Analysis of The Theme Through Female Protagonist Using Feminist Approach in 'The Color Purple'.

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ABSTRACT

Tugas akhir ini ditulis untuk memenuhi persyaratan kelulusan di Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Kristen Maranatha.

Dalam tugas akhir ini saya memilih novel karya Alice Walker yang berjudul The Color Purple.

Melalui karya ini, Alice Walker menggambarkan tentang seorang wanita yang bernama Celie, pada saat dia masih kecil, Celie mengalami pemerkosaan yang dilakukan oleh ayah tirinya, dan akibat pemerkosaan tersebut Celie melahirkan dua orang anak, yang kemudian dijual oleh ayah tirinya. Celie juga dijual oleh ayahnya kepada seorang tuan, untuk dinikahi dan diperlakukan dengan sangat buruk. Celie selalu dipukuli jika ia tidak melakukan apa yg diperintahkan oleh suaminya, tetapi Celie tidak berani melawan terhadap suaminya karena Celie merasa pantas diperlakukan seperti itu. Sampai Celie bertemu dengan Shug, Shug membantu merubah cara pandang Celie bahwa suaminya tidak seharusnya memukul dia dan Celie tidak pantas diperlakukan seperti itu.

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Maranatha Christian University

Organization of Thesis ………. 4

CHAPTER TWO: KATE MILLET’S THEORY OF SEXUAL POLITICS ...………. 5

CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF THEME THROUGH FEMALE PROTAGONIST USING FEMINIST APPROACH IN THE COLOR PURPLE ……..…………. 9

CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION ………...……….. 21

BIBLIOGRAPHY ……….. 24

APPENDICES: Summary of The Color Purple ……….. 25

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APPENDICES

Summary of The Color Purple

The Color Purple is a novel about an Afro-American woman named Celie.

When Celie was 14 years old, she was raped by her stepfather, named Fonso. Celie

has two children from her stepfather, but he sold them. Her stepfather also gives her

away to be married to a man that is only described as Mr.____.

Celie also has a sister named Nettie. Mr.____ is interested in Nettie, but Nettie

always ignores him. It makes Mr.____ upset and he kicks her out of his house, but

Nettie promises that she will always write letters to Celie. Celie always waits for the

letters, but they never come to her, because Mr.____ hides the letters and he never

lets anyone open the mail box.

One day Shug Avery comes to Mr.____’s house. Shug is very sick and Celie

helps her come back to good health. Celie and Shug are always together, and this

makes Celie fall in love with Shug. Other reason for this is Shug always treats Celie

in a good way, while Mr.____ always beats her. One day, Shug finds Nettie’s letter

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makes Celie happy, because now Celie knows that Nettie is not dead, but that

Mr.____ has hidden the letters.

Her anger has make Celie make a decision that she must leave Mr._____ and

go with Shug to Memphis. In Memphis, Celie starts a business sewing pants. She

becomes a successful woman, while Mr.____’s life becomes messy.

One day Celie gets news that her stepfather dies and he has given the land and

the house to Celie and her sister. Now Celie could come back to her house. Celie also

forgives Mr.____ and they become friends. Mr.____ has learned about life and love

after Celie leaves him. One day Celie gets another letter from Nettie, who says that

she will return from Africa with Celie’s children. Finally Celie could converge with

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27 Biography of Alice Walker

Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944 in Eatonton Georgia. She was the

youngest children of Minnie Tallulah Grant Walker and Willie Lee Walker. In 1968,

Alice’s first book of poem titled Once came out and in 1970 Alice published her first

novel after her daughter’s birth.

Alice Walker uses rape, violence, isolation, troubled relationships,

multi-generational perspective, sexism and racism as themes in her books. The Color Purple

was published in 1982. This book made her a famous writer, but her book is not only

brought fame but also controversy. Alice was criticized for her negative portrayal of

men in The Color Purple.

In 1989 and 1992, Alice Walker published Temple of My Familiar and

Possessing the Secret of Joy. In these, Walker is using the issue of female

circumcision in Africa, which also brought controversy.

Alice Walker was famous as the writer about the African American woman’s

life. Her works give a big effect to women’s life. Her works also show the difference

and the similarities of women’s condition today and in the past.

Alice Walker is inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Zora Neale Hurston,

and her mother. Walker uses her talent to affect all people. Her books also give a

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

For my thesis I choose the novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Alice

Walker is a feminist writer and she has written many works about black Americans.

“Her works are known for their portrayals of the African American woman’s life. She

depicts vividly the sexism, racism, and poverty that make that life often a struggle.

But she also portrays as part of that life, the strengths of family, community,

self-worth, and spirituality” (Lewis). Lewis, citing Smith states, “No writers have made

the intimate hurt of racism more palpable than Walker” (Lewis).

In my opinion, The Color Purple is an interesting book because it can make

the reader really feel what had happened to the female character, because the narrator

in the book is the female protagonist herself. “The Color Purple helps us to realize

what the members of the black race have been put through in American history,

especially for the black women. Celie as the female protagonist makes us believe that

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Celie is a girl who was raped by her step father. Not only was she raped but

her stepfather also sold her to a man who is called Mr.___. Mr.___ is a rough person.

He married Cellie just because he needs someone to take care of him and his children,

and he always beats Celie if she does not do what he orders. Then one day, Celie

meets Shug, and through her Celie realizes that her husband should treat her better

and that he should not beat her. After this realization, Celie makes a decision that she

must leave her husband, and start her new life without him. At the end of the story,

Celie finally leaves Mr.___. Celie starts her new life; she opens her own business

sewing pants and she lives together with her sister and her daughters.

I wish to analyze the theme of The Color Purple since I find that the theme is

clear in this novel. Besides that, “In fiction the theme is its view about life and how

people behave” (Annenberg Media). Based on this meaning of theme, I intend to

analyze how Celie experiences oppression and how she faces it, until she frees herself

from the oppression and finally gets a better life.

To analyze the theme in The Color Purple I apply the feminist approach,

because I want to connect the female’s protagonist’s life to the theme. I intend to

show that the theme supports the female protagonist’s life. I also use Kate Millet’s

theory to help me understand how the theme is revealed through the female

protagonist. Kate Millet states that one’s culture has a thousand ways to operate

against the female and one’s culture assumes that a man will rule his wife as proof of

being a man (Millet 2). From this theory, I want to relate the theme to what happened

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3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The problems that I wish to analyze are:

1. What is the theme of the literary work The Color Purple?

2. How is the theme revealed through the portrayal of female protagonist using

feminism?

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purposes of this study are:

1. To show the theme in The Color Purple by Alice Walker.

2. To explain how the theme is revealed through the portrayal female protagonist

using feminism.

METHODS OF RESEARCH

In this thesis I apply the method of library research. First, I read The Color

Purple by Alice Walker as primary text, and Sexual Politics by Kate Millet as the

theory. Next, through the references books and Internet sites I obtain more relevant

information about the novel and the theory. Finally, from the information obtained, I

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4 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

I divide the thesis into four chapters. In Chapter One, the Introduction, I state

the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study,

the Methods of Research and the Organization of the Thesis. In Chapter Two, I

present the theory of Kate Millet. Chapter Three contains the Analysis of Theme in

The Color Purple. Chapter Four contains the Conclusion of the analysis of the literary

work. The thesis ends with the Bibliography and the Appendices. The Appendices

present the synopsis of The Color Purple, and the biography of the author, Alice

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

Having read this novel, I find that the author, Alice Walker, has successfully

conveyed the theme, which is: ‘oppression towards women which is embedded in the

familial and marital institutions can only be ended when women adopt a new

paradigm about women’s values’.

The theme is revealed through the protagonist, Celie. In this story Celie is

described as a passive and submissive woman. When Celie was 14 years old, she was

raped by her stepfather, who also often beats her. Celie does not have the courage to

tell anybody about what her father has done to her, because her mind has been

molded about the dominating role of the father in the family.

After she gets married, her husband also beats her often, and Celie simply

allows this to happen to her. Again, Celie does not have the courage to fight against

her husband because she thinks that she must obey her husband at all times and it is

fine if her husband beats her. Then, one day she meets Shug. Shug helps Celie realize

that her husband does not have any right to beat her. She helps Celie to escape from

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At the end of the story, after Celie comes to her realization, she can show her

anger and she is brave to fight against her husband and leave him. Celie changes from

a passive submissive woman into a brave woman. Celie also proves to her husband

that she can be a successful woman without him; she opens her own business sewing

pants, and she can finally live together with her sister and her children again.

I find that the theme is also related to feminism, especially when the novel

talks about the oppressed woman, how she faces the oppression, and how she can

finally find release from the oppression. The protagonist in the novel lives in a

country which adopts the patriarchal system of culture. In the patriarchal system, men

and women have been taught since childhood that men are stronger and more

powerful than women. Because of this, a woman often passively accepts it when her

husband beats her or is rude to her. For example, when Celie’s husband beats her or

treats her badly, Celie does not have any courage to fight him because she thinks that

her husband has the right to do it. Celie does not realize that her husband does not

have any right to treat her like that, or that she could report her husband to the police

when her husband is violent.

I assume that no woman wants to be passively submissive; they just do not

realize that they can have a better life and that all women can be successful if they

have the courage to change their life if they realize that they have in fact experienced

oppression. Celie is a good example for every woman who still lives under

oppression. Therefore, I conclude that oppression towards women which is embedded

in the familial and marital institutions can only end when women adopt a new

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After analyzing the novel, I find that this novel is an excellent work of Alice

Walker because she has succeeded in portraying a woman who experiences

oppression and how she can faces it. Walker is also successful in describing how the

protagonist changes from a submissive woman into a person who has courage to fight

against her husband. This novel also gives a new vision to women that destiny lays in

their hands, that no one can change the condition except women themselves.

Moreover, I believe that every woman can overcome the oppression and they can also

change their life, if they want to and if they have the courage to start a new life.

Alice Walker uses the first person point of view in her novel The Color

Purple, with Celie as the narrator of the story. By using the protagonist as a narrator,

it makes the novel easy to understand and it makes the readers truly feel what has

happened to Celie. The readers know the events through Celie’s perspective. That is

why Celie’s speeches are mostly used to reveal the theme of the novel. Walker also

writes her novel in a Diary form. By using this form, it is easier for the reader to

understand about Celie’s feelings, and it makes the reader become sympathetic to her.

The Diary also becomes a symbol of Celie’s oppression. Diary becomes the symbol

of how Celie cannot show her feelings openly, except in her Diary, although she

suffers so much in her life. When Celie lives with her stepfather and her husband,

Celie cannot show her feelings or utter what she wants to say. But by using a Diary,

Celie can reveal all of her thoughts and feelings. Walker has skillfully created such an

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary text:

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

Internet sites:

Annenberg Media. Theme. 1997-2007. 17 March 2007.

<http://www.learner.org/exhibits/literature/read/theme1.html>.

Chan, Lean Heng. Feminism and Feminist Movement. 2007. 1 June 2007.

<http://www.ibiblio.org/ahkitj/wscfap/arms1974/Regl_womens_prog/ WDT%20Workshop%20report%20May%2097/Feminism%20and%20 the%20feminist%20movement.htm>.

Clarke, Patrick M. The Color Purple. 1998-2007. NCTE: National Council of Teachers of English. 15 February 2007.

<http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/censorship/resources/113739.htm>.

Lewis, Jone Jhonson. Biography of Alice Walker. 2007. About: Women’s History. 15 February 2007

<http://womenshistory.about.com/od/alicewalker/a/alice_walker.htm>.

Millet, Kate. Sexual Politics. 1968. 17 March 2007.

< http://www.marxists.org/subject/women/authors/millett-kate/sexual-politics.htm>.

Millet, Kate. Sexual Politics Chapter 2. 1968. 17 March 2007.