Discuss how Walker presents sisterhood elsewhere in the novel. [40]
Womanism (Alice Walker):
- Black feminism
- Women supporting each other
- “Womanism to feminism is like purple to lavender”
The significance of religion/Pantheism (Alice Walker):
- Shug Avery guides Celie away from believing in a white, male God (Christianity).
- Awakening/revelation.
- Brings them closer together.
3 stages of Black women in history:
- 1) Suspended
- 2) Assimilated
- 3) Emergent
- Majority of the female characters are in the suspended stage except Shug Avery
- Female characters in the assimilated stage guide/help other suspended female
characters.
Other times women support/protect each other:
- Celie protecting Nettie
- Mary Agnes getting Sophia out of prison
- Looking after each other’s children
The significance of quilt making in the novel:
- Culturally significant
- Develops relationships
- Bringing women together e.g. Celie + Sophia (acts of forgiveness), Celie + Shug
Avery
- Symbolic
- Nettie + Corrine (sense of forgiveness and understanding). Nettie uses the quilt to
remind Corrine.
Womanism (Alice Walker):
- Black feminism
- Women supporting each other
- “Womanism to feminism is like purple to lavender”
The significance of religion/Pantheism (Alice Walker):
- Shug Avery guides Celie away from believing in a white, male God (Christianity).
- Awakening/revelation.
- Brings them closer together.
3 stages of Black women in history:
- 1) Suspended
- 2) Assimilated
- 3) Emergent
- Majority of the female characters are in the suspended stage except Shug Avery
- Female characters in the assimilated stage guide/help other suspended female
characters.
Other times women support/protect each other:
- Celie protecting Nettie
- Mary Agnes getting Sophia out of prison
- Looking after each other’s children
The significance of quilt making in the novel:
- Culturally significant
- Develops relationships
- Bringing women together e.g. Celie + Sophia (acts of forgiveness), Celie + Shug
Avery
- Symbolic
- Nettie + Corrine (sense of forgiveness and understanding). Nettie uses the quilt to
remind Corrine.
