Amethysts Of Hope In The Novel 'The Color Purple' By Alice Walker

Chelsea F. Obermann
Mr. Michaud
A.P. English Literature and Composition
19 April 2012
Amethysts of Hope Women, it seems, tend to consistently get the fuzzy end of the lollipop. Men sometimes feel the need to discriminate against women to feel like they have a sense of power. In Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple, the female characters are continually oppressed. From the very beginning of the novel, the main character, Celie, along with the other female characters, is discriminated against because she is an uneducated black woman in the southern region of the United States. In the time period and region of the country in which this novel is set, it was socially acceptable for the men to show the women who were boss through violent
For instance, Celie’s independence which she eventually gains from men causes her to become happy (Ciccarelli & Napierowski 56). Near the end of the novel, Celie makes pants for a living, as a successful business. As the orders start piling up, Celie writes “Then Shug want two more pair just like the first. Then everybody in her band want some. Then orders start to come in from everywhere Shug sing. Pretty soon I’m swamp” (Walker 213). Pants are a universal symbol for masculinity. Celie’s pants-making shows that she is becoming more isolated from men, becoming more masculine, becoming more independent. The pants “allow her a creative expression and suggest Celie’s liberation from men on an economic as well as a physical level” (Kellman 2610). Walker effectively employs gender role reversals throughout the novel. Harpo and Sofia reverse gender roles the most obviously out of anyone else in the novel. Sofia wears pants while repairing the house and working at a job, and Harpo enjoys housework such as cooking and cleaning, which was traditionally a woman’s work in the home (Winchell 46). Celie “hire[s] Sofia to clerk in [their] store” (Walker 280). This causes Sofia to become much more independent, gaining power that she previously lost while working as the mayor’s wife’s housemaid. Meanwhile, as she gains power, Harpo blends
For example, by the end of the novel, Celie is in a pants-making business. By this point, her independence is beginning to develop from underneath her shy, meek disposition. She makes pants to keep her mind off of murdering Albert, which is a symbol of their gender reversal (Winchell 47). These are much stronger thoughts than she used to think about people she disliked, and she is thinking them because she finally understands that she is allowed to. As Celie sews, she holds “A needle and not a razor in my hand, I think” (Walker 147). The creativity is essential to her survival and transformation from a submissive housewife to an independent businesswoman (Bloom 45). If she was not keeping herself busy with this creative project, her thoughts would be much more dangerous and murderous. Celie does not become independent until the end of the novel, which is when she finally reaches an audience (Rollyson 4699). Her audience is her sister Nettie, who Celie now knows is alive and well. Celie did not find that out until she had taken the letters from Albert’s safekeeping. His action of hiding them angers her greatly, but Celie eventually forgives him. She writes “I got love, I got work, I got money, friends and time. And you alive and be home soon. With our children” (Walker 215). The knowledge that she can finally