"The Color Purple" and Symbolism

Paper Summary:

The paper examines the racial, sexist, letter and sewing symbolism within "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker. The paper analyzes how Walker treats the issues of slavery and patriarchal male constructs in the novel and thus defines the female African-American experience.

From the Paper:

"The sexism within The Color Purple is controlled through a patriarchal racist institution of slavery. In one example in the novel, slave women had no rights to their children after birth. Nettie is a woman that has given birth to children, but plantation owners took their children after birth to sell into slavery. The issue of male dominance plays a major role in how women are perceived, especially as servants to the male populations on the plantation and within society. Although it might be easy to perceive the anger in Netti or Celie's voice in the novel, one really sees a women trying to stay alive and find people with love in their hearts."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cutter, Martha. "Philomela Speaks: Alice Walker's Revisioning of Rape Archetypes in the Color Purple." 2006. Find Articles Database. MELUS, Fall-Winter 2000. <http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2278/is_2000_Fall-Winter/ai_74483364>
• Hendrickson, Roberta. "Remembering the Dream: Alice Walker, Meridian and the Civil Rights Movement." 2006. Find Articles Database. MELTUS, FALL 1999. 29 October, 2006. <http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2278/is_3_24/ai_62350903>
• Selzer, Linda, "Race and Domesticity in The Color Purple." 2006. Find Articles Database. African American Review 29, no. 1 (spring 1995): 67-82. 29 October, 2006. <http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2838/is_n1_v29/ai_17276622>
• Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York: Pocket, 1990.

More papers on "The Color Purple" and Symbolism:

• Book Review # 146657 : "Oppression in 'The Color Purple'"
• Analytical Essay # 136784 : "Whiteness in 'The Color Purple'"
• Film Review # 84312 : "The Hollywood Version of 'The Color Purple'"

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