Integrity And Harmony-An Analysis Of The Color Purple From The Perspective Of Ecofeminism

Alice Walker is one of the most famous black woman writers in contemporary American literature, and she is renowned for her novels, poems and essays. In her works, Walker has expressed concern about the black women under the twin oppression of racism and sexism, and about black women’s consciousness and struggles. Walker is regarded as the spokesperson for black women due to her solicitude for the oppressed black women and mother nature.The Color Purple that has won Alice Walker prizes makes a great contribution to the development of A fro-American literature. In the novel, Walker makes the depictions of exploitations of nature and black women who struggle against the dual discriminations of racism and sexism. Black women have been endowed with their love to nature and gradually achieve self-awareness and survival through sisterhood. The sisterhood involves love of mutual benefit, tolerance, redemption and hope for the future. Walker’s ecofeminist ideology is revealed in her pursuit of integrity arouses black women’s consciousness, extricates the oppressions, rebuilds their confidence in life, transforms the black men and finally establishes equality and harmony between men and women, human beings and nature.The writer of this thesis will analyze The Color Purple in four parts.Chapter One makes an introduction of Alice Walker and ecofeminist ideology. The first part is a brief account of Alice Walker and her works, including the summary of The Color Purple. The second part mainly provides the theory of ecofeminism, which seeks to rebuild the societal and value systems, disclose the correlated oppressions of women and nature, dismantle racism and sexism and naturalism, and most importantly to establish the relationships of equality, integrity, and harmony between men and women, and humans and nature.Chapter Two looks into the detailed analysis of black women’s integrity and their interconnection with nature. Part One emphasizes the integrity of women and nature, both oppressed by the patriarchal society. Part Two demonstrates the traits of black women to pursue happiness, equality and freedom. Through sisterhood, black women become aware of their own identity, regain confidence and independence, and achieve their integrity in life. Chapter Three probes into the prospects of harmony in the novel. By describing black women’s commitment to each other, black female’s tolerance, black men’s transformation and the redemptive love among all humans in society, Alice Walker longs for a harmonious world in which human beings and nature are co-existing together.Chapter Four draws the conclusion that Walker’s ecofeminist ideology in The Color Purple will arouse our ecological awareness and understanding of interconnectedness in the world. Through her vivid depictions of black women, Alice Walker longs for a harmonious relationship between men and women, human beings and nature.