Color Purple Written by Alice

¶ … Color Purple written by Alice Walker. The writer explores the story, the meaning and the themes that run through the book and argues it an argument about the cyclic nature of racism and sexism.

Throughout history many authors have used their works to convey a message or idea to the reader. Sometimes this is a purposeful act of writing and other times it simply conveys such things as a by product of telling the story. Such is the case with Alice Walker's the Color Purple. As she tells the story of several Black women in one family setting as the story unfolds the reader can easily trace the themes of sexism and racism and the cyclic nature of them both in society.

While many abusers have stereotypical stories or personalities one of the unique things about Alice Walker's the Color Purple is the difference in the abusers. With most cases of abuse the reader can easily dislike the abuser and dismiss him or her as an evil worthless person and move on to feel sorry for the victim, however, in the Color Purple the abusers are not as easily dismissed. Part of this may stem from the fact that the men in the book are also victims of abuse as they were growing up.

As Black men of that era they typically suffer many abuses at the hands, mouths, and minds of society as a whole. These abuses begin when they are small children and continue as they try to make their way in the world and provide for themselves and their families. While their victim status is no excuse for the abuse they in turn provide to the women in their lives, it is not hard to understand that they have a seething anger and perhaps shame inside that they must endure hat they do simply to live.

One example of this is when Harpo beats on Sofia. While his actions are wrong, it happens when Harpo's own father implies that the attitude Sofia has means that Harpo is not a real man because if he was he would be able to keep his woman under control.

In addition to the message from his father, Harpo also receives many messages from Celie who is jealous of Sofia that if he does not beat her he is weak and worthless as a male in today's society.

This illuminates the cyclic impact of sexism in the book.

Besides the use and illustration of sexism there is a cyclic pattern of racism. Sofia believes that given the mindset of current society her son will most certainly grow up to become a racist.

She points to the ways that Black are treated and the way men feel about themselves as a product of such treatment and explains that there is no way her son will fail to develop racist tendencies. If it were another time in society, he would have a chance of growing up "color blind" however; Sofia understands that society itself will mold her boy regardless of her influence.

The goal that she believes she can carry out however is the goal of raising him to undersand it is wrong to abuse females. She and others decide that by speaking strongly back to the abusive men in their lives they can force those men to change their thinking about the way they treat women and in turn Sofia's boy will grow up watching these changes take place and not become an abuser himself.

It is interesting to note that Sofia believes the concept of racism and its cycle are out of her hands and her son will have no escape from its tentacles, but she believes she and other females around her have the ability to change the abusive nature of Black men toward the women in their lives.

This indicates her core belief that Black women are strong and capable humans. She feels that they have it within their power to make men treat them with respect and dignity by the way the women react to those men.