Deconstruction Of God-centrism

Alice Walker is one of the most famous contemporary African American female writers. As a writer for over thirty years, she has been frequently rebelling against Christianity and she conveys pantheism in many of her works.The thesis attempts to study Alice Walker's masterpiece The Color Purple from the perspective of religion. The thesis focuses on the God-centered religion in Western culture, examines the main Christianity doctrines in Western culture and summarizes some embodiments of Christianity in Western literature. By discussing some activities Alice Walker took part in and the influence of these activities on her pantheist's faith, the thesis explores religious belief in Alice Walker's earlier works, and points out that the religious belief of Alice Walker develops from the rebellion against the patriarchal Christianity to the embracement of the pantheistic faith. Furthermore the thesis analyses The Color Purple to make an in-depth exploration of Alice Walker's pantheistic faith. Importance is attached to Celie's growth which is from blind devotion to God to extreme anger toward Him. With the enlightening help of Shug, Celie embraces a more pantheistic outlook by the novel's end. Meanwhile, the thesis analyses the journey African American missionaries Samuel, Corrine, and Nettie take in the novel. They are inspired by Christianity, and travel to the West Africa to convert people to Christianity, hoping to realize the glorious future. However, they finally realize that they are only assistants of imperialism. As a result, their patriarchal Christianity is replaced by the humanist spirituality.