Explore Walkers Portrayal of Female Identity †The Color Purple Essay

â€Å"Teach only the boys. â€Å"1 (Page 146) In many cases this term would be considered sexist: However, when reading The Color Purple it becomes evident that the men as well as the boys are the ones who are in need of education. This education is not confined to the academic sense, but Walker rather emphasises their need to acquire the understanding of equal rights. The women may not receive any academic education but they were still equal to men in their ability to work, as Walker shows through several strong female role models throughout The Color Purple. The things that the women have experienced have taught them things about life that no man would ever understand: The gift of tolerance, understanding and a positive mind. Celie has to undergo a lot of traumatic experiences throughout The Color Purple. Walker uses this to mould her into the â€Å"stereotypical† submissive woman. Walker then continues to develop Celie’s stereotypical role of mother and wife by forcing her into another destructive relationship, both emotionally and physically. This relationship affected her attitude towards men but also her self-confidence towards women and children who possess the confidence she does not. Although Walker has portrayed Celie as a weak individual, Mr calls her â€Å"You black, you pore, you ugly, youa woman. † Quotations like this show just what level of racism and sexism Celie and maybe Walker herself had to compete with. Walker may have portrayed Celie in this way to exaggerate the fact that she is also filled with courage. She tries to stand up to Mr ____ , and claims she will † curse him† until â€Å"you[ he] do right by me†. Mr ___, claims Celie is â€Å"nothing at all†. Despite this abuse Celie has the courage to carry on and live her life despite its restrictions. Walker uses each character to reflect all the different elements of female identity. Celie is portrayed as weak, Sophia is portrayed as powerful, Nettie educated and Shug leads the glamorous life every women dreams of. Walker seems to use a variety of different characters to provide comparison and influence in all of the female characters lives. The ongoing influence is the typical 1930s society. Society is responsible for imposing the status quo, which heaven forbid Celie would ever rebel against. â€Å"I don’t fight; I stay where I’m told. But I’m alive. â€Å"(Page 22)She has lost her sister, her freedom and her self respect; she can’t lose her life as well. Sophia however is an excellent example of a powerful woman in society. Not only powerful in body, but also in mind. In the beginning of the book she seems to show no fear and determination no to be moulded by society. Unfortunately this is a short lived dream. Even though Sophia is a powerful woman, she is still victim to discrimination due to her sex and race which results in hr being moulded into the typical stereotypical woman. After being thrown out of Celie’s house by Mr ____, Nettie finds refuge in the home of a missionary couple, who teach her the importance of god and educating others. She abandons the role of housewife and takes on a role more favourable which benefits others and not just her self. Shug Avery abandons all traces of the female stereotype. Her life revolves around the finer things. Her music offers the passion and yearning for the glamorous life, especially for Celie, whose life is made up of orders and abuse, whereas Shug is a woman who doesn’t take orders and on many occasions’ is the one who makes them. Parts of the prejudice society of the 1930’s were the men. In Celie’s mind, men have a kind of meanness that women don’t possess. Women, though they may scream and swear, are not harmful in the way men like Pa are Mr_____ When she was younger the only male she knew was Alphonso, who she then believed to be her father. Although she was treated poorly by her â€Å"father†, she listens to the bible and â€Å"Honor[s] father and mother no matter what. † (page 43-44). This even included forgiving him for the constant sexual abuse. By obeying the Bible she had to obey her father, no matter what the consequence was. The dramatic betrayal of someone she could trust had been destroyed and therefore jeopardised her relationship with any other man, instead of feeling love or respect, she only felt fear. â€Å"That’s the truth. I look at women, tho, cause I’m not scared of them. † Although Mr_____ is her husband,their relationship appears to be one of convenience. When he first approached Alphonso it was to marry Celie’s sister, Nettie. Alphonso however refused. Claiming that Nettie was too pretty and that he should have Celie instead. Compared to Nettie, Celie was hardly the trophy wife that Mr___ desired. â€Å"She ugly. †¦.. But she can work like a man. † (pg. 18. ) Mr ____ only wanted a wife to look after his kid and to satisfy his own selfish needs. Walker portrays Celie as an object only to be used and abused by men. Walker shows a very dysfunctional relationship between Sophia and her husband Harpo; however it is not abusive as all of Celie’s relationships have been. It is a true relationship that was built on a love and not on necessity. Another factor that Walker has used to create the couple is the reversal of personas. So Walker has created her to be the â€Å"man† of the house, as she is stronger than Harpo in more ways than one. This is alien to Celie and she advises Harpo that Sophia needs to be â€Å"taken down a peg† (Page 35) so he can become head of the house again. Nevertheless Sophia refuses to accept this treatment and fights back. Although Sophia managed to defeat one member of society, it was her second and final confrontation that would finally destroy the confidence that Celie so desperately wanted.