Could you imagine living a life that is, in fact, not your own? Such is a day in the lives of the female characters of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. Feminism is one of the core values in Walker’s novel, as it follows Celie’s path to happiness and freedom to live a life of her own. The book opens with Celie trapped in a series of male-dominant relationships, unable to stand up for herself, but along her journey, she learns from and of other women in similarly constricting situations, some of whom rise above all attempts by men and society to put them down. Shug Avery comes into Celie’s life on a miraculous whirlwind of fame and misfortune. When Shug falls ill, she finds herself ostracized by a society that dismisses her as “a tramp… a strumpet in short skirts…[a] slut, hussy, heifer, and streetcleaner” (pgs 45-46). A talented vocalist, the entirety of Shug’s accomplishments were promptly dismissed by society on account of her gender- while attempting to hide behind criticisms of the way she dressed and behaved. And so Shug comes to live with Celie and Mr. _____, where she slowly reveals to Celie how she refused to be tied down- not by …show more content…
Nettie encounters her on a voyage to England and amidst many a dinner, Doris shares her story. “She was born to great wealth… she wanted to write books… her family was against it… [and] hoped she would marry” (pg 235). Doris became a missionary to get away and write under the pen name Jared Hunt, through which she amassed a large fortune and came to own the village of Akwee. Doris’s character represents how misogyny didn’t just exist for colored women, but all women. Writing under a masculine pen name, having to leave her family to enjoy a life of freedom and happiness, Doris Baines found the power to escape what would have been a constructed lifestyle, providing Celie with another role model to inspire her to do the