Survival Whole-An Analysis Of The Color Purple From The Perspective Of Ecofeminism

Alice Walker is a renowned contemporary black woman novelist, essayist, poet and activist. In the 1980s, she is well-known in literary circle because of the novel The Color Purple, which has brought her three prizes:the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the National Association of Reviewers Award. Walker is famous for her insightful thinking and profound ingenious writing style among black women writers. She concentrates on depicting black women’s hardship and misery and their constant struggling spirit. Meanwhile, she reveals the way that women and nature fight against the oppression for a "survival whole".Based on ecofeminist literary theory, this thesis analyzes and interprets The Color Purple from the perspective of ecofeminism. It is made up of six sections:Chapter one briefly introduces Alice Walker’s life experience, her writing career, some relevant literary review at home and abroad on The Color Purple, the layout and significance of the thesis. Chapter two introduces ecofeminism, briefly demonstrates some ecofeminism literary criticisms and ecofeminism’s influences on Alice Walker’s works. Chapter three gives specific analysis to reveal the dominance over women and nature, and reveals its root, that is patriarchal domination and human’s greed. Chapter four describes black women’s efforts to achieve a harmonious world, such as quilting, pant-making and African travelling. Through these efforts and never-giving-up spirits, they seek, find and recognize their identity, obtain their independence physically and spiritually and finally achieve a "survival whole" with men and nature. Chapter five studies the harmonious world expressed in The Color Purple, which specifically includes harmonious relationship among the black women, harmonious relationship between the black couples, harmonious relationship between races, and harmonious relationship between human and nature. In the sixth Chapter, Alice Walker’s writing purpose and her main viewpoints are summarized. Her real purpose of this novel and its achieving ways are both specifically demonstrated here. Walker’s The Color Purple is a new perspective and a new way for us to study the black women’s image and at the same time it shows a new direction clearly for the liberation of women as well as the "survival whole" of the entire human and nature.