Alice Walker lived before, during and after the Civil Rights Movement, a time where Black people were oppressed more than ever. Her personal experiences often encouraged her writing, including the novel The Third Life of Grange Copeland. Throughout this novel every character experienced oppression in various ways, however, all caused by similar influences. Oppression is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power, is illustrated through several relationships in the novel. The most extensive illustration of oppression within a relationship is seen in the characters Brownfield and Mem. Following the lives of these characters it is obvious that oppression is inevitable within their family and community relations. …show more content…
He witnessed his father, Grange, abuse his mother while showing little to no love for him. After Grange left and Margaret died, Brownfield did all he could to be his own boss. Growing up he saw his own father being intimidated by a white man named Shipley. The fear he saw in his father’s eyes was unbelievable. He would do anything so that he could live without the influence of a Shipley figure. He refused to become an abusive alcoholic like his father which encouraged him to leave town to find a better life for himself. From the beginning of the novel, young Brownfield comes to realize that his father is intimidated by his employer. This first instance of oppression shows Shipley as the oppressor. As the novel progresses, there is a pattern of the white oppressor having a debilitating effect on the male characters provoking these characters to become the oppressors to their own families. Even though one person was oppressed by a white oppressor, everyone involved with him would eventually feel that