The Color Purple

Alice Walker writes The Color Purple to show that women are also a part of history, and they too have fought for there freedoms. Identity formation in The Color Purple is going against the patriarchal ideologies and creating notions of feminism for black women.  The Color Purple focuses on the life of Celie and what her life comes to be after being separated from her sister Netti after being sold to her abusive husband whom she calls “master”. As Celie grows up putting up with her abusive husband, she is also on a journey to find herself and discover her own identity away from the abusive men in her life. In chapter 15 Carson writes of black artists in cultural mainstream during the 1930’s. Margaret Walker, a writer and activist for the black community, worked for the WPA to end isolation for the black artist community (Carson, 398). During her time working with the WPA, she gained support for African American writers. Sugar is a jazz artist in The Color Purple who holds strong perspective on female values in the black community. She uses her position to influence Celie to stand up to her husband and become her own person outside of male domination. Mary McLeod Bethune, the head of the National Youth Administration, founder of the National Council of Negro Women and later director of the Division of Negro Affairs, was a leader in the movement for gaining independence from black and white men, and to create a strong, educated, and independent woman (Carson, 393). Using Bethune’s ideology, I am able to make a connection to both Suga and Celie because both characters symbolize the making of the new independent black woman. They both influence each other and learn to become business woman through their work ethic, which might have not been possible under the restrictions of Ceiles husband.