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Oppression In Alice Walker's The Color Purple

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Oppression is an act of authority or power,cruel, or unjust manner. Resistance is the act of fighting against something that is happening to someone, or refusing to accept something.It is also used to represent a movement considered legitimate. So to face oppression, there must be a resistance to take an action. Resistance can be accomplished by individual or groups in many forms such as active or passive, private or active, barbaric or timid. Resistance starts from 1939 to 1941 during the second world war in Europe, when the underground movement appeared in France to fight the German. It is clear that Resistance literature uses the language of empire to refuse its dominant ideologies. Where domination, power, or oppression is present, …show more content…

African American slave women had to work in white American households, such as The Help, which was written by Kathryn Stockett.Women are dominated by male "Men are said to have more interest in utilizing the power of abstract reason (mind), to want mastery over nature (including bodies), and to be aggressive and militaristic"(Nicholson 52). There were women who were suffering from raping, such asThe Color Purple, which was written by Alice Walker as Celie was raping by her father and her husband, but at the end, Celie resists and makes her own personality by changing from a weak character into a strong character. Actions were differed from one woman to another, as there is a woman who accepts her destiny and a woman who resists and takes an action. Resistance also differs from one woman to another. There were verbal, physical, and armed …show more content…

Runaway slaves can hide in any place to escape from the harsh treatment or slavery permanently. Running away is not a solution as slaves had to leave their families behind them or they will face death if they catch. Men, women and children had to work forever with no rights or freedom. The slave owners make all their efforts to make slaves forget their language, cultures and religious beliefs "People of African descent are more often characterized as lazy, less intelligent"(Weedon154). The African slaves could resist by keeping their African religious beliefs and their language alive. When the transatlantic slave trade was ended in 1807, the enslaved Africans become freed. Enslaved Africans rebel against the system of slavery and they proved their strength by fighting for their

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At the end of the Revolutionary War, America had taken a new identity. The new standards of the government had inspired the African Americans to torturously work for many years to gain similar rights as the Whites. The advancing technology not only expanded the efficiency of producing goods through the invention of machines but also the Southern economy. Slaves in the South were determined to gain freedom even if it came with consequences. Some Southern slaves were buying their freedom legally while others were simply rebelling against their masters, disobeying their orders and what not.

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The African slave trade was very harsh for many reasons. This is because the idea of capture/sale was inhumane, blacks were kept in cages, conditions of ships were horrible, and one out of every three blacks died on the way over. By 1800, ten to fifteen million blacks had been transported as slaves to the Americas; while in Africa, fifty million human beings lives' were lost to death and slavery in those years. Blacks were easier to enslave than whites and Indians, but still were trouble to keep under thumb. These Afro-Americans rebelled by often running away and attempt to find family or sabotaging their work.

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792 Words | 4 Pages

The exists of a Jewish Resistance is not commonly known: Jews are mainly seen as victims, weak and defenseless. It seems difficult to believe that anyone would defy Adolf Hitler’s German army. One of the most basic displays was, “they painted anti-Hitler slogans on fences and walls around Berlin. ”(Rappaport) The Nazis were a powerful group, to continue opposing them meant that acts of resistance had to be done undercover.

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1572 Words | 7 Pages

After the plantation revolution in the 1600s, slavery became a horrible institution driven by the mass production of goods by white slave-owners who were looking to succeed economically. Slaves were treated as disposable commodities and lived hard lives under the brutal hand of their slave-owners. By the 1800s, slavery was natural and very common in the south, and was justified because African Americans were seen as an inferior race who were uneducated and incapable of engaging in society. Since slaves had no political power, especially in the south, they could not fight for their freedom; most were uneducated, so they could not write their accounts down; and even when slaves successfully escaped north, they had a hard time communicating with

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825 Words | 4 Pages

As the colonists fought in the revolution, many blacks were recruited to fight on the front lines and promised freedom from slavery after the war. But once the colonists took control of the lan, this promise was rarely followed through. Some northern colonies (now states), made slavery illegal but the south continued it as a strong economic factor. Once fighting was over and British ships started to leave harbors to go back home, many black slaves ran for these ships and jumped into the water after them, sometimes drowning, just hoping they would be granted freedom on the other side of the Atlantic. After the war, even Spain offered freedom to blacks that made it into Florida, but few were successful.

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841 Words | 4 Pages

The African Americans who became slaves through the Atlantic slave trade were often those who committed crimes or kidnapped. They were thrown into chattel slavery in which they’d endure inhumane treatment. For example, they would be racially abused mentally and physically, forced to work unreasonable hours in vexatious conditions without pay, and lastly unable to have anything of their own. Not only on plantations, but also in Hacienda environments slaves were needed to work. Mainly women and children would be found doing the work that needed to be done inside rather than outside as those were the duties fit for them at the time.

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1183 Words | 5 Pages

When the Northern Region of America was colonized by the Europeans, there was much idle and fertile land which ha d to be put into good use. However, there was shortage of cheap labor. Thus, cheap men and women were required to work on the plantations. Enslaving white slaves was not the solution because the whites were deemed unfit and lazy to deliver better outcomes like the strong African men. This led to the wake of slave-trade where explorers would import slaves from Africa and sell them in America.

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Introduction Chick-fil-A (CFA) is a restaurant chain admired by many but it also attracted a lot of controversy over the last few years. The founder, Truett Cathy, have created a culture that differentiates the organization from most other fast-food chains, and the company have stayed true to its values till the present days. In this case study, the company’s competitive advantage, the strategic leadership initiatives that helped the company attain success, how it responded to its external environment, and the strategic challenges it is facing are discussed. In addition, findings on the company’s approach on its international expansion and its status as a privately-owned company are included, and possible directions the company might take in these areas are suggested.

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The fact that African Americans made a successful rebellion against the white slave owners that dominated every aspect of their lives, encouraged other African Americans to participate in similar acts of resistance. Some African American slaves decided to runaway to Florida because they heard of the rebellion and that they were seeking freedom in Spanish Florida. A lot of slaves attempted to runaway even though they knew the consequence would likely be death. Others began to resist their masters without taking the chances of running away and risking their lives.

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842 Words | 4 Pages

The growth of the enslaved African American population directly led to an increase in domestic slave trade in the early 1800s. As a result, by 1860 a very significant amount of slaves worked on plantations in the Deep South. Hot temperatures, long work days, and harsh treatment made slave life unfathomably difficult. Families were destroyed, in fact, a third of children under the age of fourteen were separated from their parents and about a quarter of marriages were split, due to slave trade. Slavery was dehumanizing, but maintaining and creating culture and traditions was a way for slaves to have an identity, and in many ways was a resistance to the demeaning nature of slavery.

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704 Words | 3 Pages

One of those things was slave codes. Which gave more power to the slave owners and even less power to the slaves on page 434, it says "in existence since the 1700's slave codes were written to prevent the event white southerners dreaded most-became more severe. This shows that the slaves had absolutely no access to freedom to the slave codes another way that the slaves resisted was that they faked an illness, so they can get revenge to their masters on page 437 it gives a specific explanation on how they faked their illness. It says "For the most part enslaved people resisted slavery by working slowly or pretending to be ill. Occasionally resistance took more active forms, such as setting fire to a plantation building or breaking tools.

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1353 Words | 6 Pages

Being enslaved was not an easy job for African Americans. African Americans survived slavery through their connection with their culture. They then went on to contribute to the economic and social development of the South and America. African Americans survived the institution of slavery and Africanized the American South. They helped free themselves by sticking together as a family, resisting, as well as wanting slavery to change.

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1084 Words | 5 Pages

In the novel The Help, Stockett writes about the lives of the African American women working for the prominent white families and the trial and tribulations that they have encountered. The African American women are the people who are taking care of the white families home and children while being disrespected and unappreciated by their boss. “I’d like to write this showing the point of view of the help. The colored women down here.' I tried to picture Constantine's face, Aibileen's. '

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1618 Words | 7 Pages

Many tried to destroy them, but slaves stayed strong and found ways to escape their injustices. The first Africans to reach America landed in Jamestown, the first English settlement in North America. For 250 years, many Africans and African-Americans found ways to resist slavery, ranging from hindrances to violent outbreaks. Resistance to slavery came in many forms. On Southern plantations, some slaves executed small passive acts of resistance, while others ran away.

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682 Words | 3 Pages

Literary Analysis: The Color Purple Every individual learns something new or different every day, whether it is somebody’s favorite color or learning something new about yourself. Many people can either learn from their hardships and past experiences, while others may learn from other people’s past through stories or guidance. Throughout the novel, The Color Purple written by Alice Walker, the main character, Celie, learned how to love herself, that everyone makes mistakes, and face her fears.

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