Chapter 2 Empowerment of womanhood through sisterhood

Black women in America have to suffer the double disadvantage of being women as well as black. They are denied the basic human rights by the patriarchal society. Besides, the racial discrimination from the whites, the poverty also increases their sufferings. Alice walker describes the pathetic condition of black women in her essay, In Search Of Our Mothers Gardens:black women are called, in the folklore that so aptly identifies ones status in society, the mule of the world, because we have been handled the burdens that everyone else everyone else- refused to carry ( ). They are treated as beasts who have no individuality of their own. They do not even exist by themselves but need the connection to a man to be allowed to be part of stories.

If the black women discard the male supremacist ideology by establishing sisterhood, they can overcome the forces which suppress them. They can achieve their rights by their unified efforts. As Lindsey Tucker says, [s]ince a rivalry exists only when the male is central figure, the establishment of female bonding has the effect of nullifying that rivalry and uniting everyone (87). Thus, the female bonding helps to destroy patriarchy, which in turn leads to the empowerment of women. According to G. Baskaran, female bonding is an important aspect in the evolution of the black female identity (360). The collective effort of women helps them to evolve from their position under the black men to the status of independent women.

The female bonding comes quite spontaneously for the black women because most of them have occasions of being together while working, and help each other. Deborah Gray White argues in Arent I a Women? Female Slaves In the Plantation South that the women had ample opportunity to develop a relationship with one another. They were put in one anothers company for most of the day. This meant that the people with whom they were the whole day were the people of the same kind of responsibilities and problems. This common purpose helps to unite them. White further says, they developed their own culture and their womanhood was enhanced and their bonds to one another were made stronger (121). This bonding is interpreted by Toni Morrison as gender solidarity in her novels. Bonding helps black women to become more than close friends and to face the harsh realities of life.

The idea of conquering lifes odds through sisterhood is used by many AfricanAmerican writers effectively. Alice Walker supported this idea of women gaining strength through women in her novels as well as in her expository writings. In In Search Of Our Mothers Gardens, Alice Walker writes: There is no story more moving to me personally than one in which one women saves the life of another, and saves herself, and slays whatever dragon has appeared. And I know that, on a subconscious level, if not a conscious one, this is the work black women wish they were able to do all the time (Walker 1984:19). For Alice walker, in one sense, it means the empowerment of womanhood through sisterhood that she terms womanism. Walker defines womanist as a feminist of color who

loves other women, sexually or non-sexually committed to survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female (Walker 1984: xi).

As a post modern writer, Walker replaces the concept of motherhood by sisterhood and makes it a taste any willing female can perform irrespective of whether she has given birth or not. What Bell Hooks feels about Walker in Alice Walker: Critical Perspectives Past and Present is true: Displacing motherhood as central signifier for female beings and emphasizing sisterhood, Walker posits a relational basis for self-definition that valorizes and affirms womens bonding. It is the recognition of the self in the other, of unity and self in relationship to the production of children that enables women to connect with one another (299). This vision of motherhood and gender solidarity makes female bonding possible. Walker holds that female bonding is inevitable for the empowerment of black women. She considers it as a solution for gender oppression.

The Color Purple, which is one of her best novels, also celebrates the metaphor of sisterhood through various episodes. Set in 1900s, in a small town in Georgia, the novel analyses the various conditions of patriarchal society in America, which lead to the degradation of women. Individuals in the novel are divided from each other till the women see the way to end

this by talking, sharing, loving and finding non-exploitative work. Female bonding can be seen in almost all the women characters of the novel.

Alice Walker has dedicated The Color Purple To the spirits: / Without whose assistance / Neither this book / Nor I / Would have been / Written. The dedication underlines the fact that the novel, through its women characters represents the collective consciousness of the back women their moments of pain and misery, fear and fortitude, experiences and hopes are expressed subtly in the novel.

The protagonist of the novel is Celie, who in spite of poverty, illiteracy, physical and mental exploitation comes out successful in her life through self-awareness and with the help of fellow women characters. Even though Celie has to lead a horrific life, she was loyal and intensely kind to the women in her life. Celies spiritual journey starts from powerlessness to the state of full empowerment and from trauma to triumph. The experiences of Celie are presented through her letters written to God, as she has no other contact with life. This subjective selfencounter shows us the cruel bareness of her life and its gradual transformation.

The patriarchal society tries to suppress women and make her a [Link] first letter to God is preceded by a threatening voice: you better not never tell nobody but God. Itd kill your mammy (3). These are the words of her stepfather, Alphonso who menaces her so as to keep hidden his sexual abuse of her. Alphonso is the representative of patriarchal society who

tries to bring women under their control by physical and mental torture. By demanding that Celie confide only in God and by intimidating her with the life of her mother, Alphonso deprives her of her voice. Thus he makes Celie to conform herself to the patriarchal law of her father.

Celies first letter to God begins with: I am fourteen years old. I am I have always been a good girl. Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me (3). The cancellation of the words I am on the very first page is a testimony to the extent women have been conditioned to blame themselves for the atrocities committed on them. Her stepfather denies her the benefit of education, rapes her repeatedly and systematically shatters her selfconfidence. Yet she interprets herself from the viewpoint of male supremacy and is not able to overcome her feeling of guilt.

Celie has to undergo terrible sufferings under her stepfather. He takes away her two children and beats her repeatedly. In one of her letters, Celie reveals the pathetic condition of her body when she was pregnant. Im big. I cant move fast enough. By time I get back from the well, the water be warm. By time I git the tray ready the food be cold. By time I git all the children ready for school it be dinner time (4). This description shows the loneliness and cruelty she has to face in the male dominated society, which made her appreciate and prefer the company and culture of women to that of men: I dont even look at mens. Thats the truth. I look at women, tho, cause Im not scared of them (7).

But Celie cannot make a close relationship with her mother. Even while her children are taken away from her, she watches in mute helplessness instead of taking her mother into confidence; She ast me bout the first one Whose it is? I say Gods finally she ast Where it is? I say God took it (4). Celie is first pushed away from her mother because Pa physically holds her mother for his own use. She is further detached from her because she cannot reveal her trauma to her. Instead, she must resort to a male God who is essentially the symbol of patriarchy and a passive confidant. Celie writes to god to help her to survive the spiritual, emotional and the physical abuse she suffers at the hands of other men. But she is left unanswered. Therefore, Celie seeks refuge from the oppressors in the company of another woman: her sister Nettie.

Celie develops a close relationship with Nettie. She believes that Nettie is the only person who has ever loved her. When she sees that Pa casts his eyes upon Nettie, she says to Nettie, Ill take care of you. With God help (5). Although she could never fight like that to protect herself she vows to protect Nettie from Pa. She was even ready to sacrifice herself for her. however she becomes successful in protecting her sister.

Nettie is the only person in her home who encourages Celie to continue her education. Nettie tries hard to teach Celie about the discoverer of America, Columbus, and to tell her that the earth is not flat, but Celies response is look like he [Columbus] the first thing I forgot (11) and I never tell her how flat it look to me (12). Celie also remembers: Helping me with spelling and everything else she think I need to know. No matter what happen, Nettie steady try to teach me what go on in the world. And she a good teacher too (18). Nettie also advises her to

fight against the oppression, after her marriage:Dont let them run over you, Nettie say. You got to let them know who got the upper hand. They got it, I say. But she keep on. You got to fight (18). Celie finds comfort in her relationship with Nettie. Losing this comfort consequently causes Celie to lose the one part of her identity, which she herself has chosen.

Once his own lust is fulfilled, and because Celie wants to protect her younger sister, her stepfather marries her off to a degenerate excuse for a man. After her marriage, Celie is abused as a slave and a whore. Her husband who is presented as a nameless figure, as Mr__ in celies letters is a widower with four children. Celie is mistreated by her husband as well as by stepchildren. Yet initially she displays some dormant desire to be loved and cared for. But her hopes are not fulfilled. She is beaten, humiliated, cursed and belted, simply because she is a wife. Mr.__ beats Celie, cause she a wife, plus, she stubborn (23). Propagating a different code for judging womens actions and justifying masculine attitude, the patriarchal society marginalizes women and holds them responsible for all their sufferings. Through Celie, Walker has illustrated the predicament of a defenseless black girl.

Even though Nettie and Kate, Mr__s sister, advise her to fight back, she is unable to do so. Kate says, You got to fight them, Celie, she say. I cant do it for you. You got to fight them for yourself (22). But Celie tolerates her life with a stoic patience, as she feels that open revolt may prove futile: I think about Nettie, dead. She fight, she run away. what good it do? I dont fight, I stay where Im told. But Im alive (22). Her primary concern with life is remaining alive. She does not have any other purpose in her life and have almost lost the sense of her

individuality. Celies passivity in the male network of power relations, as Carolyn William calls it (275), is best reflected in this tostay alive philosophy of life. Celie tells how she confronts Mr.___s beating: I make myself wood. I say to myself, Celie, you a tree. Thats how come I know trees fear man (23).

Not only does Celie make herself as unresponsive as a tree, but she makes herself a shadow doing duties without feelings: Everybody say how good I is to Mr.__ children. I be good to them. But I dont feel nothing for them. Patting Harpo back not even like patting a dog. It more like patting another piece of wood. Not a living tree, but a table, a chifferobe. Anyhow, they dont love me neither, no matter how good I is (30). While superficially Celie remains alive, emotionally she is dead. According to Rashmi Gaur, Celie prefers to live in a cocoon, she has made by meekly surrendering to the male dictates (34).

At the time novel is set (early to mid 1900s), women were expected to do all the work around the house, and Celie initially lives up to that expectation. If she does not conform to the laws of patriarchal society, she will be considered as a bad girl. As Lois Tyson explains it, there are only two identities available to women in any patriarchal society: that of the good girl or that of the bad girl, the Madonna or the whore: if she accepts her traditional gender role and obeys patriarchal rules, shes a good girl: if she doesnt, she is a bad girl (Tyson 88). The power which the good girl / bad girl mentality, gives men over women, especially over weak and submissive women, is made evident by Celie. Celie is afraid to raise her voice against men and she remains submissive. Celie works hard never to stray from her role as a good girl. She spends

her life attempting to do what patriarchy considers good. She tries to prove her goodness by doing womens chores in the church and by establishing sisterhood with other women at church, which proves futile (42). Her concept about womanhood changes only when she meets powerful women in her life who are able to fight against the men and break all the laws imposed by patriarchy.

One such woman is Sofia who is Harpos wife and Celies step daughter-in-law. Celie sees for the first time a woman who stands up to her husband. She does not simply do what she is told without questioning and she fights when fighting is required. Linda S. Kauffman observes that the scene where Sophia confronts her marks the beginning of Celies transformation, for she must confront her own rage (198).

Celie is initially jealous of Sofia. She feels that Sofia has only pity for her tortured life. Meeting a woman so different from herself disturbs Celie: she says, I like Sofia, but she dont act like me at all. If she talking when Harpo and Mr.__ come in the room, she keep right on. If they ast her where something at, she say she dont know. Keep talking (35).

Harpo, who is initially attracted to Sofia by her zeal for independence, wants her to fit in the traditional mode of wifehood after their marriage: I want her to do what I say, like you do for Pa (60). When Harpo seeks Celies advice, she tells him to beat her if she does not obey him. Having been beaten herself for most of her life, she assumes that such treatment will make

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any women mind. At this stage, she is still under the impression that women should b e good girls and do what they are told. But Sofia is not ready to tolerate any kind of oppression. She steps out of her relationship with Harpo even though she loves him ardently; I loves Harpo, she say. God knows I do. But Ill kill him dead before I let him beat me (39).

When Sofia confronts Celie about advising Harpo to use violence against her, Celies point of view on the matter changes. Celie is forced to examine her inner thoughts. She is enabled to separate the appearance of words- to beat Sofia, from their real meaning to strike down a self that is scared to fight. Symbolically, Sofia initiates Celie into recognition of her inside and outside and Celie soon forges a bond of sisterhood with her.

Sofia is strong physically and psychologically and is a perpetual reminder to Celie of what she has always lacked in her life. Celie now realizes and appreciates that there are strong women in the world. She finds pleasure and satisfaction in Sofias active resistance. Sofias victories satisfy her suppressed desires to find love and equality within marriage and other relationships. Still she cannot imagine herself to be like Sofia. This is because even though Sofia can stand up to and in a way emasculate her husband, she does so in a masculine way by fighting. She fights physically and verbally, with Harpo and the mayors wife. Ferguson observes, Women who rebel against the female role are perceived as unnatural and pay the price of unhappiness, if not madness or death (229). This is true in the case of Sofia because Sofias physical resistance merely leads to her disfigurement and imprisonment. When Celie asks her how she manages to survive, Sofia replies: Every time they ast me to do something, Miss Celie ,

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I act like Im you. I jump right up and do just what they say ( ). In other words, Sofia ends up staying alive in Celies way. Paralleling Celies with Sofias development, Alice Walker seems to point out that going the masculine way, as how Sofia has behaved, would not work to resist sexual and racial discrimination.

Sofia acts as a catalyst in Celies understanding of her own plight. Her awareness of the self is further enhanced by her strange relationship with Shug Avery. Shugs presence in the story completely changes Celies life, although she is first presented as Mr.__s lover. According to Ram Badode, Celie Shug relationship is very crucial in the novel as it facilitates Celie to constitute her essential womanist consciousness and thereby survive through all odds (41).

Shug follows one of the few professions open to black women: blues singer. In her career as a blues singer, and her insistence on enjoying all the sexual freedom generally limited to men, she becomes the embodiment of feminist existential freedom. Her concern is presented not only as an antithesis of Celie but as a vehicle through which Celie becomes conscious of herself.

Shug is everything Celie always wanted to be confident, sexy, assured, glamorous, and Mr.__s lover. Celie first sees Shug in the picture dropped by Mr.__ and she was impressed by her: Shug Avery was a woman. The most beautiful woman I ever saw an all night long I stare at it. An now when I dream, I dream of Shug Avery. She be dress to kill, whirling an laughing

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(8). Celies admiration for Shug can be seen in the letter in which she writes she wants to go with Mr. __ to see Shugs performance: Lord, I want to go so bad. Not to dance. Not to drink. Not to play card. Not even to hear Shug Avery sing. I just be thankful to lay eyes on her (26). On her wedding night, Celie puts her arm around Mr.__, imagining that this is what Shug would like to do when Mr.__ is on top of her. On sensing that Mr.__ is taking Shug home, Celie becomes for the first time, fussy about like furry, and the first thing I try to do is change my dress (43). Celies nursing gradually wins her over from death and a bond is gradually forged between them. Celie says: I work on her like she a doll or like she Olivia or like she mamma. I comb and pat, comb and pat. First she say, hurry up git finish. Then she melt down a little and lean back against my knees. That feel just right, she say. That feel like mama used to do. Or maybe not mama. May be grandma (51). Shug causes psychological change in Celie by becoming the surrogate parent and child simultaneously. She is the mother who rejected and abandoned Celie, as well as the lost baby and the children taken away from her. In a moment of passionate commitment, Shug fulfills all the roles of those who have failed to love the innocent girl, child, and woman. Her love making is little like sleeping with mama.

Shug further boosts Celies self-respect by demanding that she accompanies her to Harpos night club. Mr.__s objections, My wife cant do that (69) are brushed aside. Shug also dedicates a song to Celie and she is overwhelmed, First time somebody made something and name it after me (70). Shug promises to stay with her until Mr.__ abandons the thought of

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beating her. Walker has hinted at the duality of standards practiced by men to exploit the women and suggests that it can be overcome by the united efforts of women themselves.

Shug calls Mr.__ by his name, Albert. Upon seeing the kind of power Shug has over Mr.__, which she maintains by using both her masculinity and feminity, Celie is allowed to witness the true power of one of her own sex. Shug and Sofia are portrayed as two strong women who can speak out their mind and are ready to fight for what they consider is right. Mr.__ says, Shug act more manly than most menYou know Shug will fight, he say. Just like Sofia. She bound to live her life and be herself no matter what ( ). To Mr.__, daring to be oneself is what makes Shug and Sofia masculine and what makes them not like women. Sofia and Shug not like men, he say, but they not like women either. You mean they not like you or me. They hold they own, he say. And its different ( ).

Celie is still a virgin (74) when she meets Shug. After she has developed a bond strong enough, Shug teaches Celie the finger and tongue work (74). Previously, Celie is distanced from her own body because of patriarchal intervention. With Shug, she confirms and feels the need of it. The relationship between Celie and Shug does have lesbian strains. According to Rashmi Gaur, In The Color Purple lesbianism is not a taboo. It is simply an expression of mutual want, which helps women to be comfortable with their body and feel loved. Walker has approached the subject of incest and black lesbianism as something natural and liberating (35).

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It definitely helps Celie to find out her own sexuality, which was denied to her in her relationships with men. Celie is enriched by this experience. It enables her to have better faith in herself as a person and admit her desires freely. In this way, female bonding promotes female sexuality, which in turn enhances female bonding of motherhood and sisterhood. Celie confesses: My life stop when I left home, I think. But then I think again. It stop with Mr.__ maybe, but start up again with Shug (77). If this is so, Celies relationship with Shug gives her vain to-stay-alive philosophy a substantial life.

As Celie comes to a better understanding of herself, she is able to step out of the selfconfinement and step further away from the patriarchal enclosure. As Ram Badode, a critic says, Celie is initiated into black womanhood through her relationship with Shug Avery.

Shugs influence on Celie can be seen in the spiritual level also. Shug challenges God as Celies confidant. Now Celie is able to tell her what she has told no one but God- Pas rape. Celie who used to hold back her tears by making herself a tree is now able to cry after telling the story. Shug appears as the first person that Celie confides in.

Shug introduces Celie to a pantheistic view on religion. Celies concept of God as an old white man with white robes has been demolished. Celie has lost her faith in God because of constant sufferings in her life. Celie degrades God to be a man who acts just like all the other mens I [celie] know. Trifling, forgitful and lowdown (173). It is Shug who helps her to

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reconstruct God; God is inside you and inside everybody else. You come into the world with God. But only them that search for it inside find it (176). I believe God is everything, say Shug (176). As Linda Kauffman remarks, Celie reconstructs divinity, under Shugs guidance, as the principle of creation and love in the universe (209).

Celie finds for the first time that there is something powerful within her, something which makes her strong. What Shug ultimately helps Celie to discover is herself and her confidence in her. As Stacie Lynn Hankinson states, It is only as Celie rids herself of her oppressive man- God figure and emerges into a distinctly non- Christian discovery of God that she finally attains liberation(324). Celies internal development begins when she turns away from structured religion and develops a personal pantheistic belief. Because of Celies realization that God is within her, her sense of fear and of being judged dissolves. Celie learns that she should focus on the creation, not the person of God (Hankinson 324). She abandons traditional god in favour of a more personalized faith. Her spiritual journey is complete when she addresses her letter as Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear everything. Dear God (259).

After Shug has changed Celies concept about god, Celie switches the addressee of her letters from God to Nettie. It is an important moment in Celies development. If the you in Celies first letter to God indicates her reliance on God, the you in her last letter to god indicates her defiance. Celies dependence on God brings about her story of a subservient

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woman. Her shift to Nettie for confidant indicates her rejection of patriarchy. She replaces patriarchy with sisterhood and it is the beginning of an independent womans history.

Netties letters to Celie has been intercepted by Mr.__. Mr.__ hides all her letters. It is Shug who helps Celie to discover all these letters. When Netties letters finally reach Celie, they expand Celies world from domestic and local to global. As Celie reads more letters, she becomes more confident in herself. She came to know about her lost children, Olivia and Adam, from these letters. Celie breaks through the multiple enclosures when she reads Netties letter, which discloses their true family history. She realizes that Pa is only their stepfather. Thus, she becomes free from her guilt of incest. From that point on, Celie speaks in her own voice without the agency of god. Even though Celie and Nettie are separated for close to half a century without knowing whether the other is still alive, they are always each others nearest companions at heart. They have a strong relationship throughout their life, which transforms each other.

Strengthened by the love and support from Shug and motivated by the exasperation she feels, when she learns that Mr.__ has been hiding Netties letters, Celie comes close to cutting his throat. She eventually leaves him after having put up with his abuse for many years. When Shug takes Celie to Memphis, away from Mr.__, Celie displays more courage than she has done before in the novel. When Mr.__ informs Celie that her leaving would only happen over his dead body, she has the strength to answer; and your dead body just the welcome mat I need (180).

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To convince Celie to stay, Mr.__ uses insult which have always worked in the past: Shug got talent. She can sing But what you got? You ugly, You skinny. You shape funny (186). Celie is able to assert her individuality Im pore, Im black, I may be ugly and cant cook, a voice say to everything listening. But Im here (187).Celie is hopeful and she has realized the worth of her existence. With the guidance and love of Shug, Celie has become strong enough to leave her abusive husband and to realize her own worth.

Being in Memphis, without a negative influence causes Celie to really start blossoming into a strong woman. In Shugs house in Memphis, Shug and Celie get closer to each other. When Celie expresses her wish to go with Shug to help her, Shug says, You not my maid. I didnt bring you to Memphis to be that. I brought you here to love you and help you get on your feet (191). It is actually what Shug does. She helps Celie to stand on her own feet. With the help of Shug, she transforms her interest in stitching into a business venture. Naming the business Folkspants, Unlimited Walker emphasizes that they are trousers that can be worn by anyone, regardless of sex. This in turn symbolizes Celies realization that women can do anything men can do, from wearing trousers to owning a house to running a business. Discovering her talent for sewing trousers gives her a new identity which she can take pride in.

Shugs role is one of effecting change in Celies character by bringing about a transformation. According to Ram Badode, Shugs love for Celie is deep- rooted and results in an ongoing physical relationship as well as a powerful emotional affiliation. As a result Shug inspires Celie to celebrate her existence (42). Shugs presence generates an erotic stirring and

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creates a spiritual bond between her and Celie. I wash her body, it feels like I am praying ( ), says Celie. Shug becomes a model for Celie and a mother she never had. She protects Celie from Albert, gives knowledge about her body, the essential spirituality of the world, retrieves back her lost sister, Nettie and Netties letters from the custody of Albert and also makes her financially independent. Thus, Shug becomes an empowering agent for Celie. She works as a transforming force in Celies life. According to Kai- Ling Liu, Shug acts as a medium between Celie and Celies self, between Celie and Albert, and between Celie and Nettie as a postal mechanism who resumes the circulation of letters (62).

At the end of the novel, all black women and men related to Celie are reunited as a family and men have learned to realize and respect the strength of women. Celie comes back from Memphis to her ancestral house, which she and Nettie got from their mother. Celie is united with Mr.__ who has become a changed person, with Nettie who was away for nearly 30 years and her two children, Adam and Olivia, whom she had lost several years before. Celie is full of love and happiness. She owns a house and is no longer a servant in it. She is now able to help other women. Instead of surrounded by people who keep her down, she is around people she loves and who loves her. Though she become older, she feels younger than ever. Celie is finally grown up. She is not just made to act grown up anymore. She has developed from a weak and submissive girl into a strong woman who controls her own life. Moreover, she is able to love. She loves Shug, she loves the world, she loves her sister and ultimately she loves herself.

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In short, Celies life is the story of an oppressed black womans path towards liberation through the help and support of other women. Almost all the women characters contribute to Celies growth. Shug helps her to save herself from the linguistic and sexual abuses she suffers at the hands of her stepfather and husband by providing her with the knowledge of body, sisterhood and artistic creations to struggle against all the forms of patriarchal and sexual oppression. Nettie helps her in breaking the linguistic silence through writing letters and thereby giving her the knowledge of the world and reality that she lives in. Mary Agnes helps her by giving the gift of creativity through designing and marketing pants, which could be used by men and women with equal grace and comfort. Sofia, a black woman warrior, provides Celie with a model of resistance and a new concept about womanhood.

As Celie, Shug and Sofia stitch quilt, cook and garden, they produce a communal art by which they can regain the collective human need for warmth, food, beauty and relationship, which were denied to her. In fact, Nettie, Sofia and Shug stand united against racist and sexist tyranny. Celie also helps other women in her own way. Celies tender care and love helps Shug to regain her health and saves her from death. She protects Nettie from the cruel intentions of their stepfather. Sofia also receives Celies help and care when she was in Harpos house. Celie is kind to every woman she meets in her life. She draws strength from sisterhood and later reciprocates it by helping other women. Thus, Celie succeeds in constituting her essential black womanist self by forming a community of women which facilitates one anothers growth in the course of the novel.

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We can find a parallel to Celies story in Tashi, an Olinka girl. Tashi breaks out the confinements of Olinka tribe, marries Adam, Celies son and comes to America. It is the sisterhood between Olivia and Tashi, which paves the way for Tashis transformation. For Olivia, Tashi is the only friend she has in Africa. To Olivia right now Tashi is Africa (141). They used to play after Olivia returned from school. Since Olinka do not believe in educating girls, Tashi cannot go to school. But Olivia teaches her secretly. When Tashi can get away from all the chores her mother assigns her, she and Olivia secret themselves in my [Netties] hut and everything Olivia has learned she shares with Tashi (141). As a result of Olivias influence, a lot of changes come over to Tashi. This upsets Tashis mother and father: They are upset because she spends so much time with Olivia. She is changing, becoming quiet and too thoughtful, they say. She is becoming someone else; her face is beginning to show the spirit of one of her aunts who was sold to the trader because she no longer fit into village life. This aunt refused to marry the man chosen for her. Refused to bow to the chief (145).

Olivias concern for Tashi is revealed when she meets her after facial scarification ceremony. Instead of the boisterous, giggling behavior Nettie expects from them, they hugged. But it was a quiet, heavy embrace (219).When Tashi reveals her doubts about Adam and says that she will be left alone in America without anybody if she marries him, Olivia immediately responds: youd have a sister (252). Finally, Tashi leaves Africa and comes to Celies house in Georgia with Adam, Olivia and their family. Tashi is transformed from a submissive Olinka girl to a powerful character with the assistance of Olivia.

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The relationship between Tashi and her mother, Catherine becomes stronger with the death of her father. Catherine becomes closer to Nettie and Samuels family. Catherine who was against Tashis education changes her opinion and encourages her to study. Nettie says, When I went to visit her she made it very clear that Tashi must continue to learn (150). Thus we can see that female bonding strengthens when centrality of male is destroyed, which in turn leads to womens empowerment. Nettie also plays her own role in Tashis development. She always encourages her to learn. She says, Tashi is very intelligent, she could be a teacher. A nurse. She could help the people in the village ( ). Thus, female bonding plays an important role in Tashis transformation.

There is another woman character in the novel called Mary Agnes, nicknamed as Squeak who gains strength through sisterhood. Squeak lives with Harpo and is moulded into the stereotyped role of a housewife. Deprived of her identity, even of her name, she works and suffers mutely till Shug and Celie discover her talent for singing. Her attempts to live a happy family life are not successful, but she ultimately understands the value of possessing selfhood. When Harpo is reluctant to let her go to Memphis with Shug, she assertively identifies her need and wants it to be fulfilled. Her comment that as Mary Agnes, she is free to sing in public is indicative of her faith in herself as an individual. She insists on being called by her real name.

There is sisterhood between Sofia and Squeak. Although Squeak and Sofia were rivals initially, she helps Sofia to be released from prison. They end up by taking care of each others

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children: Go on sing say Sofia, Ill look after this one till you come back (185).In this way , the proximity of powerful women brings changes in the character of squeak.

We can find a fine instance of sisterhood in the family of Sophia. Before her marriage, Sofia had to fight against her father and brothers. She say, all my life I had to fight A girl child aint safe in a family of men (39). Her mother is like Celie. She is under her daddys thumb. She had six boys and six girls. However, her daughters are different from her. They always stand together to fight against male domination. Sofia says, All the girls big and strong like me. Boys big and strong too, but all the girls stick together. Two brothers stick with us too, sometime. Us git in a fight, its a sight to see (40). This strength which Sofia gets from her sisters enables her to survive the cruel gender and racist oppression in her life. Even after her marriage, she continues to receive support from them. Her sister, Odessa and her husband look after Sofias children when she was in jail. Sofia is with them after her separation from Harpo. Thus, we can find the story of sisterhood behind Sofia.

Female bonding is also found among the Olinkas, even though their society is strictly patriarchal. Although one man has several wives, there does not seem to be any rivalry among them; the wives are in fact closer to one another than to their husband. The husband is put on a pedestal and is the ultimate authority of the family, which makes him disconnected from the closeness that his wives share. It is in work that the women get to know and care about each other (150). It was through work that Catherine, Tashis mother became friends with her husbands other wives. The Olinka society is hierarchical and phallocentric, since women exist

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only in relation to men. However, in the private sphere of womens everyday life, men play a small part. Many of the women rarely spend time with their husbands. Their life always center around work and their children and other women (151). Nettie writes in one of her letters, since the Olinka women are often promised to their husbands when they are born, it is not surprising that they feel closer to the other wives than to their husbands. Nettie writes: This friendship among women is something Samuel often talks about. Because the women share a husband but the husband does not share their friendships, it makes Samuel uneasy. It is confusing, I suppose. And it is Samuels duty as a Christian minister to preach the bibles directive of one husband and one wife. Samuel is confused because to him, since the women are friends and will do anything for one another- not always, but more often than anyone from America would expect- and since they giggle and gossip and nurse each others children, then they must be happy with things as they are (150,151).

The situation of the Olinka women resembles that of Celie, since she is given away at an early age to a much older man who is the undisputable authority of the family with power over his wifes life and sexuality. The Olinka men literally have power over their wives lives because, according to Olinka laws, they are free to kill a wife who is suspected of witchcraft or infidelity. Celie, like the Olinka wives, finds love and support among other women, who also eventually become her family. Nettie sees the resemblance between her and Celies relationship to Pa and the Olinka womens relationship to their husbands. The Olinka women are not

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courageous enough to look at mans face when they are speaking. Nettie says, Again, it is our own behavior around Pa (147).

The Olinka family structure encourages female friendship and bonding more than Christian nuclear family, since non-related females belong within the same judicial family. By helping and encouraging each other, the marginalized women in the book move away from andocentric worldview, thus beginning their resistance of patriarchal oppression. According to Eva Boesenberg, The women increasingly recognize each others centrality in their lives and modify their earlier exclusive focus on their male partners (228).

Nettie plays an important role in bringing up Olivia. After Corrine dies, it is Nettie who takes care of Adam and Olivia. She influences Olivias development by protecting her from the negative influences of the Olinkas. She helps Olivia to overcome her fear of getting married to the chief of Olinka. When Olivia says that she had nightmares about him, Nettie tries to get rid of that fear by infusing self-respect in her. She says, You will grow up to be a strong Christian woman, I tell her. Someone who helps her people to advance. You will be a teacher or nurse. You will travel. You will know many people greater than the chief (142). These words reflect Alice Walkers concept of a womanist, who encourages and provides for the upliftment of people.

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We can also find the other instances of female bonding in the novel. The white missionary, Doris Baines educates two young girls who were presented to her by the tribal chief. She helps them to come up in life by giving them good education and fine family. She is like a grandmother to their children. Samuel tells the story of two missionaries who overcome the great difficulties they had to face in their vocation by sticking together to each other. They also helped women in the society to come to the forefront by establishing a school. The girls were taught everything: reading, writing, sewing, cooking etc But more than that they were taught to serve God and the coloured people. In Samuels words, no sooner had a young woman got through Spelman Seminary than she began to put her hand to whatever work she could do for her people anywhere in the world (212).

In short, The Color Purple is the story of women who not only emerge as emancipated beings with help of sisterhood, but work for the upliftment of womanhood. The novel certainly seems to challenge patriarchal structures by connecting women to one another instead of to men. Women in The Color Purple are constantly marginalized by men. Yet with help of other women, they are able to overcome their initial trauma. Through different stages of Celies life, Walker has underlined the fact that, despite their odious circumstances the black women are able to raise their collective voice against patriarchal order and attain an autonomous state. This idea is supported by other women characters of the novel too. Tashi comes out from the tribal life, which gives women a secondary status. Shug and Sofia oppose all oppressive designs of gender and racial differences. Nettie conquers the adverse circumstances of her life through courageous actions and self-education. All these women gradually redefine themselves with their own efforts

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and with the help of other women. They emerge as liberated, confident, empowered, strong and independent women through sisterhood. .