Role of Patriarchy and Sisterhood in the Formation of Identity inAlice Walker’s Novel The Color Purple

Abstract

Alice Walker's novels mainly focus on the lives and problems
of Black female characters and their hardships and struggle
to achieve independent identities. Alice Walker’s third novel,
The Color Purple was written in 1982. The themes of
patriarchy, male domination, the subordination of women,
and violence are shown in the relationship between Celie and
the men in her life. Education and economic independence
are shown as a way to get oneself free from the clutches of
male domination. The importance of sisterhood is shown as
an important factor in shaping and forming the identity of
one’s own. This paper tries to look deeply at the difficulties,
sufferings, and crises that are partly created by the female
characters themselves and partly by the external factors. The
relationship between Celie’s development as a woman and
her relationship with the women around her is analysed as
she leads towards freedom because of the sisterhood and
motivation provided by the other female characters.