Gender Roles in the novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker Essay

Gender Roles in the novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker - Essay Example The entire story of the book is told through the narration of Celie, the protagonist, who undergoes several troubles during her early childhood before being sold by the name of marriage. Struggling through her dark past, where she is violently raped by her perverted stepfather, she goes through another doomed phase in her life. She gets severely beaten up every day by her husband, who also refuses to inform Celie about the letters from her sister Nettie. Still, Celie goes through all these torments and comes out as a winner at the end of the story. The book is a story about the progress of the will of a woman to counter all the struggles she faces in life, a display of power of friendship and faith in motivating a person and, delivering the message of happiness that one gets by being self-satisfied. The Color Purple, during its time of release, created a flurry of arguments about the themes written about in the story. One of the major themes that drew many of the critics’ attention was the theme of gender roles. Although, Walker had established the default characteristics of men and women in the book, there was this subtle element of versatility present in each and every character of the book that completely abolishes any notions of traditional qualities that were displayed through these roles. Some of the examples that could be given for this change include the change of thought process in the minds of Albert, Celie’s husband and in the submissive role played by his brother, who is unable to bring his wife under control and as a result, gets to work under his wife. The representation of unconventional treatment of the gender can be first viewed through the role of Mr.__________, as introduced by Celie and commonly known to everyone as Albert. Albert, having lost his first wife, looks out for a second wife to assist him and his children. Having known to everyone has an unpopular girl, Celie