Monday, January 6, 2020

Racism And Sexism In The Color Purple By Alice Walker

Racism and Sexism are something that children observe and grow up learning, kids weren’t born racist or sexist. In the book The Color Purple by Alice Walker, there is a lot of racism throughout the story. There is a lot of discrimination towards black people and the sexism in the novel is overwhelming. Women were beat up constantly and had no rights given to them. In this book, you learn what lives were like back when women had no rights, and their skin color determined how their life was going to be. Woman were treated as objects instead of human beings. Equality didnt matter and they had to obey the white people. The story is told through the main character Celia, describing horrific events that happened in her life. The story takes†¦show more content†¦She look at the prizefighter car. She eye Sofia wristwatch. She say to Sofia, All your children so clean, she say, would you like to work for me, be my maid? Sofia say, Hell no. She say, What you say? Sofia say, Hell no. Mayor look at Sofia, push his wife out the way. Stick out his chest. Girl, what you say to Miss Millie? Sofia say, I say, Hell no. He slapped her.† (Walker 37) In The Color Purple, it demonstrates women being abused by their spouses and not being treated as human beings. Back then, a woman got beaten up regularly, either for not following their husbands orders or not doing something right. The young boys grew up with it being okay to beat up women to make them behave the way they wanted them to. The men treat the woman as objects, not as human beings. â€Å" Harpo ask his daddy why he beat me up. Mr_____ say, cause she, my wife.†(Walker 23). This is how normal it was to hit your wife. Men treat women as if they have as many rights as children do, which is an extremely small portion. â€Å"Wives is like children. You have to let’ em know who got the upper hand.†( Walker 37) The story gives you an inside on what the main character Celia goes throu ghs over the years. Celia has a pretty hard life growing up. She was sexually abused by who she believed was her father, then was forced to marry an abusive man who calls her nasty names and gives her no respect at all. He treats her like she is nothing compared to him. He even hid all the letters from herShow MoreRelatedCriticism and Reflection of the Color Purple by Alice Walker1151 Words   |  5 PagesCriticism and Reflection of the Color Purple by Alice Walker Criticized as a novel containing graphic violence, sexuality, sexism, and racism, The Color Purple was banned in several schools across the United States. Crude language and explicit detail chronicle the life of Celie, a young black woman subjected to society’s cruelties. 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