism and racism differentiates her from white feminist writers， and it is for this reason that she terms herself a womanist writer.”（Weng， 348-349） “Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender.” – Alice Walker.

Much of the narrative in Alice Walker's novel is derived from her own personal experience， growing up in the rural south as an uneducated and abused child. Like many other novels by Walker that are devoted to the mistreatment of black women and how black women interact with and are abused by men， she dedicates to inspiring and motivating colored women to stand up for their rights. Celie in The Color Purple undergoes an inner transformation， from a passive battered female to a confident and liberated black woman.

Celie understands that as a black woman she is seen as worthless， having a meaningless existence. There is no other way of life. It is as if all black women are enslaved to the typical hell of exploitation， bigotry， and abuse. The female characters are molded from pain and sacrifice.

The black male in the novel is depicted as cruel， brutal and evil. He lives in a world where white man rules. The pressures of being a man of little worth in such a world seems to be taken out on the black female. Women are the scapegoats for all their vented frustration. “Black in a white society， slave in a free society， woman in a society ruled by men. American white women were expected to be passive because they were female. But black women had to submissive because they were black and slaves.” （Fifer，155-156）

Alice Walker conveys the importance of the need to unite. “Walker sees the possibility of empowerment for the black women if they create a community of sisters that often can alter the unnatural definitions of woman and men.” （Hook， 220） The only way Celie is able to find her individuality is through the help of the women in her life. With the encouragement of these women， Celie successfully reaches the point in which she， too， is strong and self-able.

Like many other novels by Walker that are devoted to the mistreatment of black women and how black women interact with and are abused by men， she dedicates to inspiring and motivating colored women to stand up for their rights. （Yang， 990）. The new meaning of the colur purple， symbols the wonder of existence which is the core of the new faith Shug and Celie share.

It is the last few pages， which bring in the last symbol for womans emancipation， pant making. It is the main achievement in Celies life which not only shows off Celies few talents， but display Walkers belief that gender is distinct from sexual identity. After Shug Avery had asserted Celies identity through a song “about some no count man doing her wrong， again” and her voice by speaking for her： “Celie is coming with us.” （Wall， 89）

At the end of the novel， Celie grows from a timid， animal-like character to the determined， content， pants making woman she becomes. Celie shows the spirit that was needed in every woman to overcome a world of inequality. Also she shows the spiritual and emotional strength， to face the condemnation “you black， you pore， you ugly， you a woman！” with the unavoidable truth， “I am pore， I am black？ But I am here！”

References：

[1]Weng Dexiu Highlights of 20th Century British and American LiteratureJilin，Jilin University Press，2000，348-360.

[2]Yang qishen Selected Readings in American Literature Shanghai，Shanghai Translation Press，2001，990-991.

[3]Fifer，Elizabeth.The Dialect and Letters of The Color Purple.Contemporary American Women Writers.Lexington：University of Kentucky Press，1985.155-165.

[4]Hooks，Bell.Writing the Subject：Reading The Color Purple.New York：Chelsea House Publishers，1989.215-228.

[5]Wall，Wendy.Lettered Bodies and Corporeal Texts in The Color Purple.Studies in American Fiction，1988，83-98.