论文部分内容阅读
Abstract： The Color Purple tells a story about African American’s growing up. Both women and men make great changes with time going on， which play important roles in improving their difficult situation. This paper will analyze the growing process of African American men， emphasizing the change of Mr._ to reveal that they should and they can build an equal and harmonious relationship with African American women in the process of pursuing quality and freedom.
Key Words： Growth；African American men； The Color Purple
Part 1 Introduction
Alice Walker is an outstanding African American woman writer who cares about the social rights and welfare of African Americans and particularly showed her concern for the situation of African American women. （Luo Hong， 2014：67）. However， she also paid attention to the growth of African American men in The Color Purple. According to Walker， there is a strong sense of reconciliation and reunion between African men and women （Luo Hong， 2014：68）.
In The Color Purple Celie is forced to marry Mr._. In the first few years， Mr._ treated Celie cruelly， just regarding her as a machine of sex and slave that he can control freely. However， under the help of Shug Avery， Celie rediscovered a sense of hope and self-worth. Finally， Mr._ recognized his own fault and reformed himself gradually.
Most researches about The Color Purple focus on womanism， the meaning of colors， and so on. Ma Yue analyzes four characteristics of womanism incarnated in The Color Purple（马玥，2009：80）， and Zhao Huimin also presents womanism that every woman character reflects in this novel（赵慧敏， 2009：105）. When it comes to the meaning of colors， Zhang Hua points out the symbolic meanings of purple， blue， red and black（张华， 2008：77）. Chen Mu also studies The Color Purple from the perspective of color symbolism（陈牧， 2011：174）. Research findings of this novel from the perspective of the growth of men are rarely seen. This paper will describe the change of African men， represented by Mr._. It will also explore the main causes that lead to the growth of men and the significance of this great change.
Part 2 The Change of Mr._ Reflected by The Color Purple
The Color Purple portrays a typical character of a growing African American man， Mr._. He changes himself from a man who treats African American women cruelly to a man who can understand and respect women.
2.1 The Rude Man， Mr._
In The Color Purple， Mr._ lives in a typical patriarchal family. His father dominates everything in the family， including Mr._’s marriage. As a victim of patriarchy， Mr._ can not marry his lovely girl， Shug Avery. It is a pity that Mr._ extends the traditional patriarchy， although this causes his marriage tragedy. When Mr._ marries Celie home， he just treats her mercilessly like a slave who must do everything for him. “Wash this. Iron that. Look for this. Look for that. Find this. Find that （Alice Walker， 1985：25）.” There is no love at all between Celie and Mr._. He also teaches his son， Harpo how to control women. Mr._ says： “Wives is like children. You have to let’ em know who got the upper hand. Nothing can do that better than a good sound beating （Alice Walker， 1985：37）.” What’s worse， Mr._ brings his sick lover， Shug Avery home brazenly and commands Celie to take care of her.
All of these indicate that Mr._ maltreats African American women all the time. It is not an exaggeration to say that Mr._ is a heartless man， as Celie says “Big a devil as he is （Alice Walker， 1985：229）.”
2.2 The Polite Men， Mr._
When Shug Avery helps Celie realize her value， Celie decides to go to Memphis to start a new life. She leaves Mr._ and opens up a factory to make pants. At the same time， Mr._ begins to reexamine himself and make great changes.
When Celie comes back from Memphis， she noticed Mr._’s change. “The first thing I notice bout Mr._ is how clean he is. His skin shine. His hair brush back.” “He work real hard too.” “Even cook， say Harpo. And what more， wash the dishes when he finish （Alice Walker， 1985：229）.”According to these， Mr._ is not the man who doesn’t do anything but only to maltreat Celie. On the contrary， Mr._ becomes a hard-working and kind person. He begins to help Celie do some sewing. “Here， help me stitch in these pockets. But I don’t know how， he say. I’ll show you， I said. And I did. Now us sit sewing and talking and smoking our pipes （Alice Walker， 1985：279）.” It shows that Mr._ changes his attitude towards African American women and treats them equally and friendly.
The change of Mr._ is a process of growing up. Mr._ achieves his personality shifts， from a rude man to a thoughtful man.
Part 3 The Main Causes leading to the growth of Mr._
The growth of Mr._ has a profound influence on African American’s social life. It is necessary to study the main causes that lead to the growth of African American men. The resistance of African American women and racial discrimination are two main causes that make Mr._ grow up gradually.
After a period of time， Celie struggles for freedom and equality gradually instead of bearing Mr._’s abuse silently. In order to start a meaningful life， Celie begins a career designing and selling unisex pants. At last， she wins freedom and respect， as well as achieves economic independence. This behavior makes Mr._ reflect on himself. He realizes that African American women are not the possession of men. Every woman needs freedom and equality. So Mr._ changes his attitude towards Celie. He wants to build a true friendship with Celie. Racial discrimination coming from white Americans also facilitates the growth of Mr._. Sofia is an African American woman who is brave enough to fight against racial discrimination and gender prejudice. However， in front of powerful white Americans， her struggle comes to a failure. When the major’s wife asks Sofia to work for her and be her maid， she refuses. Then the mayor slaps Sofia without any reason. Sofia knocks the man down instead of just bearing. As a result， the polices put Sofia in jail， letting her be there for twelve years. This bitter experience of Sofia makes Mr._ understand African American men should make great changes and go hand in hand with women to improve their social status together.
Part 4 The Significance of the growth of African American Men
The key to the growth of African American men is having a correct concept of African American women（杨敏，2009：88）. In The Color Purple， Mr._ has changed his opinion of Celie’s role in life since Celie went to Memphis. This great change of Mr._ is conductive to the improvement of social status of African American women and building harmonious relationship between men and women.
The growth of African American men means that they admit women’s equal standing and give women more free space. It will make African American women become more confident and lead a happy life. The growth of African American men also means they will stay at the same line with women to fight against racial discrimination to upgrade the social position of black people.
The story of Mr._ and Celie shows that the confrontation between African American men and women causes destruction to both sides. The basic reason of the confrontation is the lack of love and care between them. When the relationship between men and women is improved， the society will also be more and more stable. The new relationship also can help them make progress together. All of these can not be separated from the growth of African American men.
Part 5 Conclusion
Alice Walker doesn’t only care about the issue of African American women， but also touches the theme of the growth of African American men in The Color Purple. In this novel， the resistance of Celie and serious racial discrimination from white Americans force Mr._ to take a new look at his life. At last， he becomes friendly and kind to Celie and they become good friends. This change of Mr._ contributes to the improvement of social status of African American women. It is also helpful to build harmonious relationship between men and women.
References：
1.Alice Walker. The Color Purple. New York： Pocket Books， 1985.
2.Luo Hong. Understanding African American Literature. Chongqing： Chongqing University Press， 2014.
3.马玥. The Womanism Incarnated in The Color Purple. 资治文摘： 2009（4）.
4.赵慧敏. 浅析《紫色》中的妇女主义.科教导刊： 2009（20）.
5.张华. 《紫色》中颜色的象征意义. 世纪桥： 2008（10）.
6.陈牧. 《紫颜色》中的紫色与象征. 时代文学：2011（23）.
7.杨敏. 《紫色》所构建的新型黑人两性关系. 科技信息：2009（20）.
Key Words： Growth；African American men； The Color Purple
Part 1 Introduction
Alice Walker is an outstanding African American woman writer who cares about the social rights and welfare of African Americans and particularly showed her concern for the situation of African American women. （Luo Hong， 2014：67）. However， she also paid attention to the growth of African American men in The Color Purple. According to Walker， there is a strong sense of reconciliation and reunion between African men and women （Luo Hong， 2014：68）.
In The Color Purple Celie is forced to marry Mr._. In the first few years， Mr._ treated Celie cruelly， just regarding her as a machine of sex and slave that he can control freely. However， under the help of Shug Avery， Celie rediscovered a sense of hope and self-worth. Finally， Mr._ recognized his own fault and reformed himself gradually.
Most researches about The Color Purple focus on womanism， the meaning of colors， and so on. Ma Yue analyzes four characteristics of womanism incarnated in The Color Purple（马玥，2009：80）， and Zhao Huimin also presents womanism that every woman character reflects in this novel（赵慧敏， 2009：105）. When it comes to the meaning of colors， Zhang Hua points out the symbolic meanings of purple， blue， red and black（张华， 2008：77）. Chen Mu also studies The Color Purple from the perspective of color symbolism（陈牧， 2011：174）. Research findings of this novel from the perspective of the growth of men are rarely seen. This paper will describe the change of African men， represented by Mr._. It will also explore the main causes that lead to the growth of men and the significance of this great change.
Part 2 The Change of Mr._ Reflected by The Color Purple
The Color Purple portrays a typical character of a growing African American man， Mr._. He changes himself from a man who treats African American women cruelly to a man who can understand and respect women.
2.1 The Rude Man， Mr._
In The Color Purple， Mr._ lives in a typical patriarchal family. His father dominates everything in the family， including Mr._’s marriage. As a victim of patriarchy， Mr._ can not marry his lovely girl， Shug Avery. It is a pity that Mr._ extends the traditional patriarchy， although this causes his marriage tragedy. When Mr._ marries Celie home， he just treats her mercilessly like a slave who must do everything for him. “Wash this. Iron that. Look for this. Look for that. Find this. Find that （Alice Walker， 1985：25）.” There is no love at all between Celie and Mr._. He also teaches his son， Harpo how to control women. Mr._ says： “Wives is like children. You have to let’ em know who got the upper hand. Nothing can do that better than a good sound beating （Alice Walker， 1985：37）.” What’s worse， Mr._ brings his sick lover， Shug Avery home brazenly and commands Celie to take care of her.
All of these indicate that Mr._ maltreats African American women all the time. It is not an exaggeration to say that Mr._ is a heartless man， as Celie says “Big a devil as he is （Alice Walker， 1985：229）.”
2.2 The Polite Men， Mr._
When Shug Avery helps Celie realize her value， Celie decides to go to Memphis to start a new life. She leaves Mr._ and opens up a factory to make pants. At the same time， Mr._ begins to reexamine himself and make great changes.
When Celie comes back from Memphis， she noticed Mr._’s change. “The first thing I notice bout Mr._ is how clean he is. His skin shine. His hair brush back.” “He work real hard too.” “Even cook， say Harpo. And what more， wash the dishes when he finish （Alice Walker， 1985：229）.”According to these， Mr._ is not the man who doesn’t do anything but only to maltreat Celie. On the contrary， Mr._ becomes a hard-working and kind person. He begins to help Celie do some sewing. “Here， help me stitch in these pockets. But I don’t know how， he say. I’ll show you， I said. And I did. Now us sit sewing and talking and smoking our pipes （Alice Walker， 1985：279）.” It shows that Mr._ changes his attitude towards African American women and treats them equally and friendly.
The change of Mr._ is a process of growing up. Mr._ achieves his personality shifts， from a rude man to a thoughtful man.
Part 3 The Main Causes leading to the growth of Mr._
The growth of Mr._ has a profound influence on African American’s social life. It is necessary to study the main causes that lead to the growth of African American men. The resistance of African American women and racial discrimination are two main causes that make Mr._ grow up gradually.
After a period of time， Celie struggles for freedom and equality gradually instead of bearing Mr._’s abuse silently. In order to start a meaningful life， Celie begins a career designing and selling unisex pants. At last， she wins freedom and respect， as well as achieves economic independence. This behavior makes Mr._ reflect on himself. He realizes that African American women are not the possession of men. Every woman needs freedom and equality. So Mr._ changes his attitude towards Celie. He wants to build a true friendship with Celie. Racial discrimination coming from white Americans also facilitates the growth of Mr._. Sofia is an African American woman who is brave enough to fight against racial discrimination and gender prejudice. However， in front of powerful white Americans， her struggle comes to a failure. When the major’s wife asks Sofia to work for her and be her maid， she refuses. Then the mayor slaps Sofia without any reason. Sofia knocks the man down instead of just bearing. As a result， the polices put Sofia in jail， letting her be there for twelve years. This bitter experience of Sofia makes Mr._ understand African American men should make great changes and go hand in hand with women to improve their social status together.
Part 4 The Significance of the growth of African American Men
The key to the growth of African American men is having a correct concept of African American women（杨敏，2009：88）. In The Color Purple， Mr._ has changed his opinion of Celie’s role in life since Celie went to Memphis. This great change of Mr._ is conductive to the improvement of social status of African American women and building harmonious relationship between men and women.
The growth of African American men means that they admit women’s equal standing and give women more free space. It will make African American women become more confident and lead a happy life. The growth of African American men also means they will stay at the same line with women to fight against racial discrimination to upgrade the social position of black people.
The story of Mr._ and Celie shows that the confrontation between African American men and women causes destruction to both sides. The basic reason of the confrontation is the lack of love and care between them. When the relationship between men and women is improved， the society will also be more and more stable. The new relationship also can help them make progress together. All of these can not be separated from the growth of African American men.
Part 5 Conclusion
Alice Walker doesn’t only care about the issue of African American women， but also touches the theme of the growth of African American men in The Color Purple. In this novel， the resistance of Celie and serious racial discrimination from white Americans force Mr._ to take a new look at his life. At last， he becomes friendly and kind to Celie and they become good friends. This change of Mr._ contributes to the improvement of social status of African American women. It is also helpful to build harmonious relationship between men and women.
References：
1.Alice Walker. The Color Purple. New York： Pocket Books， 1985.
2.Luo Hong. Understanding African American Literature. Chongqing： Chongqing University Press， 2014.
3.马玥. The Womanism Incarnated in The Color Purple. 资治文摘： 2009（4）.
4.赵慧敏. 浅析《紫色》中的妇女主义.科教导刊： 2009（20）.
5.张华. 《紫色》中颜色的象征意义. 世纪桥： 2008（10）.
6.陈牧. 《紫颜色》中的紫色与象征. 时代文学：2011（23）.
7.杨敏. 《紫色》所构建的新型黑人两性关系. 科技信息：2009（20）.