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湖南商学院毕业论文From Degradation to Dignity: Analysis of Celie in The Color Purple1. Introduction The Color Purple (1982), written by the famous Afro-American female writer Alice Walker (1944- ), won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1983. She is the first Afro-American woman who wins this award. The novel was adapted for film in 1984 by Spielberg and this adaptation brought her a world wide fame and popularity. Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944 in the small rural town of Eatonton, Georgia. She was the eighth and last child of Willie Lee Walker and Minnie Tallulah Grant, two sharecroppers. Her parents experiences with the oppressive sharecropping system and the racism of the American South had deeply influenced her life. Violent racism and family poverty had left a permanent impression on her writing. In 1965, Walker was involved in Civil Rights Movement following her graduation, which influenced her writing of her novels, such as The Third Life of Grange Copeland (1970), Meridian (1976) and The Color Purple. She even married a Jewish Civil Rights lawyer, Mel Leventhal. Another movement that influenced her deeply was the Womens Liberation Movement which she regarded as white womens movement. She became interested in the conditions of black women who suffered the double oppression-racism and sexism. The latter came from white men, even from black men. She realized the necessity for them to achieve freedom. So the concern of black women and the impact of racism and sexism on them became the major themes of Walkers novels. She endeavored to explore an ideal way for black women to fight against racial and sexual discrimination and to establish their identity. As a result, she wrote her famous novel The Color Purple, which exposed black mens sexual abuse and prejudice against female blacks. It is the story of Celie, a poor Southern black woman who struggles to escape the degradation of the treatment by men. Many people abroad are interested in Alice Walker and her novel The Color Purple. Mel Watkins regards it as “striking and consummately well-written.”(7) Dinitia Smith suggests that the novel marks a major advance for Walkers art: “because the book is superb, it places her in the company of Faulkner, from whom she appears to have learned a great deal: the use of a shifting first person narrator, for instance, and the presentation of a complex story from a naive point of view.”(183) These positive remarks reveal that The Color Purple is probably Walkers most artistically mature work which transcends the boundaries of the female gender to embrace more universal concerns about individual autonomy and self-reliance.Similar to the foreign scholars and with the passion for American minority literature, more and more Chinese critics and scholars show great interest in Alice Walker and her works. Liu Yuan asserts in “The Color Purple and Alice Walkers Womannism” (2006) that the novel gives a full expression of the ideological emotion of womannism and a vivid description of black womens struggle for liberation and equality. In “The Pattern of Chang in Alice Walker” (2000), Liu Ying argues that the pattern change in Alice Walkers heroines shows her understanding of the process that black woman must undergo to achieve their vision. Zuo Yaqin says in “The Narrative Technique of The Color Purple” (2005) that the novels narrative techniques are helpful to express the authors idea successfully. Based on the present knowledge of foreign and domestic research on Alice Walker and her novel The Color Purple, this thesis aims to analyze the gradual process of the protagonist Celies self-consciousness fromapathy to awaking. It is divided into five parts. Part One briefly introduces Alice Walker, The Color Purple and the literature review on the novel. Part Two focuses on the patriarchal domination over Celie, including that from her stepfather and husband. Part Three deals with how Celies self-consciousness begins to be aroused, with the encouragement, help and love from Shug, Sofia and Nettie. She escapes the degradation of the treatment by men and wins dignity at last. Part Four discusses the change of the relationship between Celie and her husband Albert from inequality to harmony. Part Five, by summarizing the contents mentioned above, concludes that Celie liberates herself from the patriarchal domination and obtains freedom and independence. Alice Walkers true intention of writing this novel is to point out a bright way for the freedom and liberation of black women as well as the other oppressed women all over the world.2. Patriarchal Domination over Celie Patriarchy in its wider definition means the manifestation and institutionalization of male dominance over women and children in the family and the extension of male dominance over women in the society in general. It implies that men hold power in all the important institutions of society and that women are deprived of access to such power. (Gerda, 45)Another definition of patriarchy is provided by Robinson Victoria: “Patriarchy is the power of the fathers: a familial-social, ideological, political system in which men-by force, direct pressure, or through ritual, tradition, law, and language, customs, etiquette, education, and the division of labor-determine what part women shall or shall not play, and in which the female is everywhere subsumed under the male.”(57)In The Color Purple, patriarchal oppression over women can be seen through the patriarchal domination of Celies body and mind by her stepfather and her husband. 2.1 Patriarchal Domination by Celies StepfatherThe story begins with Celies letter to God: “Dear God, I am fourteen years old. I have always been a good girl. Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me.”(3)From this letter, we can see Celie is troubled with something serious. Later we learn that she has been raped by his stepfather for years from 14. She is too frightened to tell anybody about her affliction, for her stepfather threatens: “You better not never tell nobody but God. Itd kill your mammy.”(3) When she can not stand the sexual abuse and cries, her stepfather chokes her and gives her a threatening command: “You better shut up and get git used to it.”(3) Finally, the constant sexual abuse makes Celie lose child-bearing ability. Whats worse, it leaves an incurable scar on her mind. Besides sexual abuse, Celie also suffers from her stepfathers physical violence. She is always beaten by him with a fabricated reason. “He beat me today cause he say I winked at a boy in church.”(6) “He beat me for dressing trampy but he do it to me anyway. (9) What more, her stepfather, with his patriarchal superiority and power, forces her to do all the household chores. Under the patriarchal domination of her stepfather, Celie has no say in her own fate. When she first gets pregnant, her stepfather forces her to quit school, never considering how she loves school. The little education results in Celies slow self-unconsciousness of her oppressed situation. Her marriage is also determined by her stepfather. When she is 20 years old, he is tired of her and chooses Albert-a widower with four children-as her husband. Celie calls him “Mr._” instead of his name Albert, because she doesnt understand him at all and is not willing to understand him. Her stepfather describes her to Albert, “she ugly. But she aint no stranger to hard work. And she clean. And God done fixed her. You can do everything just like you want to and she aint gonna make you feed it or clothe it.”(10) His comment gives Celies would-be husband such a negative impression of her that he will not respect her and even maltreat her worse than his father-in- law. For Celie, her marriage is only a deal between two men. Celie, like a slave, is handed over from one master (her stepfather) to the other (Albert). Celie describes her marriage deal in this way: “He say, Let me see her again. Pa call me, Celie, he say Like it wasnt nothing. Mr._ want another look at you.I go stand in door. The sun shine in my eyes. Hes still up on his horse.He look at me up and down.Pa rattle his newspaper. Move up, he wont bite, be sayI got closer to the steps, but no too close cause Im a little scared of his Gorse.Turn round, Pa say.I turn round.Mr._say, That cow still coming?He say, Her cow.” (12)Under the patriarchal domination of her stepfather, Celie suffers from his physical and sexual violence. After his tiredness of her, he arranges a marriage for her, which, like a slave-auction deal, is destined to be another shackle for Celie.2.2 Patriarchal Domination by Celies Husband Marriage doesnt mean liberation for Celie from the patriarchal domination, for the master of her life transfers from her stepfather to her husband. And the two men are surprisingly the same in the way of treating women.For Albert, Celie is just an object for his sexual desire. As she says: “he never ast me nothing about myself. He clam on top of me and fuck and fuck, even when my head bandaged.”(97) “Most times I aint there. He never know the difference. Never ast me how I feel, nothing. Just do his business.”(68) Undoubtedly, Celie never enjoys sexual orgasm and it is impossible for her to have initiative in sex. Meanwhile, Albert likes beating Celie. He takes it for granted to beat her without feeling guilty. When his son, Harpo, asks him why he beats her, he says: “cause she my wife. Plus, she stubborn.”(22) He also educates Harpo that “wives is like children. You have to letem know who got the upper hand. Nothing can do that better than a good sound beating.”(34)Albert also abuses Celie spiritually. In his eyes, Celie is of no beauty, dignity or value at all. When his sister suggests buying some clothes for Celie, he answers: “she need clothes?” and “he look at me. It like he looking at the earth.”(20) After seeing Celies suffering, Alberts sister even feels it is unfair for Celie and says to her: “You got to fight them. I cant do it for you. You got to fight them for yourself.”(21) But, Celie accepts the situation, just as she says: “I dont fight. I stay where Im told.” (21) When Celie declares her leaving, Albert says: “You ugly. You skinny. You shape funny. You too scared to open your mouth to people. All you fit to do in Memphis is be Shugs maid.”(175) The sense of ugliness and worthlessness makes Celie once lose confidence and denies herself: “I make myself wood. I say to myself, Celie, you a tree. Thats how come I know trees fear man.”(22) Moreover, Celie is forbidden to wear pants, no matter how inconvenient a skirt is while she works in the field; she is forbidden to take letters from the mailbox, resulting in her being out of touch with Nettie for nearly 20 years; she is forbidden to go to town, and even to wear her favorite color. Her whole life is controlled by this Albert. During the thirty years of Celies bitter life, she suffers from physical, sexual and psychological abuse by her stepfather and husband. The patriarchal society distorts her nature, causes her inner deadness, and eventually erases her human identity.3. Outlet for Celies EmancipationIn The Color Purple, sisterhood plays an important role in Celies awakening: she gains spiritual encouragement from her sister Nettie, her stepdaughter-in-law Sofia and her husbands love Shug. In particular, with the help of Shug, Celie finds her identity as a real woman with dignity. Eventually, she establishes Folkspants Unlimited Company and becomes a successful business woman. Celie, a naive and numb girl, becomes independent economically and spiritually at last. 3.1 Sisterhood among Celie, Nettie, Shug and Sofia Sisterhood is the spiritual or material support or help among women. Walker always emphasizes the importance of “sisterhood” in black womens emancipation. She “sees the possibility of empowerment for black women if they create a community of sisters that can alter the present-day unnatural definitions of woman and man.”(Christian, 181) In The Color Purple, it is the sisterhood among Celie, Nettie, Shug and Sofia that contributes much to Celies emancipation. In the male-centered society, Celie and her younger sister Nettie receive little care or concern from their family and society. When Celie is in her most miserable days, Nettie provides her with spiritual comfort, encourages her to fight for respect and dignity, and enlightens her by teaching her how to read and write, which enables Celie to affirm herself by writing down her life-long story. The hope of living a better life with Nettie is Celies motive to seek for self-identity.Celie and Nettie have depended on each other for survival since their childhood because of their natural fathers death and their mothers weak-mindedness. Due to the absence of parental protection, Celie actually plays the role of mother for Nettie. Celie vows to use her help to protect Nettie. She says: “Ill take care of you. With God help.” (13) In order to prevent Nettie from being victimized by the stepfather as she has been Celie offers herself to the stepfather regardless of the danger of being beaten, which is the strong evidence of her deep and maternal love for her sister. When Nettie is courted by Albert, Celie doesnt encourage her to be his wife. However, by her stepfathers pressure, Celie marries Albert. To avoid being raped by her stepfather, Nettie escapes from home to stay in Alberts house with Celie. However, Albert also attempts to rape Nettie and her refusal enrages him so that he separates the two sisters by force. Nettie has no choice but leaves her sisters home. Celie recommends Nettie to a black missionary couple-Samuel and Corrine, which not only offers Nettie a refuge but also offers her an essential opportunity to realize her dream of being a teacher in Africa. But the two sisters have not imagined that their separation has lasted nearly four decades. They even doubt whether they will have a chance to unite again.Since Nettie has accepted formal education, she is deeply influenced by her teacher Miss Beasley who has her own independent ideas and rebellious consciousness, which helps Nettie to shape her own consciousness and ideas. To Celie, Nettie has always been like a teacher. She helps her sister with reading, spelling and everything she thinks Celie needs to know. No matter in what kind of situation, Nettie never gives up any opportunity to inform Celie what is going on in the world. In the short period of staying in Alberts house with Celie, Nettie witnesses his benighted brutality and knows clearly that Celie is hopeless if she keeps her meekness. So she tries hard to exert every possible way to teach and enlighten Celie. For example, she writes words on some cards and sticks the cards to the corresponding places in order to keep Celie from being an illiterate. It is the ability to read and write taught by Nettie that enables Celie to pour out her bitterness to the absent God, and with Gods company, Celie feels a little consolatory in the desperate plight when Nettie is absent. That also enables Celie to read Netties letters from Africa, which broadens Celies mind: as Nettie tells her sister that The Bible says God is not white, but a black, because Jesus Christs hair is as curl as their blacks. The first human in the world is not white, but a black. The Africans had, at one time, a more advanced civilization than the Europeans. Such knowledge gives a great shock to Celies previous concept, forces her to be out of the moral value by the white people she has been educated from her childhood and awakes her ethical pride and self-consciousness. However, to Celie, the most important and exciting news from Nettie is about her two children. From Netties letter, Celie gets to know for the first time that her two children, who she has lost when they are just born, now stay with Nettie in Africa, and that they are living a happy life with Nettie and are receiving good education. The good news of the two children provides Celie, a poor mother, with a strong spiritual strength and sustains her to survive in the especially hard time.Besides teaching Celie reading and writing, Nettie always encourages her to rebel against her unfair fate. When she knows about the oppression to her by Albert and his children, Nettie inspires Celie to fight against them. She tells Celie that infinite endurance is not her outlet, and the effective approach is only to teach them a good lesson and let them know “who is the upper hand.”(25) Nettie never stops worrying about Celies tragic situation. In the beginning of the first letter to Celie, Nettie doesnt forget to encourage Celie to fight and to get away from Albert. Moreover, Nettie is always the hope in Celies life. Celie regards Nettie as the perfect model of a girl. She describes her to Shug: “Smart as anything. Read the newspapers when she was little more than talking. Did figures like they was nothing. Talked real well too. And sweet. There never was a sweeter girl. Eyes just brimming over with it.”(101) With this excellent sister in heart, Celie senses a little comfort in this harsh world. Therefore, although Celie hasnt heard from Nettie for years, she cherishes with the hope that Nettie is still alive and they can meet again some day. The sisterhood between Celie and Nettie provides them hope of survival in the harshest living situation. And this spiritual strength sustains this pair of sisters to get out of the plight and establish their dignity. Lesbian relationship takes on a new form of black sisterhood. In The Color Purple, lesbian relationship between Celie and Shug appears not to be indecent but natural and affectionate. From the lesbian relationship with Shug, Celie becomes aware of her sexuality and fin