“Us both be hitting Nettie's schoolbooks pretty hard, cause us know we got to get away” Explore Walker's portrayal of Celie's educational journey and emancipation from men in the 'The Colour Purple.' To what extent do others encourage this personal progression?
When writing The Colour Purple, Alice Walkers objective was to spread her strongest commitment, Feminism, with her shocking and subversive assault on 'masculine values.' It depicts the emancipation of woman, body and soul from the firm grasp of male domination through the remarkable personal journey of Celie. The brutality endured during her younger years combined with her painful lack of paternal love has inescapably and predominantly stripped Celie of her education, self worth, valuable relationships and above all, a reason to live, fight and be free. However elements of hope are embodied in those who are littered upon her path to progression.
First introduction to Celie is both brutal and acutely melodramatically. Tony Murray argues Walker begins with the 'climax of a Greek tragedy' with an inhumane incestuous relationship. 'He push his thing inside my pussy,' this serves to provoke curiosity whilst captivating the reader's attention. This cold, cruel prelude has encouraged an out pour of critical repulsion, Taylor Schwartz believes 'It is repugnant and morally disgusting,' to which Walker retorts 'This is a country in which a woman is raped every three minutes.' Thus, Walker's narrative dynamite is adopted to address controversial disputes, whilst primarily presenting Celie as a weak vulnerable child, powerless to men; evidently employing a despondent tone serving to personify Celie's subservient state.
Walker has cleansed herself of accurate speech and immersed herself into a world filled with flawed expression. The language employed by Celie in early letters conveys her striking ignorance. The jumbled conjunction of 'be' and 'have,' the use of a non-standard pronoun system where 'us'...