preview

The Color Purple Inhumanity Essay

Good Essays

Throughout The Color Purple Walker highlights man’s inhumanity to women through her female characters, however, this is not their sole purpose. These characters are used to show Walker’s womanist and spiritualistic views as well as becoming highly complex human beings by the novel’s close. Although in the first part of the novel it is arguable that this “gallery of women” are merely used as a device to expose inequality, objectification and cruelty, especially in with black women, in early 20th Century society.
Walker makes man’s inhumanity to women clear from the very first line of the novel. “You better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy” clearly shows the emotional black mail that Celie faces and sets the tone for a novel which focuses in on the abused in society. This relationship with Alfonzo and Celie is fundamental in showing how women are abused by men in this novel and is a main focus of the early letters. To Alfonzo, Celie adds little value to his life other than to fulfil his sexual needs …show more content…

She walks with a determination and does not let Albert verbally abuse her by accusing her of lying about who is her baby’s father. She is a “big, strong, healthy girl” who is independent and not afraid to tell the male characters this. This determination is even seen in the way she walks: “look like the army change direction, and she heading off to catch up” showing that not all women are as suppressed as Celie and some do have a lot of confidence. Additionally when Harpo tries to make Sofia obey his every word she is able to beat him up and protect herself, again going against the stereotype that women need men. Sofia has a clear set of moral values and is not afraid to defend these, thus showing that women do have power in this society, suggesting that reading The Color Purple as a book about man’s inhumanity towards women is a very limited

Get Access