Pursuing The "Survival Whole" Of Black People: An Interpretation Of The Theme In The Color Purple

Alice Walker (1944-) is one of the most influential African American writers of the contemporary period, and she is the first Afro-American woman writer who has ever been awarded the Pulitzer Prize in American history. Her identity and life experience both as a black and as a woman writer make her become keenly aware of the hard life of black women. Therefore, the issue of black women has been the main concern in her literary works. The hard life of black women, their pursuit of independence and freedom are all vividly depicted in her works. What makes Alice Walker different from other black feminist writers is that she not only shows the evil deeds of patriarchy, but she further exposes that black men themselves are victims of patriarchy and racism. She also points out the possibility of the transformation of men and that the two genders can live together in harmony.The Color Purple is Alice Walker's great literary achievement. Soon after its publication in 1982, it became a bestseller and provoked comments from critics. The next year, it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the American Book Award for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The novel unfolds a picture of the hard life of black people, especially that of black women and the process of their quest for liberation.With the womanist theory advocated by Alice Walker as its theoretical perspective, this thesis is to further explore the theme of the novel, and it concludes that Alice Walker tries to figure out the way for the realization of the "survival whole" of black people in the novel. This thesis is composed of three parts: introduction, body and conclusion.The introduction part presents the works of Alice Walker, her life story, the main features of her writing, the main story in The Color Purple, the previous studies on the novel and the outline of this thesis.Chapter one introduces feminism, black feminism and womanism, and emphasizes the differences of womanism from the other two theories.With Celie as an example, chapter two deals with the bitter life and ruined soul and mental world of black women under double oppression. Chapter three analyzes the process of black women' quest for their self-awareness and their spiritual liberation in three aspects: the quest for self-awareness, the economic independence and the salvation of the soul.Chapter four analyzes the possibility of the change of black men, the process of their transformation and the harmonious co-existence between black men and black women.Through the detailed examination of the novel, the thesis concludes that the womanist thoughts of Alice Walker are fully conveyed in The Color Purple. In her novel, Alice Walker attempts to find a practical approach for the liberation of black women and the survival whole of all her people. What's more, the thesis also points out that the black people still have a long way to go before they can realize their ideal of survival whole.