Question One
According to Alice Walker, the African American woman suffers the double jeopardy of race and sexism. Notably, racism is a problem that generally affects all black Americans, both men, and women. For instance, Celie’s father was lynched by his white neighbors because his dry foods store was doing well. To the whites, an African American should never possess such a level of business acumen. The plight of the woman is manifested in different forms but prevalently in the form of violence. For example, Celie gets beaten up by her stepfather for dressing up ‘badly’ as she attempted to make him sleep with her instead of her little sister, Nettie. Harpo also unsuccessfully tries to beat up Sofia. Besides, sexual violence is commonplace as Celie is repeatedly raped by her stepfather, Alphonso, before being forcefully married off to another widower(Claudia Durst,2009). Furthermore, women are denied opportunities, as can be seen when Celie’s stepfather immediately cuts short her education after making her pregnant. Women are also victims of societal expectations. When Celie apologizes to Sofia for advising Harpo to beat her, she says that the Bible and, by extension, society expects women to obey their husbands and fathers. In a nutshell, the plight of women is a result of both physical and psychological manipulation.
Question Two
When Nettie decides to run away from her sister’s home, she comes across a person who has surrendered the fight against male domination. Instead of fighting back, she chooses to let things and disappear. In the beginning, Harpo is okay with his marriage arrangement with Sofia. However, after constant criticism from his father, questioning his masculinity, he changes his attitude towards Sofia. He then makes the tragic decision of beating Sofia and ends up with bruises on his face. Harpo’s sudden change of attitude against Sofia depicts how male dominance is so deeply rooted that any man who tries to bring change by taking a liberal approach with women is seen as a lesser man. These two particular instances perpetuate male dominance through acceptance and normalization, respectively.
Question Three
Celie might have recommended the beating of Sofia for two significant reasons. First, she might have been jealous that Sofia is enjoying so much peace and liberty in her marriage yet her’s has been that of abuse and manipulation. It could also be possible that Celie has developed signs of transferred aggression since she had been abused and molested all her life.
Question Four
In both works of Angelous and Lucile, the theme of bravado has been brought out in a very subtle manner (Clifton, 2020). Both poets depict women as individuals capable of using their charms to delude men to their advantage. Critically, a woman can fight and defeat patriarchy without necessarily fighting (Angelou, 2020). On the other hand, the Vernacular tradition hip hop advocates for outright resistance against patriarchy. However, the three works agree on the need to deal with male dominance tactfully.