PROBING WOMANIST EXISTENTIALISM: A READING OF ALICE

WALKER’S THE COLOR PURPLE NAME OF THE

Joby John
MA, B.Ed.
E-Mail:[email protected]

Abstract:The disquisition entitled “Probing Womanist Existentialism: A Reading of Alice Walker’s The Color
Purple” a study on Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple. This dissertation studies the Womanist novel The
Color Purple from the Existentialist Womanist point of view. Alice Walker launches an advanced ‘ism’-
Womanism – which is stronger as well as a microscopic approach to study the problems of the segregated section
(Black Women). She designates the new school ‘Womanism’ because the black women are kept away, even
among from the feminists. A new compound term- Existential Womanism- is used to analyze her great work,
which alone can transcend the meaning of Feminism and Womanism.
The introductory chapter of this dissertation explores the major tenets of Existentialism, and describes at length the
multifarious concepts related to it.It also deals with, how Celei, the protagonist of the novel, constructs her
identity.The second chapter designated “Walkerian Womanism” discusses the fundamental premise of
Womanism, i.e. ‘black Feminism or feminism of colour’. It is an advocacy of or enthusiasm for the rights and
achievements etc. of women.The third chapter entitled ‘Positing Womanist Existentialism’ shows the meaning and
the compounding of the term ‘Existential Womanism’ and the relevance of the Existential Womanist reading of
the novel The Color Purple. This chapter also explains the Existentialist view of life that human beings have no
given essence but must forge their value and meaning in an inherently absurd world of existence.

Key Words: Womanism, Feminism, Existentialism, Womanist Existentialism

1. INTRODUCTION The term ‘Existentialism’ is coined by the

The disquisition entitled “Probing Womanist French philosopher Gabriel Marcel and adopted by
Existentialism: A Reading of Alice Walker’s The Color Jean-Paul Sartre. Jean-Paul Sartre presented his own
Purple” contends that the individual uniqueness of a existentialist position in a lecture to the ‘Club
person is determined by his/her life choice. Maintenant’ in Paris. This lecture popularized the
Existentialism, which influenced the European countries Existentialist thought. Existentialism begins with the
after the Second World War, emphasises the importance necessity of existence.
of lived human experience over his/her given essence.
There is no pre-given essence; one’s essence is The idea ‘Existence precedes essence’ means
determined through one’s existential choices. Alice that human nature is determined by the course of life
Walker uses the epistolary form of writing to narrate the rather than life by human nature. Reason is necessary to
sufferings of the protagonist. She bodies forth the understand the importance of human life.
helplessness and anxiety experienced by the black There are two parts to this portion – first, that human
women in the modern society (in which feminism and reason is relatively weak and imperfect, and second, that
existential feminism play an important role.) there are dark places in human life which are ‘no reason’
Existentialism has got its roots deep since the and to which reason scarcely penetrates. Since Plato,
nineteenth century. Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich western civilization has usually assumed a separation of
Nietzsche were the pioneers. The twentieth century reason as suited to command the non rational part.
witnessed a change in the meaning of Existentialism. Emphasizing action, freedom and decision as
Marin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir fundamental, Existentialists oppose themselves to
and (absurdist) Albert Camus are the major theorists of rationalism and positivism. Man is able to behave in a
the twentieth century. Existentialism is divided into two: sensible manner through his reason. He escapes from the
theistic and atheistic. bondage of error, from time and change, from death
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itself, into the realm of changeless eternal ideas or Truth,2. According to this, freedom means independence from
and the lower nature which had chained him in darkness God, autonomy in relation to God.(The Essence of
are left behind. (Mathew Shilpa. 5) Human Freedom,4-5)
Existentialism reunites the lower part of the The former one (independence from nature)
mind with the higher. It means that the union of means that human action as such is not primarily caused
intelligence, anxiety, guilt etc. gives wholeness to a by natural cause; it is not bound by the natural laws:
human being. For Sartre each one is endowed with This independence from nature can be grasped in a more
unlimited freedom. This statement may question the essential way by reflecting that the inner decision and
limitations on every individual’s freedom of choice. resolve of man is in a certain respect independent of the
Physical and social constraints cannot be overlooked in necessity which resides in human fortunes. From what
the way in which we make choices. The freedom is not was said above we could call this independence from
defined by an ability to act. Freedom is rather to be nature and history an independence from the ‘world’,
understood as a characteristic of the nature of where the latter is understood as the unitary totality of
consciousness, i.e. as spontaneity. Sartre presents his history and nature. Not always, but precisely where a
notion of freedom as amounting to making choices, and primordial consciousness of freedom has been
indeed not being able to avoid making choices. His awakened, a second negative concept of freedom goes
conception of choice can be understood with reference together with the first. (The Essence of Human Freedom,
to an individual’s original choice, as we saw- the whole 4-5)
life of an individual as expressing an original project The latter says about the independence from
that unfolds throughout time. God. Martin Heidegger says in his book ‘The Essence
A man’s/woman’s life is made up of the sum of Human Freedom’
total of his/her acts. One group (Theist) among the For onlyif there is such autonomy can man take up a
Existentialist theorists says that God is the benefactor. relationship to God. Only then can he seek and
For them one’s faith is more important than one’s will. acknowledge God, hold to God and take upon himself
But the atheist group has a different point of view. the demands of God. All such being toward God would
They interpret man’s existential condition as a state of be in principle impossible if man did not possess the
alienation from his essential nature which is God-like. possibility of turning away from already presupposes a
Freedom, as for Sartre involves an acceptance of certain independence and freedom in relation to God. So
responsibility for choice and a commitment to one’s the full concept of negative freedom amounts to
choice. (Mathew Shilpa10) independence of man world and God. (5)
The question concerning the essence of human Authenticity: with this notion o freedom as
freedom towards the totality of beings (world and god) spontaneous choice, Sartre therefore has the elements
in the preliminary discussion of ‘negative’ freedom is required to define what it is to be an authentic human
defined well by Martin Heidegger. being. This reflects the nature of facticity. This notion of
But why is the problem of freedom not a particular authenticity appears closely related to Heidegger’s,
question? At this point can only be roughly indicated since it involves a mode of being that exhibits
why the problem of freedom, from the very outset, recognition that one is ‘Dasein’ (to mark the
cannot be treated as a particular question. Among the significance of our existence, Heidegger gave the name
definitions of the essence of freedom one has always Dasein to the type of being you are. Dasein translates as
come to fore. According to this, freedom primarily “being- there.” and that is how we should conceive of
refers to autonomy. One speaks, therefore, of the ourselves). However, unlike Heidegger’s, Sartre’s
negative concept of freedom, more succinctly of conception has clear practical consequences
‘negative freedom’. Clearly then, this negative freedom For what is required of an authentic choice is
of man is fully defined by specifying what man is that it involves a proper coordination of transcendence
independent from, and how such independence is to be and facticity, and thus that it avoid the pitfalls of an
conceived. In earlier interpretations of freedom this uncoordinated expression of the desire for being. This
‘from what’ of independence has been experienced and amounts to not- grasping oneself as freedom and
problematized in two essential directions. facticity. Such a lack of proper coordination between
1. Freedom from… is independence from nature…. transcendence and facticity constitutes bad faith, either
at an individual or an inter-personal level. Such notion
of authenticity is therefore quite different from what is

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often popularly misrepresented as a typically Alice Walker walks into the feminist world of
existentialist attitude, namely an absolute prioritization free conception with her version of it- what has come to
of individual spontaneity. On the contrary, recognition be termed- womanism. The Color Purple is a womanist
of how our freedom interacts with our facticity exhibits novel. It is necessary to know Feminism to sign in
the responsibility which we have to make proper choices. Womanism. Feminism is a movement which is formed
These are choices which are not trapped in bad faith. to strengthen women. Feminism starts to grow with the
Sartrean Existentialism is an atheistic philosophy of force of Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own (1929),
human freedom conceived in terms of individual which could be taken as the first forceful modern tract
responsibility and authenticity. Celei, the protagonist of on feminism. Though feminism jumps over three waves,
the novel The Color Purple, is eager to get freedom to nothing is to be said as an empowerment of the marginal.
lead a good life. This dissertation is written according to This kind of segregation towards the black women has
the documentation format as suggested in the seventh caused the growth of 'The Black Feminist Movement'.
edition of MLA Handbook. The purpose of the liberation movement is to stop
This dissertation includes five chapters discrimination on the basis of race, sex, class and colour.
including an introduction and conclusion. The second So in 1973, a group of Black Feminists in New York
chapter designated “Walkerian Womanism” discusses formed the National Black Feminist Organization
the fundamental premise of Womanism, i.e. ‘A Black (NBFO). According to Barbara Smith the specific issues
Feminism or Feminism of Color’. It is an advocacy of or dealt by the Black Feminist activities were of productive
enthusiasm for the rights and achievements etc. of rights, sterilization abuse, equal access to abortion,
women. health care, child care, violence against women, rape,
The third chapter entitled ‘Positing Existentialist battering, sexual harassment, welfare rights, lesbian and
Womanism’ shows the meaning and the compounding gay rights, police brutality, anti-racism, preserving
of the term ‘Existential Womanism’ and the relevance environment etc.(Shahida. 26, 27)
of the Womanist Existential reading in The Color Many authors have defined The Black Feminist
Purple. By this chapter it will be clear that women have Movement. But among them the important definition
no given essence but must forge their values and was Alice Walker’s 'Womanism'. It is a feminist term
meanings in an inherently absurd world of existence. coined by Alice Walker and it is a reaction to the
Celie seeks in vain to assert a basic sense of dignity by realization that “Feminism” does not encompass the
attempting to force Mr.-, her husband to acknowledge perspectives of Black Women. It is feminism that is
her womanhood (identity). “stronger in colour”, nearly identical to “Black
The fourth chapter named “Celie Signs in a Feminism”. Womanism need not be prefaced by the
Woman” analyses the novel from an Existential word “Black” but it signifies black women. A Womanist
Womanist point of view and describes the development appreciates women's culture and power as something
of the protagonist from a downtrodden to a victor, that is incorporated into the world as a whole. It projects
thereby determining her identity. the classist aspects of white feminism and actively
The concluding chapter asserts that the novel is opposes the ideology of segregation. Womanism
an Existentialist Womanist novel, in which a woman describes the way in which women support and
finds her identity. Woman must affirm her essence. ‘The empower black man, and serves as a tool for
actual life’ of the woman constitutes her “essence”. understanding the black woman's relationship to man as
Thus Existentialist Womanism in the novel questions different from the white woman’s. It recognizes that
the construction of ‘woman’ by the patriarchal society women are the survivors in a world that is oppressive on
and states, ‘Let the Woman determine her Essence.’ The multifarious platforms.
protagonist tries to mould her life into a meaningful Alice Walker defines womanism in her book Sisters in
existence and thus she succeeds in her quest of essence. the Wilderness in the following way:
Celie receives her life as it really is and finds her Womanist theology is a prophetic voice concerned about
essence with the help of Shug Avery. the well- being of the entire African American
community, male and female, adults and children.
Womanist theology attempts to help back women see,
affirm and have confidence in the importance of their
2. WALKERIAN WOMANISM experience and faith for determining the character of the
Christian religion in the African American community.

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Womanist theology challenges all oppressive forces especially women of color. As Walker told in Times
impending black women's struggle for survival and for magazine
the development of a positive, productive quality of life Feminism (all colors) definitely teaches women they
conducive to women's and the family's freedom and are capable, one reason for its universal appeal. In
well-being. Womanist theology opposes all oppressions addition to this womanist (i.e. black feminist) tradition
based on race, sex, class, sexual preference, physical assumes, because of our experience during slavery, that
ability and caste (67). the black women are capable (Shahida.28-29)
Shahida and M.Chakranarayan comments in their book Walker narrates black women’s experiences in
A Study: Alice Walker about Walker’s writing style as a opposition to those of white women. Thus womanism is
Womanist. different from feminism. She proves it by revealing the
Alice Walker has been highly acclaimed for her unique history of the American racism. Therefore black women
prose style. We find a delicate balance in her writings. are ‘womanist’ and white women remain merely
She is neither a stern feminist nor advocates patriarchy, ‘feminist’.
rather she is a Womanist one who believes in acting as a Black women concern for and emphasize on
grown up responsible serious individual and who works male-female relationships. Unlike the white women,
for the upliftment as humanity as a whole, indifferent to they provide an avenue to foster stronger relationship
gender considerations. Walker has been praised by between black men and women. Walker’s definition
Gloria Steinem for her story telling technique as she proves this as she notes that the womanists are
says “The story telling makes it (The Color Purple) “committed to survival and wholeness of entire people,
irresistible to read”. She has also appreciated Walker’s male and female.” Thus, womanism supplies a way for
use of Black American Vernacular as she comments – black women to address gender oppression without
Walker takes “the leap completely” from written attacking black men.
Standard English to Black American Vernacular , Walker’s definition manages to invoke three important
refusing to label it “dialect” a word she believes has philosophies that frame black social and political
evoked negative associations in the past. Gloria Steinem thought namely, Black Nationalism through her claims
espouses Walker’s literary style with “no quotation of black women’s moral and epistemological superiority
marks” Celei just writes her heart out “pretty soon” she through suffering under racial and gender oppression.
comments, you can imagine why anyone would bother Second, pluralism through the cultural integrity
to write any other way. For her The Color Purple provided by the metaphor of the garden as In Search of
symbolises the miracle of human possibilities (78-79) Our Mother’s Garden the garden is a metaphor “the
Alice Walker’s literature and works have been colored race is just like a flower garden, with every
an expression of splendour and love of life. They have color flower represented”. Thirdly, integration and
risen from Walker’s impression in the lamentations and assimilation through her claims implying black women
outcries of Black Women. She has spoken out of life are ‘traditionally universalist’ Thus, implying black
and loving kindness through her poems, short stories, women are somehow superior to white women because
novels, essays, journals, documentaries. Walker of their rich cultural heritage, historical back ground
suggests ‘Womanist is to feminist as purple is to and black folk tradition. Their writings mainly aim at
lavender’. The term womanist evokes a racialised and expressing and preserving these black folk traditions.
often class located experience to the gendered Thus black feminist writers like Toni Morison, Jamaica
experience suggested by feminism. This term has helped Kincaid, Rita Dove, and Maya Angelou aim at
to give visibility to the experience of African American presenting black women as liberated individuals. Their
women and other women of colour who have always novels present a vision of humanity for all people.
been in the forefront of the movement against sexual Identifying the liberatory potential within black women
and racial systems, yet often been marginalised in from their concrete historical experiences.... Jamaica
history texts, media and feminist movements lead by Kincaid (1949) in her novels reflects on the mother
white feminist or civil rights movement led by men of daughter relationship in shaping a female identity in a
color. male dominated society and explores the phenomenon
Thus ‘womanism’ reflects a link with history of female bounding”. (Shahida.30).
that includes African cultural heritage, enslavement in Walkerian Womanism stands for the
the United States and a kinship with other women empowerment of black women. It helps them to be

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aware that they are strong and intelligent. It enables This projected meaning remains fragile, constantly
them to determine their essence. facing breakdown for any reason from a tragedy to a
particularly insightful moment. In such a breakdown, we
3. POSITING WOMANIST EXISTENTIALISM are put face to face with the naked meaninglessness of
Womanist Existentialism is coined by clubbing the world, and the results can be devastating. (16).
Sartrean Existentialism and Walkerian Womanism. Womanist Existentialism also follows the
Womanist Existentialism follows the features of these Sartrean ideology that ‘existence precedes essence’. A
two isms. It is clear from the second chapter “Walkerian woman has no given essence but she must determine her
Womanism” that Womanism is culture specific and values and meaning by living in the society without
poetic a synonym for black feminism. Womanism is an following the ‘patriarchal womanhood’ and ‘color
advocacy of or enthusiasm for the rights and feminism’. A woman must determine her essence. A
achievements etc. of women. The term Existentialism woman’s self should construct her own values of
tries to trace the mere meaning of our existence and womanity and determine the essence of her Existence.
studies how one determines his/her identity (essence). This encourages her to face future. Women need not
‘Womanist Existentialism’ is an attempt to define destroy ‘the patriarchal womanhood’ or ‘the color
‘Womanism’ from the point of view of ‘Existentialism’ feminism’ for constructing her identity, for when a
on the basis of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. woman determines her identity, it means that can stand
Equality of rights and freedom between the sexes is alone among those problems. The famous line of The
desirable. Simone De Beauvoir appears to exalt all Second Sex ‘One is not born but becomes a woman’
women as possessing the capacity to realize their innate (267), written by Simone De Beauvoir, gives emphasis
power in the sense of the feminine spirit. to the relevance of womanist existentialism.
Womanist Existentialism uses an existential A woman becomes ‘a woman’ only because of
approach to analyze the nature of being for the black the way in which she was brought up. Patriarchal
women. It examines black women’s experiences and society has put ‘the yoke of womanhood’ (values) upon
how they develop an individual identity in a historically women and they are forced to plough (live) with that
and institutionally male dominant society, where they yoke. A woman may/may not be aware of the yoke upon
are segregated. her neck, but her life choices and situations will help to
The most famous line of The Second Sex ‘One is understand this yoke and to remove it by determining
not born but becomes a woman’ (The Second Sex, 267), her identity. Life choices in the life of a woman help her
introduces what has come to be called the sex – gender to determine her ‘self’. A woman will suffer from the
distinction. Beauvoir’s The Second Sex gave us the disturbances until she determines her identity. Here the
vocabulary for analyzing the social constructions of word ‘disturbance’ means -the society where she lives,
feminity and the structure for critiquing these the discrimination on the basis of sex, color, and race etc
constructions. It was used as a liberating tool: by - the history, which makes her a woman according to the
attending to the ways in which patriarchal structures concepts of the patriarchal society. The same history
used sexual difference to deprive women of their “can will give or reveal her real identity. A woman can
do” bodies. determine her identity by living within these
Womanist existentialism focuses on the disturbances, because these disturbances give her the
question of the existence of women and the conditions energy to overcome it. She becomes ‘a woman’ with
of their existence. And it says that the womanhood (the this energy. The presence reveals the absence but the
essence) is determined through life choices. The word absence does not make the presence. And the presence
‘existence’ comes from the Latin exitere, meaning ‘to is determined through life choices. Free will, personal
stand out’. If the women could stand out from the responsibility and freedom are also considered as the
bondage of the patriarchal ideology and the society features of Womanist Existentialism.
where the colour discrimination still exists and if they Each woman has ‘a woman’ inside. She
could keep a distance from it, they would get courage to becomes a woman when she determines her ‘woman’.
project meaning into the disinterested world of in- itself. She can decide how the ‘woman’ should be before
Prof. Shilpa Mathew states in her dissertation entitled In others. It is up to her to determine her ‘self’ with the
Quest of Essence: an Existentialist Approach to the help of the situations that she faces. For e.g. if there is a
Care Takerabout the projected meaning; white paper, sized A4, on the black board, everyone can
see its real size until it gets covered. When that is

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covered by maintaining a white phase in a diamond until she told Harpo “shut up Harpo, I’m telling it,” that
shape, everyone sees the diamond shape. It is up to the affirms her voice and then affirms her identity by saying
person, who is the owner of that white paper, who must “My name Mary Agnes”. ( Shahida.53)
decide in which shape the white paper is to be seen to The Color Purple tells the story about the
others. Likewise a woman becomes ‘a woman’ through sufferings of a black woman (Celei) and describes how
her life. Her choice selection determines her identity. she determines her identity. At the end of the novel we
One can never drink from the same river from which he can see the development of Celie into a woman. Her
had once drunk. Today’s ‘I’ is not tomorrow’s because achievements are the result of her own actions. The
of the change in the selection of choice. Tomorrow’s ‘I’ development of the protagonist to a woman is
may be good or bad. Human freedom enables us to influenced from the existentialist notions such as
select a new choice or to follow the old one. When one freedom, responsibility, free will and the womanist
becomes doubtless upon the choice he/she selected, it notions such as overcoming identity crisis, segregation,
means that he/she determined his/her identity (essence). discrimination. Celie’s identity formation can be viewed
Womanist Existentialism signifies the fact that from a womanist existential point of view.
women are thrown into their existence first and hence,
existence is determined only through her life choices. 4. CELIE SIGNS IN A WOMAN
She becomes ‘she’ only because of the life choices. Womanist existentialism focuses on the
The human situation for the existentialist is thus question of womanhood and the essence of existence. It
characterised by ‘Facticity’ (throwness), Anxiety and concentrates on ‘the way woman finds her identity’.
Despair. We find ourselves existing in a world not of Alice Walker narrates in her novel The Color Purple
our own making and indifferent to our concerns. We are about the pitiful conditions in which the protagonist-
not the source of our existence, but find ourselves Celie- was born and brought up and the way how she
thrown in to a world we don’t control and didn’t choose. signs in a woman. When we go through the novel The
We are faced with the lack of any external source of Color Purple, we feel Walker’s treatment of her themes
value and determination. We are faced with and characters as if everything achieves a real
responsibility of choosing our own nature and values proportion.
and in doing so; we must face the responsibility of Mel Watkins comments about the style of Alice
choosing human nature and values for humankind in our Walker in the New York Times (book review):
free choices. This situation describes ‘angst’. In seeing Alice Walker’s choice and effective handling of the
the contrast between the worlds we are thrown into and epistolary style has enabled her to tell a poignant tale of
which we cannot control and the absolute freedom we women’s struggle for equality and independence.
have to create ourselves, we must despair of any hope of Through her novels she is successful in
external value or determination and restrict ourselves to redefining the negative images prevailing concerning
what is under our own control. (Mathew Shilpa.20) black women. Walker has presented them as capable of
Womanist Existentialism is also concerned with realizing their potentials through their life choices.
finding essence and the meaning of life through free will, The Color Purple describes the complexity of
choice, and personal responsibility. Womanist the problems of black women in America and illustrates
Existential crisis is a stage of development in which a their free will which encourages them to determine their
woman questions the foundations of ‘the patriarchal individuality, defying the exploitative mentality of a
notions of womanhood’ and ‘the colour feminism’. So it society dominated and conditioned by patriarchal
emphasizes the uniqueness. society and color politics. The characters in the novel
Walker knew that at the time she wrote this novel (The The Color Purple are able to accept the changes and,
Color Purple), black women had no voice. It is through therefore, attain a state of transformation. The
this novel she tried to voice their feelings. She had to protagonist of the novel Celie is uneducated and
face severe criticism from black community for the sexually abused by her step- father.
portrayal of black male as rapists, powerless and You better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your
oppressive. Walker is not only concerned with finding a mammy.
voice but also of creating one’s own identity through Dear God,
another weak character Squeak or Mary Agnes in the I am fourteen years old. I am I have always been a good
novel epitomizing this transformation . Squeak was girl. May be you can give me a sign letting me know
Harpo’s girl friend when Sofia had left him. It was not what is happening to me.

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Last spring [...] alone .A week go by he pulling on her in ‘a woman’. Celie is able to overcome all oppressions
arm again. She say now, I ain’t gonna. (The Color of her life and can be seen the way she gives reply to
Purple.3) Mr-,
Celie does not use any grammar to convey her You a lowdown dog is what’s wrong [...] It’s time to
feelings. Her sentences are short and to the point and it leave you and enter into creation. ( The Color Purple)
can be seen in the lines given above. Her sister Nettie She breaks all the relations with Mr- and she goes
received education than Celie so she was able to speak with Shug to Memphis. She knows that ‘Pa’ is her step-
and write. father from her sister. This news gives confidence to her.
We are up at five o’clock for a light breakfast of millet She took up pant making business, suggestive of the fact
porridge and fruit, and the morning classes. We teach that all women may be free from the domination of men.
the children English, reading, writing, history [, ... ] and She becomes a liberated and confident woman who has
the stories of the Bible [... ](140). not only found her voice but also her identity. Celie’s
The sentences are simple with no hidden new relationship with the world is manifested by the
meanings, though we find difference in the structure of way she now writes her letters and interacts with people.
sentences from Celie to Nettie’s. Celie’s sentences are She expresses her comments, which are very insightful
ungrammatical and short sometimes not sensible as: and sometimes sarcastic. She started pondering over life
I ask him to take me instead of Nettie while our new and this shows her matured and developed out look
mammy sick. But he just ast me what I’m [...] I duck towards her life. In other words she found her essence
into my room [...] shoes. He beat me for dressing trampy though her life choices. Celie says:
but he do it to me anyway. (9) I [Celie] start to wonder why us need love, Why us
Alice Walker uses three notions to show the suffer. Why us black. Why us men and women [...] I
development of Celie to a woman. They are tone, think us here to wonder, myself. To wonder. To art. And
symbolism and juxtaposition. The following sentence in wonderings bout the big things and asting bout the
sets the tone the emotions of the protagonist. big things, you learn about the little ones, almost by
It all I can do not cry. I make myself wood. I say to accident. ( The Color Purple).
myself, Celie, you are a tree. That’s how I know trees Shug influences Celie to determine her personality.
fear man. ( 23.) Her personality transforms Celie’s life and allows her to
The colour purple is the symbol of royalty and take charge of her own destiny. Celie describes Shug in
at the same time it can be considered as the symbol of her letter to God as:
bruises on the beaten woman’s face. ‘Nature’ is also The most beautiful woman I [Celie] ever saw. She some
presented in the novel symbolically. In the beginning of more pretty than my mama. She bout ten thousand times
the novel when Mr- physically assaulted Celie, she said, more prettier than me. I see her there furs. Her face
It all I can do not cry. I make myself wood. I say to rouge. Her hair like something tail. She [...] her foot
myself, Celie, you are a tree. That’s how I know trees upon somebody motor car. Her eyes serious tho. Sad
fear man. ( 23) some.
Tree is a symbol of emotionally dead, helpless Shug is more or less able to understand the psyche
and passive Celie. Next time we trace nature on Shug’s of Celie and therefore encourages her to speak about the
arrival at Mr-‘s house, abuses she has suffered from the hands of Pa and Albert.
It like the trees all round the house draw themselves up This helps Celie to relieve herself from all pent up
tall for a better look. ( The Color Purple). feelings in her for now there is someone to listen and
The trees here symbolize all hard, unfeeling women console her Shug gave Celie love and affection like her
in the neighbourhood and they look up to Shug as the sister. Simone De Beauvoir’s comment becomes
role model. It is Shug who stirs Celie from an apathetic relevant here, “A woman is not born but becomes a
and unemotional piece of wood almost to the point of woman”. The half of the novel is about Celie who born
thinking as an individual. as a woman and other portion reveals how she becomes
Walker juxtaposes weak and strong characters ‘a woman’. Thus The Color Purple examines how Celei
for effecting poise. Celie and Sofia present this signs in a woman.
juxtapositioning. While Celie preferred to keep quiet
and endures all sufferings patiently, Sofia chose “to 5. CONCLUSION
fight [her] daddy... brothers cousins and uncles”. This The main idea of Sartrean Existentialism
kind of juxtapositioning gives us the evidence of signing ‘existence precedes essence’ means that the actual life

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 ISSN: 2583-1011
Ensygloge Vol.:1, Issue:1; January-June, 2021
An International Journal for Arts and Science
www.ensygloge.com
Article No.: V1N1003

of the individual constitutes his/her ‘self’. Thus a human Mathew Shilpa. In Quest of Essence: An Existentialist
being creates values and constructs a meaning for Approach to The Care Taker. Pala: St.Thomas College,
his/her life through his/her consciousness. Womanism is 2011. Print.
an attempt of the black women to form their identity Lemay, Eric and Jennifer Apitts. Heidegger for
(Black Feminism).Existentialist and Womanist Beginners. New Delhi: Orient Black Swan, 2005. Print.
reflections conjoin themselves in the novel The Color Shahida and M.Chakranarayan. A Study: Alice Walker.
Purple. Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot, 2005. Print.
The Color Purple is a Womanist Existentialist ‘Simone De Beauvoir’.
novel, in which a woman finds her identity. Woman Web,http://www.college.cengage.com.
must determine her own essence. ‘The actual life’ of the ‘Existentialist Feminism’. Web,
woman constitutes her “essence”. Thus Womanist http://www.feministissue.com.
Existentialism in the novel questions the construction of Walker, Alice.The Color Purple. London: Orion Books,
‘woman’ by the patriarchal society and states, ‘Let the 1983. Print
Woman determine her Essence.’
The Color Purple is the story of a poor black
woman (Celie), who is abused by her step-father
Alphonso and her husband. The protagonist of the novel
keeps silence until she meets Shug Avery. Their
relationship gives her energy to face the bitter
experiences of the life. The reader knows her past
through her letters to God and her sister Nittie. She goes
with Shug when she knows that Nittie’s letters are kept
away from her by Mr-.She finds her two children with
the help of her sister. She could determine her essence
through these experiences.
The entire novel is the play of Womanist
Existentialism. This term will be helpful to understand
that the underlying motivation for action is to be found
in the nature of consciousness (self) which is a desire for
‘being’. It is up to each woman to exercise or to know
her freedom in such a way that she doesn’t lose the sight
of her existence. The protagonist of the novel
determines her identity through her life choices.
At the end of the novel we can see the
development of Celie to a woman. Her achievements are
the result of her own actions. The development of the
protagonist to a woman is influenced from the
existentialist notions such as freedom, responsibility,
free will and the womanist notions such as overcoming
identity crisis, segregation, discrimination. Celia’s
identity formation can be read through a womanist
existential point of view.

6. WORKS CITED
Baldick, Chris. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York:
Oxford, 2008. Print.
De Beauvoir, Simone. The Second Sex. Print.
Heidegger, Martin. The Essence of Truth. New York:
Continuum, 2005. Print.
Heidegger, Martin. The Essence of Human Freedom.
New York: Continuum, 2005. Print.

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