The Black woman has always been known to carry her experiences through storytelling. By telling these stories, Black women were illuminating the challenges and struggles Black women faced throughout their lives. “The Color Purple” was an example of the story Celie was telling about her life struggles and challenges she faced from childhood to adulthood. A very important concept from the book was that the woman’s knowing is systemic to her very own knowledge. Literacy for Celie, as a child, starts of great because she has the ambition to learn. As she gets older, her education is pushed aside for the realities of her life. Her life is moralized as a “silent” life because she begins to depend on another authority over her. Her being raped by her stepfather and her arranged marriage both silenced her wellbeing because she does not know how to survive through –symbolically- fighting for herself.
It seemed the older Celie got the more aware she was about who she was. She began to listen to others and rely on others to enhance her confidence in her knowledge. But she does eventually, doubt herself; an example is when Shug encourages her to sew pants. Though Celie is doing well she does not believe it will last and she wants to stop the trade. Celie’s life has always left her behind in the dark of discovering who she truly is. She listens to her song “Miss Celie’s Song” and decides to start finding herself and stop asking others for affirmation about who she is. Celie is now able to be conscious about herself and uses her past to build on her future. Ultimately, Celie is able to use her words of literacy to strengthen herself and learn how to survive and fight.
No comments:
Post a Comment