Complete 6 page APA formatted essay: Analysis of Beloved and The Color Purple.Download file to see previous pages... The novels point attention to this period in history despite being removed from the

Complete 6 page APA formatted essay: Analysis of Beloved and The Color Purple.

The novels point attention to this period in history despite being removed from them in time to remind the American readership of the history of slavery that had given rise to racism, a reality that was relevant even in the 1980. These novels address the need for women to write their own narratives, understand their own woes and act accordingly. They emphasize the importance of sisterly feelings amongst women and the need for women to understand the issues that are specific to women of the African American community. The novels speak of how women of the African American community are discriminated against and oppressed on two counts- their race and their gender. In The Color Purple, Walker speaks of the innumerable difficulties that black Americans had to undergo as a result of the problems posed by slavery. She undertakes the venture of narrating some such lives, notably Celie’s. Celie is a character who has undergone physical and mental torture at the hands of her father and later, her husband who is referred to by name only late into the novel. The novel portrays the inferior or subordinate status that women of color were made to endure at the hands of not just white men but also men of color. This is the irony of the situation that Walker seeks to present in her novel. Despite the fact that Albert and Celie are both marginalized on the basis of their color, Celie is doubly marginalized as a result of the fact that she is a woman. The public act of abolition, thus, does not help Celie attain freedom of any kind in her private sphere. What walker effectively achieves in this novel is a repudiation of the claims that the American Civil War brought an end to racism or sexism. The manner in which Morrison goes about this is then, interesting as her character Sethe, was one who had rebelled in her own manner against white oppression. She has killed one of her own children in order to send them to a better place, one that is free, unlike the American society that she is a part of. The indication here is that women are left to fend for themselves in a world that is racist and also sexist. For this act of hers, Sethe is ostracized by a community which feels that she had not adhered to the code of ethics that are to be followed by mothers. One finds the pervasive influence of the Anglo-Saxon model of the family on the African American community as well in this marginalization that the African American woman faced. This is again a situation of irony as the African American woman never really had an opportunity to choose a model of a family that was to her liking. Despite this, Paul D deserts her at a crucial point of time. Here too, the need for solidarity is what is expressed by Morrison.