Strong Female Relationships In The Color Purple

The Color Purple
In The Color Purple there was a very common theme, which was strong female relationships and how much power they bring. Throughout The Color Purple, the author, Alice Walker, recognizes and acknowledges the role of strong female relationships, whether it’s between a country, or a family, or a friendship. These relationships in The Color Purple often helped women build up the courage to tell their stories. In result it granted the women with the strength to resist dominance and/or abuse. Female relationships often act as a getaway from the everyday world filled with male violence, male demands, and male abuse. Female relationships come in many forms, whether it’s motherly or sisterly, teacher to student, some that are
Sofia’s relationship with Harpo, her husband, is slightly different from others such as Celie’s and Mr. ___‘s. In Sofia’s relationship with Harpo, Sofia is the dominant partner, Sofia doesn’t let Harpo push her around, and when Harpo can’t even control Sofia and demand her to do what he commands, he goes to Celie for advice. Celie tells Harpo to beat Sofia into listening to him. Celie gives him this advice, not because she hates Sofia and wants to hurt her, but because that’s what Albert (Mr. ___) would do, and since Harpo is his oldest son, and that’s what she always thought was the way men did things, that’s what she told Harpo to do to Sofia. Due to the strong relationship Sofia did have with her sisters, she has the courage to be dominant and not take orders or abuse from her husband. Harpo does attempt to beat Sofia into listening but due to her strength, he gets hurt more than she does whenever he attempts beating her. Harpo is the weak one in the relationship who ends up having to try and gain weight just so he can beat his wife so she obeys him. Sofia’s dominant female role which developed from her strong female relationship is what gave her the strength, and will to refuse taking abuse from her