How does Walkers presentations of Womanism Affect Your Interpretation of the Novel? Essay

Alice Walker is one of the most prominent contemporary writers in America. Her masterpiece, The Color Purple, wins her Pulitzer Prize for her ideology of â€Å"womanism†. Walker’s â€Å"womanism† has four characteristics: anti-sexism, anti-racism, Afracentrism and humanism. Afracentrism refers to the review of Afro-American history and culture while humanism emphasizes on love and forgiveness to both friends and enemies. Through analysis of the black women’s plight, struggle, and survival as well as their hope, this idea illustrates four characteristics of womanism. Walker’s womanism enriches feminism and provides a new perspective for understanding women’s liberation. Walker has demonstrated the new perspective through the form of Celie’s letters. The letterform used in The Color Purple is not only a literary tool used by Walker to catch the reader’s attention and make the story seem more realistic. If one looks at the letters from the perspective of Celie the interpretation takes on a new turn. Celie’s letters begin when she is raped and silenced with the words of her stepfather: â€Å"You better not tell anybody but God. I’d kill your mammy†. This leaves her with only one way out; namely to tell God. And with this act a new door opens into a world of opportunities, freedom and justice. When Celie writes her first letter one can say that a new body is created. Whereas her physical body suffers from violence and rape which is shown in letter one â€Å"You better shut up and git used to it†. But the new invisible body is safe and can’t be harmed. So her letters work as a â€Å"second body† where the wounds inflicted on her are able to heal and she can develop an identity. Within these letters she is allowed to be as honest as she wants and she can express her feelings, which otherwise are oppressed. The letters are the only way of finding purpose in an otherwise meaningless existence. In the Color Purple the history describes black women’s living plight in America and the Olinka tribe, such as rape and incest, isolation and desperation, and alienation and absurdity as well. The black women’s suffering and misfortune reflect the female consciousness of womanism. The Olinka tribe don’t believe in educating their women, as shown in letter sixty-two â€Å"The Olinka do not believe girls should be educated†, and although there’re no reports of abuse against women by men in Nettie’s letters, woman subservience is unchallenged, and the demeaning opening ceremony continues without contest. Similarly, this is also shown when Celie was being denied an education in America after falling pregnant due to rape, shown in letter eight â€Å"You too dumb to keep going to school†. In the Olinka tribe women are not allowed to be educated as education leads to knowledge and then dissatisfaction. The Olinka men want the women to continu e to work without question, something best achieved when they are uneducated. In the Color Purple it describes sexism and racism in America and the Olinka tribe. Walker explores the interpretation of anti-sexism and anti-racism consciousness of womanism through the letters. In the letters Walker valiantly and determinedly stands up to the pressure exerted upon her for her endeavour to interpretation and finally eradicate all the iniquity parts of the black world, dedicating the novel to a cause that is the breaking down of all the bondages on the blacks. In letter sixty-two the Olinka think a woman is nothing until she marries and she should stay uneducated as she is inferior to men. This is shown when Nettie was describing the daily life in Africa, â€Å"A girl is nothing to herself; only to her husband can she become something†. Black women in The Color Purple along with black men enjoy no equal rights as whites and even racial segregation is carried on extensively in America. In the south, black people can’t even sit side by side with whites in a car. But it turns out not to be so different even in the northern big cities such as New York, where black people are treated differently from whites as second-class citizens, who are called â€Å"Niggers†. In letter fifty-six Nettie writes to Celie about New York: â€Å"What can I tell you about New York or even about the train that took us there †¦ Only white people can ride in the beds and use the restaurant. And they have different toilets from colored.† Walker deeply penetrates the racial politics employed by racists, and uses Nettie’s journey through America and Africa to illustrate the racial and sexual consciousness of womanism. In the Color Purple Walker discusses the black women’s root-seeking travel to Africa which then includes the interpretation of Afracentrism of womanism. Once Afro-Americans entered the United States, they lost their identity. When they stepped foot in the new land they had no friends, no relatives, and no culture. Therefore, womanists support Afracentrism which denotes the review of Afro-American history and culture, mainly slavery culture and regression to African culture and tradition. In letter fifty-five, Nettie’s journey to African indicates her search of the lost black identity and culture. â€Å"The little I knew about my own self wouldn’t have filled a thimble!† illustrates Nettie’s view of her losing her black cultural identity. When she didn’t even know that her brothers and sisters were sold from Africa in trade for money she stated that she was ever so â€Å"ignorant† and that she had to learn everything to make herself useful. Through description of Nettie’s root-seeking travel, Walker urges Afro-Americans to promote African culture. In this way Walker hopes to provoke the national consciousness of the blacks, carry forward the famous tradition of Black Nationalism. In letter fifty-seven Nettie expresses her views of the materials made from the black people and that â€Å"it is hard to imagine that the people who made them don’t still exist.† Walker illustrated this through Nettie’s letters as she wanted to discard the black people’s ancestors’ ignorance and prejudice, and finally strengthen the national pride and unity of the black people. Through description of kindness and beauty of women and redemption of men Walker provides the readers with an ideal living pattern for the human beings which show humanism consciousness of womanism. When Celie and Albert were sewing together in letter eighty-seven Walker advocates the spirit of tolerance where both men and women finally reconcile and accept each other. This shows the theme of liberation and shows that tolerance is a noble human quality and a performance of humanism. Furthermore, this illustrates Walker’s ideal living pattern and her desire to build a harmonious world filled with understanding and love, which is shown in the relationship of Albert and Celie. The Purple Color is a successful literary practice of Walker’s womanism and also is a development of feminism in regard to black feminism. Through supporting of anti-racism, anti-sexism, Afracentrism and Humanism, Walker conclusively sets up an ideal harmonious living pattern by celebrating a unity of men and women in spite of their colour and race. A harmonious relationship between men and women, human beings and society, human beings and nature is the recreation of womanism and also is its true implication.