Alice Walker And Her Novel The Color Purple

Afro-American writers have made great contribution to American literature in the 20th century. Their works have enormously enriched American literature and exerted great influence on literary creation in the world. Black women writers have set off a new upsurge of literature since the 1970s. This is called the third Renaissance of Afro-American literature. Alice Walker is one of the most remarkable and influential Afro-American writers in contemporary American literary world. Her epistolary novel The Color Purple is the summit of her literary achievements.The thesis is intended to explore the theme of The Color Purple. Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction to Alice Walker's personal experience and her literary career. Chapter 2, the main body of the thesis, deals with the theme of the novel The Color Purple. In the novel, Alice Walker not only criticizes racial oppression but also focuses on the sexual oppression inside the black community and further depicts black women's struggling for freedom, equality and independence in the male-dominated patriarchal society. In addition, Alice Walker portrays black males' development from the oppressed to oppressors, and their self-examination, growth and transformation. In the end, protagonists Celie and Albert lead a harmonious life. Alice Walker's womanism, along with her ideal, that is, to strive for building an...