AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN’S STRUGGLE TO GAIN

INDEPENDENCE REFLECTED IN CELIE, THE MAIN

CHARACTER IN ALICE WALKER’S
THE COLOR PURPLE

THESIS

BY
NUR LAILATIN AZIZAH
NIM. 0410330036

UNIVERSITY OF BRAWIJAYA
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE PROGRAM
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
MARCH 2009
AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN’S STRUGGLE TO GAIN
INDEPENDENCE REFLECTED IN CELIE, THE MAIN
CHARACTER IN ALICE WALKER’S
THE COLOR PURPLE

THESIS

Presented to
University of Brawijaya
in partial fulfillment of one of the requirements
for the degree of Sarjana Sastra

BY
NUR LAILATIN AZIZAH
NIM. 0410330036

UNIVERSITY OF BRAWIJAYA
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE PROGRAM
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
MARCH 2009
This is to certify that the Sarjana thesis of Nur Lailatin Azizah has been
approved by the advisors

Malang, 11 Februari 2009

Advisor I

Dr. Indah Winarni, M.A.

NIP. 130 890 045

Malang, 11 Februari 2009

Advisor II

Juliati, MHum
NIP. 132 318 427
This is to certify that the Sarjana thesis of Nur Lailatin Azizah has been approved
by the board of Examiners as one of the requirements for the degree of Sarjana
Sastra

(Dr. Indah Winarni, M.A.), Chairperson

NIP. 130 890 045

(Juliati, MHum), Member

NIP. 132 318 427

(Dyah Eko Hapsari, MHum), member

NIP. 132 316 305

Acknowledged by, Sighted by,

Head of English Department Head of Language and Literature

Fatimah, M.Appl.Ling Dra. Francien H. Tomasowa, Ph.D.

NIP. 132 300 037 NIP. 130 802 240
 ABSTRACT

Azizah, Nur Lailatin. (2009). African American Woman’s Struggle to Gain Independence
Reflected in Celie, the Main Character of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. Thesis,
English Department University of Brawijaya. Advisors: (I) Dr. Indah Winarni,
M.A, (II) Juliati, M. Hum.

Keywords: Feminism, African American, Patriarchy, Struggle, Independence

African Americans have been through difficult lives since they arrived in America as
slaves. Afro-American women as a part of Afro-American society are not free from the miseries
such as being treated as animals, losing their human rights, and subjecting to violence. Even,
they have to face double sufferings as Blacks and as women. As women, they had to face
discrimination from the White and domestic oppression from the Afro-American men. In literary
works, those miseries have been depicted in many ways by many authors. On this subject, Alice
Walker’s The Color Purple is about an oppressed and ignored woman who struggles for her
independence and finally she succeeds. Therefore, I am fully interested in analyzing that novel
concerning with how Celie as a main character reflects the condition of Afro-American women
in American society and how Celie’s struggle to gain her consciousness that brings her into
independence.
This study is a qualitative research. Since the data is in the form of words, this study
employs document analysis. The primary data of this study is Alice Walker’s The Color Purple.
The credibility of this study is measured by using evidence based on consensus and evidence
based on theoretical adequacy methods. Meanwhile, the dependability is measured by employing
audit trail and code-recode strategy.
The analysis finds that the novel shows miseries faced by Celie as the main-character
who face double sufferings; as a Black and as a woman. As a Black, she has to face the
discrimination from white in which her family is one of the victims of Lynching while as a
woman; she is oppressed and ignored by black men, especially her Pa and her husband. Yet, by
having good relationship among women namely Nettie, Sofia, and Shug Avery, she could gain
her consciousness that brings her into independent. She does not need to be dependent to men
again.
In conclusion, living in patriarchal society, Celie must endure oppression and ignorance
from the male characters. She must be obedient to her Pa and her husband. In addition, she is
also discriminated by Whites because of being black woman. Her success of being independent
is influenced by her good relationship among women in her society.
 ABSTRAKSI

Azizah, Nur Lailatin. (2009). African American Woman’s Struggle to Gain

Independence Reflected in Celie, the Main Character of Alice Walker’s The
Color Purple. Skripsi, Jurusan Bahasa dan Sastra Universitas Brawijaya.
Pembimbing: (I) Dr. Indah Winarni, M.A, (II) Juliati, M. Hum.

Kata Kunci: Feminisme, Afro Amerika, Patriarki, Perjuangan, Kemandirian

Masyarakat Afro Amerika telah mengalami kehidupan yang sangat sulit sejak
kedatangannya di Amerika sebagai budak. Para wanita Afro-Amerika yang
merupakan bagiannya juga sarat atas penderitaan. Misalnya diperlakukan tidak layak,
kehilangan hak sebagai manusia, dan dijadikan sebagai obyek penderitaan. Bahkan,
status ganda harus mereka sandang yakni sebagai orang kulit hitam dan sebagai
wanita. Sebagai wanita, mereka mengalami diskriminasi dari orang kulit putih dan
mendapat tindasan dari masyarakat patriarki. Tema tersebut telah banyak
digambarkan dalam karya sastra. Salah satunya, novel The Color Purple karya Alice
Walker tentang wanita tertindas dan terabaikan yang berjuang untuk mendapatkan
kemandirian atas dirinya. Penulis tertarik untuk menganalisa bagaimana Celie sebagai
karakter utama dalam novel tersebut menggambarkan kondisi wanita Afro-Amerika
di masyarakat Amerika dan bagaimana perjuangan Celie memperoleh kesadarannya
yang membawanya pada sebuah kemandirian.
Kajian ini merupakan kajian kualitatif dan menerapkan analisis dokumen.
Data utama kajian ini adalah novel Alice Walker yang berjudul The Color Purple.
Kredibilitas kajian ini diukur dengan menggunakan bukti berdasarkan konsensus dan
bukti berdasarkan kesesuaian teori. Sedangkan dependabilitas kajian ini diukur
dengan menerapkan strategi audit trail dan code-recode.
Dari hasil analisa, ditemukan bahwa novel Alice Walker menunjukkan adanya
penderitaan ganda yang dialami Celie sebagai karakter utama yaitu sebagai orang
kulit hitam dan sebagai seorang wanita. Sebagai orang kulit hitam, dia harus
mengalami diskriminasi dari orang kulit putih yang mana digambarkan melalui
keluarganya sebagai salah satu korban Lynching, sementara sebagai wanita, dia
ditindas dan diabaikan oleh karakter laki-laki yaitu ayah dan suaminya. Akan tetapi
pada akhirnya dia berhasil menjadi wanita yang mandiri karena hubungan baiknya
dengan beberapa karakter wanita dalam novel tersebut; Nettie, Sofia, dan Shug Avery.
Pada kesimpulannya, walaupun pada awalnya Celie mengalami kehidupan
yang penuh derita; yakni perlakuan dari orang kulit putih dan sistem patriarki di
masyarakat orang kulit hitam. Pada akhirnya dia sukses menjadi wanita mandiri
karena hubungan baiknya dengan wanita-wanita disekelilingnya
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I gratefully thank the Lord of the world Allah SWT for His everlasting love and

guidance. My next great gratitude goes to Dr. Indah Winarni, M.A. for her support and

encouragement during about two semesters of works in accomplishing this thesis. Her

uncompromising quest for excellence has significantly shaped me in the process. Also, I would

like to express my sincere appreciation to Juliati, MHum whose prudence and encouragement

have inspired me to work much harder in the last few months in finishing this thesis.

The followings are other people to whom I wish to express my gratitude and

appreciation:

1. Dra. Francien H. Tomasowa, Ph.D. as the Head of the English Department of Brawijaya

University

2. M. Andy Nurmansyah, MHum, Dra. Roembilin, M.A., M. Nasrul Chotib, MHum, Yusri

Fajar, SS, Nanang Endrayanto, MSc., and Dyah Eko Hapsari, MHum, for the precious

discussion and lectures.

3. All staffs of the Language and Literature Program for the assistance during the years of

my study

4. My indebted special gratitude to my family for their continuous and unconditional

support of all my undertakings.

5. All my friends in English Department, class 2004, especially my best friends; Nofie,

Nuning, and my beloved Arman for giving me millions encouragements to finish this

thesis.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all of those who are not

mentioned but has given contribution during this thesis writing process.

Malang, February 2009

Nur Lailatin Azizah

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE .............................................................................................. i

SUPERVISORS APPROVAL .................................................................... ii
BOARDS OF EXAMINERS CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL ............ iii
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................. iv
ABSTRAKSI ................................................................................................ v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................ vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………… viii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study ................................................. 1
1.2 Problem of the Study ....................................................... 4
1.3 Purpose of the Study ........................................................ 4

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 Feminism.......................................................................... 6
2.2 Afro-American Women’s Life......................................... 10
2.3 The Background of the Novel .......................................... 11
2.3.1 The Historical Background of The Color Purple ... 12
2.3.2 Author’s Literary Career ......................................... 13

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODS

3.1 Type of Research ............................................................. 17
3.2 Data Sources ................................................................... 18
3.3 Data Collection ............................................................... 18
3.4 Credibility and Dependability ......................................... 19
3.4.1 Credibility ............................................................... 19
3.4.1.1 Evidence Based on Consensus .................... 19
3.4.1.2 Evidence Based on Theoretical Adequacy . 20
3.4.2 Dependability .......................................................... 20
3.5 Data Analysis and Interpretation .................................... 21

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
4.1 The Condition of Afro-American Women Reflected
in Walker’s The Color Purple......................................... 23
4.1.1 Celie’s Life in Patriarchal Family ........................... 23
 4.1.2 Whites Domination Against African
American Women ................................................... 30
4.2 Celie’s struggle to Gain Independence ........................... 33
4.2.1 The Influence from Other African-American Women 33
4.2.1.1 The Importance of Education as
Inspired by Nettie........................................ 33
4.2.1.2 The Importance of
Physical Strength as Inspired by Sofia........ 35
4.2.1.3 The Importance of Financial Independence
as Inspired by Shug Avery .......................... 37
4.2.2 Celie’s Finding of Identity ...................................... 39
4.2.3 Celie’s Gaining of Independence ............................ 46

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION
4.1 Conclusion ....................................................................... 50

REFERENCES............................................................................................. 52
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

African Americans have been through a difficult life since they arrived in

America as slaves. Slavery and discrimination, for instance, have brought severe

miseries to Afro Americans such as being treated as animals, losing their human

rights, and subjecting to violence. African-American women as part of African-

American society were not free from the miseries. Even, they had to face double

sufferings as blacks and as women. As women, they had to face discrimination from

the whites and domestic oppression from the African-American men’s patriarchal

mind.

African Americans as a part of Southern society in the nineteenth and early-

twentieth century faced binary oppositions between wealthy and poor, male and

female, superior and subordinate, etc. These binary oppositions carried

simultaneously power and powerlessness of each. In African-American society itself,

for example, the most obvious example of that binary opposition is the relationship

between men and women. Men take the role in every single field. They are

considered to be the head of the family who do the majority of the farm work and

take care of the family finances, while women are expected to concern for the

1
 2

children, organize family meals, wash clothes, clean house, chop wood, and carry

water. As stated by Abott cited by Widyastuti (2005: par. 7):

Women were often said to be biologically inferior, weaker, less

intelligent, as well as fearful and frivolous. They supposedly were not
smart enough to handle money and they were too emotional to hold
positions requiring decision-making powers.

It means that women are only the subordination to men. They had no authority

to decide anything not even for themselves. They always had to be submissive to men

as men had the control and power. Men were considered to have the dominant

position while women’s position was under the domination of men or the subordinate

of men. ”It is usually called by patriarchy; men are the dominant one. The term

‘patriarchy’ is often used to mean ‘male domination’.” (Tuttle, 1987: 242 cited by

Widyastuti, 2005: par. 6).

African-American women faced the heavy life although they are in their own

home. Even, they often bore children every year, leaving them weaker and more

vulnerable to illness. In another hand, men take the superiority among their women.

They often abused their women by giving them the responsibility for assisting the

household running such as cooking, washing, etc. As described in “History of Afro

America”:

Southern society in the nineteenth and early-twentieth century was

divided in many ways: wealthy and poor, black and white, male and
female. This created incredible tension at every level of society. The
South’s population was primarily rural. Extended families had to stay
together since a lot of work was required to keep any household
 3

running. The family structure was patriarchal; it means that men were
considered to be the heads of the household. Men did the majority of
the farm work, took care of family finances, the building of the family
home, and defending the family property, if necessary. The women
were expected to care for the children, prepare family meals, wash
clothes, clean house, chop wood, and carry water. Women often bore
children every year, leaving them weaker and more vulnerable to
illness. Women often died in childbirth; a man would frequently marry
twice or three times, because a woman was needed to care for his
children. Large families were valued because the mortality rate was
high. Many children did not survive to adulthood, so couples had as
many children as they were able to. If family members survived to old
age, they were kept as part of the extended family, helping to care for
young children and assisting with running the household (n.d.: par. 3).

In addition, African-American family faces additional pressures. During

slavery, they are separated from their own family. After slavery was abolished, freed

slaves reunited their families. In this phase, men have to reassert their expected place

as a head of the family, while women are forced to concern the family matters. As

stated in “History of Afro-America”:

African-American families in the South had additional pressures.

During slavery, families were often not allowed to be together; slave
owners separated husbands from wives, and parents from children.
Slaves in a household would form their own family units; often these
units were headed by the women of the group. After slavery was
abolished, freed slaves reunited their families. The strain of living
under slavery took its payment on both men and women: men had to
reassert their expected place as head of the family, while women were
forced to give up their say in family matters. This was not true of all
families, but it was a common situation among those trying to adjust
to a new way of living (n.d.: par. 4).

The miserable condition of Afro-American women have been depicted by

Afro-American women writers such as Tony Morison’s Beloved, Harriet Jacob’s

 4

narrative (2001) Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Zora Neale Hurston’s The Eyes

Watching God (1937), Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and many others. Those

literary works mostly depict sufferings faced by Afro-American women in American

society. Therefore, in this study I choose Alice Walker’s The Color Purple to portray

the condition of Afro-American women in American society. The novel has obtained

many comments concerning with its interwoven theme; feminism, religion, racial

issues, and also the African experiences.

This research focuses on the main woman character, Celie, in particular her

struggles to free her self from the oppressions done by men characters especially her

Pa and her husband. Her sufferings and her struggles to be free from it are interesting

to be analyzed because they reflect the condition of African Americans in the United

States. As I deal with woman’s struggle against oppressors, feminist approach is the

appropriate tool to analyze this novel.

1. 2 Problem of the Study

This research focuses the discussion by answering, how does Celie as a

reflection of African-American women struggle to gain independence?

1.3 Objectives of the Study

To get clear vision of the research, the objective is to describe the struggle of

Celie as a reflection of African-American women to gain independence.

 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This research discusses African-American woman’s struggle to gain

independence reflected in Celie, the main character of Alice Walker’s The Color

Purple. Another research tells about woman’s struggle against male domination is

conducted by Siswanti (2004) entitled Lucy’s Failure to Free Herself from Male

Domination in Jamaica Entitled ‘Lucy.’ It is about woman’s struggle to free herself

from male domination but unfortunately, she fails in her struggle. The failure of her

struggle is caused by three reasons. First, she is identical with her mother whom gives

unfair treatment between her and her male brother. Her mother wants to save her as a

good, obedient, and dependent woman. Second, she admits that she has lower position

than men. The last, actually she is a dependent person. This research, however, tells

about a woman’s struggle to gain independence and fortunately she succeeds in her

struggle. Before discussing the subject, this chapter presents feminism, some

supporting information about the condition of African-American women life, and

review of related literature.

5
 6

2.1 Feminism

In this thesis, I analyze the novel using feminist approach –using feminists’

point of view since it deals with the struggle of woman to gain her consciousness that

brings her into independence that is represented by the main woman character, Celie,

in the novel The Color Purple. Feminist point of view helps to describe the women’s

struggle in their society towards the structure that binds them, not only in terms of

unequal treatment that they gain but also social construction or stereotype of women;

how they can combat it, and defend themselves from a very depressing and unhappy

life.

In addition, Feminism can be considered as a social theory and political

movement, which is motivated by the experiences of women that they are

subordinated to men in many aspects of life as stated in (“Feminism”, n.d.: par. 2)

“Feminism is a social theory and political movement. It is critical of past and current

social relations and primarily motivated and informed by the experience of women.

Most generally, it involves a critique gender inequality….” Women’s rights and

interests have been abandoned for along time that this movement demands gender

equality between male and female where both sexes share equal opportunities and

rights in life as human beings, like what Humm says: “… bahwa tidak ada individu

yang tidak sama dari yang lain dalam kesempatan atau dalam hak-hak manusia (that

there is no individual who is not equal to others in terms of opportunities or human

 7

rights)” (Humm, 2002, p. 132).

In line with the definition above, Aristotle defines females are lack of qualities

because they are being female. They are not comparable with men who have good

qualities because females are only imperfect man. He declared that “‘female is female

by virtue of a certain lack of qualities’, and St Thomas Aquinas believed that woman

is an ‘imperfect man’.” (Selden, et. al, 1997: p. 121). Moreover, he states as following:

Throughout its long history, feminism (for while the word may only
have come into English usage in the 1890s, women’s conscious
struggle to resist patriarchy goes much further back) has sought to
disturb the complacent certainties of such a patriarchal structure, to
assert a belief in sexual equality, and to eradicate sexist domination in
transforming society (Selden, et. al, 1997: p. 121).

Along with its history, feminism is divided into three categories, first wave

feminism, second wave feminism, and third wave feminism. As stated in

(“Feminism”, n.d.: par. 5), “first wave feminism refers to a period of feminist activity

during nineteenth century and early twentieth century in the United States and United

Kingdom.” At first it is focused on the support of equal contract and property rights

for women and the opposition to chattel marriage and ownership of married women

(and their children) by their husbands. On the other hand, by the end of the nineteenth

century, the focus changed,

…However, by the end of the nineteenth century, activism focused

primarily on gaining political power, particularly the right of women’s
suffrage. Yet, feminists such as Voltairine de Cleyre and Margaret
Sanger were still active in campaigning for women’s sexual,
reproductive, and economic rights at this time…. (“Feminism”, n.d.:
 8

par. 5)

The next, “second wave feminism refers to a period of feminist activity

beginning in the early 1960s and lasting through the late 1980s.” (“Feminism”, n.d.:

par. 6). The scholar Imelda Whelehen suggests that the second wave was a

continuation of the earlier period of feminism involving the suffragettes in the UK and

USA:

Second wave feminism has continued to exist since that time and
coexist with what is termed third wave feminism. Third wave
feminism began in the early 1990s, arising as a response to perceived
failures of the second wave and also as a response to the backlash
against initiatives and movements created by the second wave.
(“Feminism”, n.d.: par. 7)

The last, Third wave feminism “seeks to challenge or avoid what it deems the

second wave’s essentials definitions of femininity, which (according to them) over

emphasize the experience of upper middle class white women” (“Feminism”, n.d.:

par. 11)

There are many branches of feminism one of them is Black Feminism. Black

feminism “argues that sexism, class oppression, and racism are inextricably bound

together. Feminism struggles to overcome sexism and class oppression but ignore race

can discriminate against many people, including women, through racial bias,” (“Black

Feminism”, n.d.: par. 1). According to Davis (1981), Smith (1983), Lorde (1984), and

Crenshaw (1991) cited by Collins (2000),

“…within U.S. Black feminism, race, class, gender, and sexuality

 9

constitute mutually constructing systems of oppression. Intersectional

paradigms make two important contributions to understand the
connections between knowledge and empowerment. For one, they
stimulate new interpretations of African-American women’s
experiences. Much of the work on U.S. Black women was full of
sorrows and pains. They have to hold the responsibilities of the
household running in terms of domestic function. In addition they also
are paid unequal salary with men in the same work. For example,
African-American women’s confinement to domestic work revealed
how race and gender influenced Black women’s social class
experiences. Similarly, the sexual politics of Black womanhood that
shaped Black women’s experiences with pornography, prostitution, and
rape relied upon racist, sexist, and heterosexist ideologies to construct
Black women’s sexualities as deviant. Not only do intersectional
paradigms prove useful in explaining U.S. Black women’s experiences,
such as paradigm suggests that intersecting oppressions also shape the
experiences of other groups as well…,” (p. 227).

In addition, Davis (1989) cited by Collins (2000), states as following:

Black women scholars and professionals cannot afford to ignore the

straits of our sisters who are acquainted with the immediacy of
oppression in a way many of us are not. The process of empowerment
can not be simplistically defined in accordance with our own
particular class interests. We must learn to lift as we climb (p. 9).

2.2 African-American Women’s Life

The importance of understanding the historical and social context of women’s

position in African-American society is helping us in understanding the position of

African-American women along with the growth of cultural and social condition since

it is basically needed for correlating Celie as the main character who is a reflection of

African-American women in American society at large. Moreover, in the black family

 10

life, woman is more subordinated than man. “It is called as patriarchy structure. It

describes the structuring of society on the basis of family units, in which fathers have

primary official responsibility and ruler ship for the welfare of these units. In some

cultures slaves were included as part of such households.” (“History of Black Family”,

n.d.: par. 7). The concept of Patriarchy as stated in (“Patriarchy”, n.d.: par. 1), “that is

often used, by extension, to refer to the expectation that men take primary

responsibility for the welfare of the community as a whole, acting as representative via

public office.”

Women of Afro American in American society were miserable. They have to

climb over many obstacles; being a Black and being a woman. As stated by Lerner

(1972) cited by Collins (2000, p. 54):

…we poor colored women wage-earners in the South are fighting a

terrible battle…. On one hand, we are assailed by White men, and on
the other hand, we are assailed by Black men, who should be our
natural protectors; and, whether in the cook kitchen, at the washtub,
over the sewing machine, behind the baby carriage, or at the ironing
board, we are little more than pack horses, beasts of burden, slaves!

As women, they are discriminated by Whites in their works while in the house they

are assailed by Black men who should be their own natural protectors. African-

American men have oppressed their women as animals. They are subjecting to

violence such as physical abuse, oppressions, etc. even they have to responsible about

the household running. Staples stated (1986) as following:

…in the case of women, those roles have been defined traditionally
 11

as the carrying out of domestic functions as cooking, and cleaning;

giving birth to children and socializing them; providing sexual
gratification, companionship, and emotional support to their
husbands. There is abundant evidence that Black women are willing
and able to fulfill those roles…. (p. 22)

2.3 The Background of the Novel

There are two aspects that build a novel. They are the aspect of the novel

itself; intrinsic and extrinsic elements, and the author’s creative processes. According

to Yunus (1998):

Novel is controlled by two systems. It is the system of the novel itself,

the structure of the build of the novel that carries the idea of
wholeness and any aspect that are typed up structurally to form a
structural network. And the other one is the system of the author’s
creative process, which is influenced by the environment in which the
author lives. Logically, any novel is influenced by a certain socio
cultural system of where and when the novel is written. These things
influence the content and the built of the story. Consequently, a novel
is a world, which is not separable from its external causes entirely
(par. 1).

Therefore, studying the background of the novel is still very helpful to

understand the novel as a whole. Such a study gets a greater importance when the

novel is also studied to yield psychological values, because the author also uses

psychological interplay within and among the characters in building the development

of the novel. In addition, these psychological values can be understood better if the

condition in which the novel was written is known better.

Under this heading, I discuss the background of the novel that covers the author’s
 12

life and major works and also the socio cultural atmosphere in which The Color

Purple was written.

2.3.1 The Historical Background of The Colour Purple

The Color Purple (1982) has generated the most public attention as a book and as

a major motion picture, directed by Steven Spielberg in 1985. Narrated through the

voice of Celie, The Color Purple is an epistolary novel—a work structured through a

series of letters. Celie writes about the misery of childhood incest, physical abuse, and

loneliness in her "letters to God." After being repeatedly raped by her stepfather, Celie

is forced to marry a widowed farmer with three children. Yet her deepest hopes are

realized with the help of a loving community of women, including her husband's

mistress, Shug Avery, and Celie's sister, Nettie. Celie gradually learns to see herself as

a desirable woman, a healthy and valuable part of the universe.

Alice Walker’s novel entitled The Color Purple takes rural Georgia as a

setting. It tells about the condition of African-American woman:

The Color Purple written by Alice Walker takes place mostly in rural
Georgia; the story focuses on female African-American life during the
1930’s in the southern United States, addressing the numerous issues
in the black female life, including their exceedingly low position in
American social culture (“Historical Background of The Color
Purple”, n.d.: par. 17).
 13

2.3.2. Author’s literary career

Alice Malsenior Walker is the youngest daughter from the couple Willie Lee

and Minnie Tallulah (Grant) Walker. She was born on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton,

Georgia. In her early age, she got an accident that caused her partial blindness because

of BB gun shot by her brother. After that, she begins to decide to write literary works

to ease her loneliness. According to her, writing process makes her peace and quite:

Like many of Walker's fictional characters, she was the daughter of a

sharecropper (a farmer who rents his land), and the youngest of eight
children. At age eight, Walker was accidentally injured by a BB gun
shot to her eye by her brother. Her partial blindness caused her to
withdraw from normal childhood activities and begin writing poetry to
ease her loneliness. She found that writing demanded peace and quiet,
but these were difficult things to come by when ten people lived in
four rooms. She spent a great deal of time working outdoors sitting
under a tree, (“Alice Walker’s Biography”, n.d.: par. 1)

Although Walker grows up in poor environment who attends segregated (by race)

school, she has terrific teacher who encourages her to trust the world she is looking for

is actually existed. She is always supported by her community and by the knowledge

that derive into her own identity. Moreover, her mother grants her ‘permission’ to be a

writer and gives her the social, spiritual, and moral substance for her stories. Upon

graduating from high school, and attend Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia where

she involves in the growing of Civil Rights, a movement which calls for equal rights

among all races. In 1963, she received another scholarship and transferred to Sarah

Lawrence College in New York. While at Sarah Lawrence, she spends her junior year
 14

in Africa as an exchange student. In 1967 she married with Melvyn Leventhal, a civil

rights lawyer. She gets a daughter namely Rebecca from him and in 1976 she

divorced:

Walker attended segregated (separated by race) schools which would

be described as inferior by current standards, yet she recalled that she
had terrific teachers who encouraged her to believe the world she was
reaching for actually existed. Although Walker grew up in a poor
environment, she was supported by her community and by the
knowledge that she could choose her own identity. Moreover, Walker
insisted that her mother grants her "permission" to be a writer and
gave her the social, spiritual, and moral substance for her stories.
Upon graduating from high school, Walker secured a scholarship to
attend Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, where she got involved in
the growing Civil Rights movement, a movement which called for
equal rights among all races. In 1963, Walker received another
scholarship and transferred to Sarah Lawrence College in New York,
where she completed her studies and graduated in 1965 with a
bachelor's degree. While at Sarah Lawrence, she spent her junior year
in Africa as an exchange student. After graduation she worked with a
voter registration drive in Georgia and the Head Start program (a
program to educate poorer children) in Jackson, Mississippi. It was
there she met, and in 1967 married, Melvyn Leventhal, a civil rights
lawyer. Their marriage produced one child, Rebecca, before ending in
divorce in 1976 (“Alice Walker’s Biography”, n.d.: par. 3).

There are many literary works written by Alice Walker. The third and the most

famous novel entitled The Color Purple (1982); it is about an African American

woman who suffers a dreadful life. Through the novel, she writes her stories addressed

to God, the only one who is trusted by her. She faces double sufferings as a black and

as a woman. As a woman, she lives in patriarchal family and she faces discrimination

from Whites. She gets bad treatment not only from her own family especially male
 15

characters; her Pa and her Husband, but also the lynching of her family and the

imprisonment of her daughter-in-law show the discrimination from whites. But, in the

very end of the novel, she can transform her life to be an independent woman.

Her other works are the collection of poetry Once (1968), The Third Life of

Grange Copeland (1970), In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women (1973),

Revolutionary Petunias (1973), In Love and Trouble (1974), Meridian (1976),

Goodnight, Willie Lee, I'll See You in the Morning (1979), You Can't Keep a Good

Woman Down (1980) etc. Most of her writings get honor from the National

Endowment for the Arts, a Rosenthal Foundation award, an American Academy and

Institute of Arts and Letters award, a Guggenheim award, etc.:

Walker's first novel, The Third Life of Grange Copeland, centers on

the life of a young African American girl, Ruth Copeland, and her
grandfather, Grange. As an old man, Grange learns that he is free to
love, but love does not come without painful responsibility. At the
climax of the novel, Grange summons his newly found knowledge to
rescue his granddaughter, Ruth, from his brutal son, Brownfield. The
rescue demands that Grange murder his son in order to stop the cycle
of cruelty. In 1976 Walker's second novel, Meridian, was published,
and followed by a Guggenheim award (in 1977–1978). In 1979
another collection of poetry, Goodnight, Willie Lee, I'll See You in the
Morning, was published, followed the next year by another collection
of short stories, You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down (1980).
 16

Walker's third novel, The Color Purple was published in 1982, and
this work won both a Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award the
following year. Walker was also a contributor to several periodicals
and in 1983 published many of her essays, a collection titled In
Search of Our Mother's Gardens: A Collection of Womanist Prose
(1983). Walker worked on her fourth novel while living in Mendocino
County outside San Francisco, California (“Alice Walker’s
Biography”, n.d.: par. 5-6).

Those works mostly tell about African-American life especially African-

American women who always suffer oppressions that obviously reflect their real

society life.
 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODS

The research method used in this research is by exploring through various

types of research, data source, data collection, credibility and dependability, and data

analysis and interpretation.

3.1. Type of Research

The research I conducted is qualitative research and the type of this research is

textual analysis since the data sources is a text, Alice Walker’s novel, The Color

Purple. Ary et. al. explain this research type as following:

Content or document analysis is a method applied to written or visual

material for the purpose of identifying specified characteristics of the
material. The material analyzed can be textbooks, newspapers,
speeches, television programs, advertisements, musical composition, or
any of a host of other types of documents (2002, p. 442).

There are several characteristics of qualitative research including human

instrument and descriptive data as stated by Ary, Jacob, and Razavieh: “in qualitative

studies, the human investigator is the primary instrument for gathering and analyzing

the data…the qualitative inquirer deals with data that are in the form of words, rather

than numbers and statistics.” (2002, p. 424-425). Similarly, in my thesis, I am the

main instrument in collecting and analyzing the data and the data I deal with are in

17
the forms of words. According to Bogdan and Taylor (1975, p. 5), “qualitative

research produces any descriptive data such as any written or oral words from the

people and their attitudes that could be observed.”

My research is a textual or document analysis because I analyze a novel to

identify its specified characteristics.

3.2 Data Source

As the primary data, I used the novel written by Alice Walker, The Color

Purple, published in 1982 by Washington Square Press, USA. I took the texts,

including the conversation and the narration, which were correlated to the topic and

the problems of my thesis.

3.3 Data Collection

According to Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh (2002, p. 430), “there are three ways

in collecting the qualitative data; (1) observation, (2) interviewing, and (3) document

analysis. Document analysis is ‘to gain and understanding the phenomenon under

study.’” (2002, p. 435). In this thesis, I collected the data by document analysis

carried out through in depth reading of the novel many times and making notes of

important points. Besides, I also took the data from books and internet, which are

connected, with my topic of research. As Endraswara stated, “the data collection in

literary research could be done by close reading.” (2003, p. 162).

3.4 Credibility and Dependability

3.4.1 Credibility

Since it is qualitative research of literary work with the textual approach, it is

 19

adjectively unstable and always changes depending on the subject who analyzes it.

Ary, et. al. state, “some of the methods to determine the credibility of a qualitative

research are through the evidence based on consensus and evidence based on

theoretical adequacy,”(2002, p. 452). I used the two methods to measure the

credibility of my research.

3.4.1.1 Evidence Based on Consensus

Eisner defines validity based on consensus as “’agreement among competent

others that the description, interpretation, evaluation, and thematic’ are right,” (Ary et

al., 2002, p. 452). One method to show this validity is peer review.

In peer review, “colleagues or peers are provided with the raw data along with

the researcher’s interpretation or explanation. Discussion then determines whether the

reviewer (s) considers the interpretation to be reasonable, given the evidence.” (Ary

et al.), so, in conducting this research I discussed my analysis with my advisors,

lecturer, and friends in my consultation session and thesis seminar.

3.4.1.2 Evidence Based on Theoretical Adequacy

Johnson and Christensen (2002, p. 210) say, “Theoretical adequacy concerns

the degree to which a theoretical explanation developed from the study fits the data

and is credible,” (2002, p. 453). In this thesis, my analysis of the novel in terms of the

struggle of Afro-American women in the main character, Celie, adequately fits the

feminist approach as my theoretical framework, which is particularly about the

women who want to gain their consciousness that lead them into independence.

3.4.2 Dependability

Some strategies to measure the dependability in qualitative research,

according to Ary et al., are “by audit trail and code-recording strategy. In audit trail,

the researcher keeps through notes and records of activities. In code-recording, he

codes the data, leaves the analysis for a period of time, then comes back, records the

data and compares the two sets of coded materials.” (2002, p. 455-456).

In analyzing the novel, I made and kept notes about each important point. I

also coded the data to categorize them into relevant categories which mainly about

how Celie as the reflection of African-American women struggles for independence.

After the coding I left my analysis for a period of time, came back to re-read the

novel and analysis to make myself sure about my previous interpretation of the novel.
 21

3.5 Data Analysis and Interpretation

I analyzed the data by using feminist approach as presented in the previous

chapter, review of related literature. The main theories of the feminist theory are the

first-wave and the second-wave feminism and Black feminist theory (Black Feminist

Thought) by Collins (2000).

Data analysis in a qualitative research includes “organizing, summarizing, and

interpreting the data.” In organizing the data, the researcher reduces and categorizes

the data. In summarizing the data, he examines all entries with the same code, and

merges these categories into patterns by finding links and connection among the

categories. In interpretation, the researcher extracts meaning and insights from the

data (Ary et al., 2002, p. 465-471).

Based on the explanation above, the data analysis of my thesis involved the

following steps:

1. Organizing

In the organizing process, I categorized the data into the categorization

relevant with my topic conducted in the research. In the beginning, I

organized the data into two basic categories which are Celie, as the main

character reflects African-American woman condition and Celie’s struggle to

gain her independence. In the first part, I categorize into two sub-categories;

Celie as a Black who faces discrimination from Whites and Celie lives in

patriarchal society in which she faces oppression from her men society. In the

second part, I categorize into three sub categories; the influences from other

African-American women namely Nettie, Sofia, and Shug Avery, Celie’s

 finding of Identity, and Celie’s gaining of independence.

2. Summarizing

In summarizing process, I put the data into its category. I started summarizing

the data one by one within their category.

3. Interpreting

Based on the theoretical frameworks of the study, I put them close together,

related them, to find and interpret the existing relationship between them.
 CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

In this chapter, I discuss the research problem and present the result of it. The

discussion is classified based on the objective of the research then is divided into two

sub classifications. The first, the condition of African-American women society

reflected in Walker’s The Color Purple and the second is Celie’s struggle to gain her

consciousness that brings her into independence.

4.1 The Condition of African-American Women Reflected in Walker’s The

Color Purple

African-American women have many miseries in their life; they have to face

double sufferings as Blacks and as women. Celie, as the main woman character in

this novel is an African-American woman who suffers oppressions from her

patriarchal family and discrimination from Whites.

4.1.1 Celie’s Life in Patriarchal Family

Basically, family is where people usually look for and share love and care. The

members of a family usually support each other. In this novel, however, Celie’s

family is more like burden for its member, especially for Celie. She doesn’t feel

comfort in her own home and neither does her sister. In addition, Celie’s family is

23
 24

patriarchal. It means that women are only more subordinated to men. Women are

expected to do all the things what has been said by men while men are more superior

who take the domination in every single of their life, as described in (“History of

African American”, n.d.: par. 5) “the family structure was patriarchal; it means that

men were considered to be the heads of the household.” First of all, Celie is a very

unlucky daughter because she is just fourteen years old but her step father has raped

her twice. She is forced to get used to it but Celie never gets used to it. She feels hurt.

She can’t do everything to save her life because she doesn’t have any power to resist

him. Even she can’t tell anybody about her sufferings. Because she doesn’t trust

anybody, she can only tell her sufferings to her God. It’s only to him she can share

every single feeling in her heart and every single moment happened in her life. Yet,

finally she writes to her beloved sister, Nettie, after she knows Nettie is still alive.

Dear, God,
This letter I been holding in my hand.
Dear Celie,
I know you think I’m dead. Nut I’m not, I been writing to you too,
over the years, but Albert said you’d never hear from me again and
since I never heard from you all this time, I guess he was right now.
Now, I only write at Christmas and Easter hoping my letter get lost
among the Christmas and Easter greetings, or that Albert get the
holiday spirit and have pity on us.
There is so much to tell you that I don’t know, hardly, where to
begin –and anyway, you probably won’t get this letter, either. I’m sure
Albert is still the only one to take mail out of the box.
 25

But if this do get through, one thing I want you to know, I love you,
and I’m n not dead. And Olivia is fine and so is your son.
We are all coming home before the end of another year.

Your loving sister,

Nettie (Walker, 1982: p. 112)

You better not never to tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy.

Dear God,
I’m four teen years old. I have always been a good girl. May be
you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me.
Last spring after little Lucious come I heard them fussing.
He was pulling on her arm. She say it too soon, Fonso, I ain’t well.
Finally he leave her alone. A week go by, he pulling on her arm again.
She say Naw, I ain’t gonna. Can’t you see I’m already half dead, an all
ofthese children.
She went to visit her sister doctor over Macon. Left me to
see after the others. He never had a kine word to say to me. Just say
You gonna do what your mammy wouldn’t. firt he put his thing up
gainst my hip and sort of wiggle it around. Then he grab hold my
titties. Then he push his thing inside my pussy. When that hurt, I cry.
He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and used to it.
But I don’t never git used to it. And now I feels sick every time I
be the one to cook. My mama she fuss at me an look at me. She happy,
cause she good to her now. But too sick to last long. (Walker, 1982: p.
11)

Celie’s narration is focused on her own private life without any reference to the

outside world. Her family however is never the safe heaven that protects its members

against the evils of society, but it is a male dominated world full of domestic

violence. Not only was Celie’s beginning in sexual experience in the form of rape

committed by her stepfather, but also sex continued to be a means of oppression in

 26

her marriage as well, and family life is the place of further dehumanizing experiences.

After getting marriage with Mr. __, she suffers more and more because she does not

only takes care her husband, but also her husband’s rotten children. At the very

beginning, however, Celie cannot make too much sense of her experiences. She is

rather the passive victim of her environment: “But I don’t know how to fight. All I

know how to do is stay alive” (Walker, 1982: p. 26), “I don’t say anything. I stay

where I’m told. But I am alive” (Walker, 1982: p. 29). Moreover, it seems that she

can bear all the sorrows happened to her. When she talks with Nettie, before Nettie’s

leaving from her husband’s home, she says, “it worse than that, I think. If I was

buried, I wouldn’t have to work. But I just say, Never mine, never mine, long as I can

spell G-o-d I got somebody along.” (Walker, 1982: p. 26). The mere act of addressing

God suggests Celie’s alienation, loneliness, and marginality. In addition, by referring

to the work on page 17 Horváth has said:

“…it is similarly significant that author of the novel, does not feel
obliged to give her heroine a family name either, a sign of stronger
identification. Thus the author of the letters, feeling isolated and
ashamed, tells about her exploitation and continuous toil, and
desperate attempts to communicate with someone. Thus the
vocabulary and the speech like style are the proper vehicles to convey
the oppressive conditions Celie has to face. She is an orphan and as a
result of successive rapes by her stepfather she is also the fourteen-
year old child mother of a son and a daughter. To be the uglier of the
two sisters, she is literally sold to a widower who desperately needs a
woman to look after his two children and the household. “Mr. __say,
Well, you know, my little ones sure could use a mother…” (n.d.: par.
7)
 27

At the very beginning, Mr. __ doesn’t want to marry Celie, he wants to get

married with a girl whom he sees in the church, Nettie, but her Pa seems doesn’t let

him to take Nettie, because she is still young and too fresh for him, taking care of his

household. “Mr. __ finally come right out an ast for Nettie hand in marriage. But He

won’t let her go. He say she too young, no experience.” (Walker, 1982: p. 16). Thus,

he lets him to take Celie who is not virgin anymore. Besides, he wants Nettie for

himself. Therefore, he lets him to take Celie by offering some cows to be with him.

At first, Mr. __ takes more time, about three months to think of marrying Celie.

Finally he decides to marry her by saying, “Mr. __ say, That cow still coming? He

say, her cow.” (Walker, 1982: p. 20). From this statement I can assume that basically,

Mr. __ marries Celie not because of her goodness: hard working, discipline, and

caring but he seems more interested in getting her cows if she takes Celie to be his

wife:

….Well, He say, real slow, I can’t let you have Nettie. She too young.
Don’t know nothing bout what you tell her. Sides, I want her to git
some more schooling. Make a schoolteacher out of her. But I can let
you have Celie. She the oldest anyway. She ought to marry first. She
ain’t fresh tho, but I spect you know that. She spoiled. Twice. But you
don’t need a fresh women no how. I got a fresh one in there myself and
sick all the time. He spit, over the railing. The children git on h er
nerve, she not much of a cook. And she big already…, (Walker, 1982:
p. 20)

From that quotation I can take for granted that Celie’s Pa wants to get

advantage from his daughters. Meanwhile, he has spoiled his first daughter and he
 28

considers that everything runs well, seems everything is nothing happened. Even, he

offers Celie to be Mr. __’s wife. Before that, although Celie has had her own

childbirth, she hasn’t seen them growing up with her because Celie’s own children

are soon given to foster-parents by her Pa, to a couple who later become African

missionaries.

Besides, lack of education was a way the South tried to keep the blacks in a

lower class. In this case, Celie is not allowed to go to school because she

is to be kept barefoot and pregnant. She still received education by

learning what her little sister was teaching her, though. It was believed

that if the blacks were kept uneducated then they would not know any better

and would not fight for freedom. The letter that gives a prove that Celie is not

permitted to go to school is:

The first time I got big Pa took me out of school. He never care.
That I love it. Nettie stood there at the gate holding tight to my hand. I
was all dress for first day. You too dumb to keep going to school, Pa
say. Nettie the clever on in this bunch.
But Pa, Nettie say, crying, Celie smart too. Even Miss Beasley say
so. Nettie dote on Miss Beasley. Think nobody like her in the world…,
(Walker, 1982: p. 19).

From that quotation above, I can imply that Celie is one of the examples of African

American women at that time in which she was not permitted to learn something in

the school; a girl is not supposed to be at school because it wouldn’t give an

advantage. As Olinkas stated, “A girl is nothing to herself; only to her husband can
 29

she become something,” (Walker, 1982: p.144).

So, in this discussion I can conclude that the condition of African American

women at that time was hard. They are considered as animals which do not need to be

loved, to be given affection and care, “…You can do everything just like you want to

and she ain’t gonna make you feed it or clothe it …” (Walker, 1982: p. 18). The main

woman character in this novel, Celie, would get up to cook, clean, go out and work

in the fields all day, then come back and cook and clean some more. And also Sofia

would work in the fields, repair the roof, and take care of the children. Therefore,

males just took the advantage of the male dominated society in which the women are

only media to bear and rear children, carry out the domestic functions as cooking, and

cleaning; giving birth to children and socializing them; providing sexual gratification,

companionship, and emotional support to their husband, as stated by Staples:

…in the case of women, those roles have been defined traditionally as
the carrying out of domestic functions as cooking, and cleaning; giving
birth to children and socializing them; providing sexual gratification,
companionship, and emotional support to their husbands. There is
abundant evidence that Black women are willing and able to fulfill
those roles… (1973, p. 22)

Similarly with the quotation above, Celie is very loyal to her family. She cares her

younger sister and brothers after her beloved mother died. She also takes care about

every single household in her husband’s home and rotten children. Unfortunately, she

is also bitten everyday by her Pa and her husband

Dear God,
 30

He beat me today cause he say I winked at a boy in church. I

may have something in my eye but I didn’t wink. I don’t even look at
mens. That’s the truth. I look at women, tho, cause I’m not scared of
them. May be cause my mama cuss at me you think I kept mad at her.
But I ain’t. I felt sory for mama. Trying to believe his story to kilt her.
Sometime he still be looking at Nettie, but I always git in his
light. Now I tell her to marry Mr. __. I don’t tell her why.
I say marry him, Nettie, an try to have one good year out your
life. After that, I know she be big.
But me, never again. A girl at church say you git big if you
bleed every month. I don’t bleed no more. (Walker, 1982: p. 15)

“Harpo ast his daddy why he beat me. Mr __ say, Cause she my wife. Plus, she

stubborn. All women good for – he don’t finish.” (Walker, 1982: p. 30). As states by

Mr. __ that All women good for--, it means that male are permitted to beat her wife, it

may happen to all wives in male-dominated Black family.

4.1.2 Whites Discrimination against African American Women

Celie as a part of African-American society is not only depersonalized and

dehumanized by black African-American men and also by the Whites. The lynching

of Celie’s family, father, is a clear example of violation from Whites. The letter

below is the description that is described by Sammuel to Nettie about the lynching

happened some years later. White people sarcastically killed black people. In this

case, Celie and Nettie’s family is as the victim of that incident Walker (1982: p.

160-161):

“…once upon a time, there was a well-to-do farmer who owned his
own property near town. Our town, Celie. And as he did so well
farming and everything he turned his hand to prospered, he decided to
 31

open a store, and try his luck selling dry goods as well. Well, his store
did so well that he talked to of his brothers into helping him run it, and,
as the months went by, they were doing better and better. Then the
white merchants began to get together and complain that this store was
taking all the black business away from them, and the man’s
blacksmith shop that he set up behind the store, was taking some of the
white. This would not do. And so, one night, the man’s store was
burned down, his smithy destroyed, and the man and his two brothers
dragged out of their homes in the middle of the night and hanged.
The man had a wife whom he adored, and they had a little girl,
barely two years old. She was also pregnant with another child. When
the neighbors brought her husband’s body home, it had been mutilated
and burnt. The sight of it nearly killed her, and her second baby, also a
girl, was born at this time. Although the widow’s baby recovered, her
mind was never the same. She continue to fix her husband’s plate at
mealtimes just as she’d always done and was always full of talk about
the plans she and her husband had made. The neighbors, though not
always intending to, shunned her more and more, partly because the
plans she talked about were grander than anything they could even
conceive of colored people, and partly because her attachment to the
past was so pitiful. She was a good-looking woman, though, and still
owned land, but there was nothing to eat that the neighbors did not
bring, and she and her small children grubbed around in the yard as
best they could.
While the second child was still a baby, a stranger appeared in
the community, and lavished all his attention on the widow and her
children; in a short while, they were married. Almost at once, she was
pregnant a third time, though her mental was no better. Every year
thereafter, she was pregnant, every year she become weaker and more
mentally unstable, until, many years after she married the stranger, she
died….“

Moreover, Celie’s daughter-in-law, Sofia’s imprisonment for twelve years for

slapping the mayor is also a clear example of black women’s discrimination by

Whites. She does everything in prison laundry then later she has to be the mayor’s

maid as what Celie does in her family.

 32

Dear God,
They put Sofia to work in the prison laundry. All long from five to
eight she washing clothes. Dirty convict uniforms, nasty sheets and
blankets piled way over her head. Us see her twice a month for half
hour. Her face yellow and sickly, her fingers look like fatty sausage.
Everything nasty here, she say, even the air. Food bad enough to
kill you with it. Roaches here, mice, flies, lice and even a snake or two.
If you say anthing they strip you, make you sleep on a sement floor
without a light.
How you manage? Us ast.
Every time they ast me to do something, Miss Celie, I act like I’m
you…. (Walker, 1982: p. 88)

In this discussion, I can assume that African-American life was very difficult,

especially for women. They are not only oppressed by their men who should be their

protectors but also discriminated by Whites in every field. White people sarcastically

killed Black people in many ways. In this case, Celie’s family is one of the obvious

examples of that violation. They are mutilated, killed, burnt, and hung. Another

example is Celie’s step daughter-in-law’s imprisonment for twelve years just because

she slaps the mayor.

 33

4.2 Celie’s Struggle to Gain Independence

4.2.1 The Influences from other African-American Women

This part looks at how the other women characters, Nettie, Sofia, and Shug

Avery influence, change and define Celie into an independent woman in her life.

Those women have their own characteristics in influencing and inspiring her. This is

the reflection of the condition of African-American women in searching the equal

and/or self identification.

4.2.1.1 The Importance of Education as Inspired By Nettie

Nettie is Celie’s younger and attractive sister. She is the cleverest girl of the

family. She is able to continue her education as what Celie expects to her.

Celie is inspired by her sister’s independence, determination, and perseverance

in living in Africa among foreign people whom Nettie cares about deeply. Celie saw

the impact that a woman could have on others and felt empowered to overcome the

abuse she experiences. Nettie is someone that Celie tries to protect from the physical

and sexual abuse of their father. It is also Nettie who Celie looks for education when

her father pulls her out of school and for support when she moves in with Mr. __

where she is abused by him and his children. When Nettie runs away, Mr. __ hides

the letters sent to Celie thereby cutting off the sister’s communication, which left

them heartbroken. This letter describes about Celie’s undesirable to live in this very

world:
 34

Dear Nettie,
The only piece of mail Mr. __ ever put directly in my hand is a
telegram that come from tha United States Department of Defense. It
say the ship you and children and your husband left Africa in was sunk
by German mines off the coast of someplace call Gibralta. They think
you all drawned. Plus, the same day, all the letters I wrote to you over
the years come back unopen.
I sit here in this big empty house by myself trying to sew, but what
good is sewing gon do? What good is anything? Being alive begin to
seem like a awful strain. (Walker, 1982: p. 225)

From the quotation above, I can imply that Celie doesn’t have a desire to live any

longer in this universe. But, by the attendance of her beloved sister, Nettie her desire

to live is coming up. Nettie is the only person who is Celie gets a spirit to live. In this

part I can see how big her love toward her sister. Even, a big house couldn’t replace

her love toward Nettie’s being alive. “...big empty house…” (Walker, 1982: p. 225)

means that she stays in a big house without any affection from her husband and her

step children, she feels lonely and useless living in the big house. Therefore, she

expresses her feeling by saying “…Being alive begin to seem like a awful strain.

Being alive begin to seem like a awful strain.” (Walker, 1982: p. 225)

However, upon discovering Nettie’s letters, Celie finds a new desire to live

because her sister is still alive. “…Now I know Nettie alive I begin to strut a little bit.

Think, When she come home us leave here. Her and me and our two

children…” (Walker, 1982: p.138). Nettie also serves as Celie’s only link to her

children. Nettie gives Celie pride in her children who were intelligent and prosperous

in Africa, which gives Celie new found confidence, “…Adam and Olivia are nearly
 35

as tall as me and doing very well in all their studies. Adam has a special aptitude for

figure…,” (Walker, 1982: p. 152). All her life, Nettie was the one who always

supports and loves Celie, but when Celie does not receive her letters, she looks Sofia

for her inspiration.

4.2.1.2 The Importance of Physical Strength as Inspired By Sofia

Sofia is the wife of Harpo who serves as an example of independent woman.

She is a strong woman who at first intimidated Celie but after getting to know each

other they become friends and support each other in the course of the abuse they each

suffer from. Sofia encourages herself by fighting back against men’s domination. She

doesn’t want to be like her mother who lives under her father’s feet, who never

fought for herself. However, sometimes she tries to rebel for the sake of the children

but it always fails:

All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my dady. I had to fight my

brothers. I had to fight my cousins and my uncles. A girl child ain’t
safe in a family men. But I never thought I’d have to fight in my own
house….to tell the truth, you remind me of my mama. She under my
daddy thumb. Naw, she under my daddy foot. Anything he say, goes.
She never say nothing back. She never stands up for herself…,
(Walker, 1982: p. 46).

Sofia’s size in body and attitude becomes a shock to Celie when Mr. __’s son, Harpo,

brings her to the house to meet his father, Sofia look half her size. But she still big

strong girl. Arms got muscles. Legs, too. She swing that baby about like it

nothing,” (Walker, 1982: p. 41). Celie doesn’t let Harpo’s father talk to her, and
 36

talking back was something Celie thought she could never do it. “I say it cause a I’m

fool, I say. I say it because I’m jealous of you. I say it because you do what I can’t.

what that? She says. Fight. I say.” (Walker, 1982: p. 46). When Sofia does not listen

to Harpo’s request, not only Celie who asks Harpo to beat his wife but also Mr. __

suggests him to beat his wife as what he does to Celie, Mr. __’s wife. Then Harpo

tries to beat her, but Sofia fights back. When Sofia comes and confronts Celie about

what she has suggested to Harpo, Sofia reveals that she has pity on Celie and tells her

that she should fight back too. After that conversation, Celie and Sofia support each

other and become friends.

The years passed by, the mayor and his wife see Sofia in town, they comment on

how cute that woman looked. The mayor’s wife asks Sofia if she would like to work

for her as her maid, which upsets Sofia. When Sofia refuses, the mayor slaps her, but

she knocks him back. As a result, Sofia is beaten to near death and put in prison.

Through all this, Sofia stays as strong as she can and still does not let anyone tell her

what to do:

…Everything nasty here, she say, even the air. Food bad enough to kill
you with it. Roaches here, mice, flies, lice and even a snake or two. If
you say anyting they strip you, make you sleep on a cement floor
without a light….everytime they ast me to do something, Miss Celie, I
act like I’m you….they can’t believe I’m the one sass the mayor’s wife,
knock the mayor down….twelve years along time to be good though,
she say…, (Walker, 1982: p. 88).

When Sofia is out of prison she is sent to work for the mayor’s wife as punishment.
 37

She is not allowed to see her family or any men but Celie still goes to visit her.

Through this experience their bond stays strong. Sofia is a strong woman who Celie

looks for strength. Meanwhile, the woman who leads her to act on her inspiration and

become independent is Shug Avery.

4.2.1.3 The Importance of Financial Independence As Inspired by Shug Avery

Shug is the hero of the story and Celie’s best friend as well. More than any

one else, Shug teaches Celie how to be her own person and step upon her feet. She is

someone Celie admires since the young age. Shug’s enthusiasm and charm are

qualities Celie never dreamed of having until Shug walks into her life. Celie does

more with her life to overcome the abuse and becomes someone new:

I ast our mammy bout Shug Avery. What it is? I ask. She don’t
know but she say she gon fine out.
She do more than that. She git a picture. The first one of a rel
person I ever seen. She say Mr. __ was taking somethin out his billfold
to show Pa an slid under the table. Shug Avery was a woman. The most
beautiful woman I ever saw. She more pretty then my mama. She bout
ten thousand times more prettier then me. I see her there in furs. Her
face rough. Her hair like something tail. She grinning with her foot up
on somebody motorcar. Her eyes serious tho. Sad some.
I ast her to give me the picture. An all night long I stare at it. An
now when I dream, I dream Shug Avery. She be dress to kill, whirling
and laughing.” (Walker, 1982: p. 16).

Shug comes into Celie’s life as her husband’s mistress who was very ill but

not lack in character. She treats Celie with disrespect at first, “She look me over from

head to foot. Then she cackle. Sound like a death rattle. You sure is ugly, she say, like
 38

she ain’t believed it,” (Walker, 1982: p. 50). But after living with Celie for some

months and being nursed back to health, Shug gives a respect to her. She teaches

Celie how to speak for herself and to defend herself against Mr. __. Shug is the one

who helps Celie escape by taking her on her tour where Celie learns how to expertly

sew pants. This is another major step toward independence because Celie is no longer

financially dependent on anyone but herself. According to Beavoir cited by Tong

(1998, p. 274-275),

Women must have their own words to their transcendence. There are
four strategies that can be done by women. 1. Women can work; a job
gives them some possibilities to ‘take back their transcendence.’ 2.
Women can be intellectual person, the member of women community
that will lead the changes for women. 3. Women can work to gain
societal transformation. She believes that one of the key for women
freedom is financial independence. 4. Identify their selves through
dominance point of view in their society…

It can be concluded that independence women must have their own ideas and ways as

men have to transcend their selves. She also says that there are four strategies that can

be done by women. One of them is by having own job. It can emphasize their status

concretely as a subject, as a person who actively derive their own dignity by having

financial independence.

In this case, Celie creates a successful business by making pants. It means that

she can be regarded as an independence woman, in which it is influenced by Shug

Avery. Upon her return to her home, she inherits her father’s home. Thereby, she is

completely separated from the man who held control over her. She can receive her
 39

sister’s letters and make her own money. The people start to love and surround her.

4.2.2 Celie’s finding of Identity

Identity is the individual characteristics by which a thing or a person is

recognized or known. In addition, a person’s identity is influenced by her/his society;

where and with whom she/he associates her/his self with. As stated in (“Self

Identity”, n.d.: par. 1), “People's identity is rooted in their identifications; in what

they associated themselves with. What a person associates him or herself with is

ultimately who that person is, for all identity is ultimately in relationship to

something else.”

In this research, Celie’s finding her identity is rooted from her society. Firstly,

she has to face a dreadful life; she lives in patriarchal family in which she must be

obedient to what men saying especially her Pa and her husband. Secondly, in her

difficult life, unconsciously, she meets other women whom influence her to be the

better woman; she must not be obedient to men anymore. In this phase, her

consciousness works and she realizes that she has to fight back against male

domination. Thirdly, Celie tries to free herself from the ‘system’ that binds her for

these times long by finding her own identity; as a woman and as a useful member of

society. She realizes that having an identity is very useful for her life.

In finding the identity, Celie encounters with Shug Avery. Shug Avery is a

great woman who influences most in Celie’s life. Celie’s leaving her husband home
 40

to join Shug’s trip is a major experience that helps Celie in finding her identity, both

as a woman and as a useful member of her community. Shug Avery, the lover of

Celie’s husband, is admired not only for her physical beauty, but also for her ability

to earn a living as a blues singer. Her profession enables her to lead independence, the

type of life that is accepted as a privilege only for the male members of the society.

This relationship makes Celie self confident and develop her ability to appreciate

herself, and to discover whatever is valuable around her, or, using Shug’s

terminology, whatever is “purple” in life.

It is due to Shug Avery’s influence that Celie leaves Mr. ___, her husband, and

becomes an economically and socially empowered woman. “I am happy, I got love, I

got work, I got money, friends, and time. And you alive and be home soon,” (Walker,

1982: p. 193). By the end of the novel at this point; it could be interpreted exclusively

on the ground of feminist ideology in which, Celie can strongly fight back against her

husband by giving remark of his speaking, “You black, you pore, you ugly, you a

woman...,” (Walker, 1982: p. 187) when she decides to go to Memphis. In this very

moment Celie’s consciousness starts growing, she remarks “I’m pore. I’m black; I

may be ugly and can’t cook. But I am here” (Walker, 1982: p. 187). In Memphis she

does her business in term of sewing pants. She is very success woman, is enchanted

by her newly gained position as an independent wage earner in Memphis, far from

her native community. Then finally, she returns to her family and she is able to
 41

change Mr. __,’s perception, and establishes a normal human relationship with him.

In this phase, Shug Avery takes an important role in reshaping Celie. She is also

the key figure of the novel who is admired not only by men in her community but

also women because of her independence. As stated by Horvath (n.d.: par. 9), “…The

fact that the author considers Shug’s position as a key figure in the novel is also

emphasized by her association with the color “purple”, the color of life, the

polysemous sign, which is meant to be the main symbol of the book.” The color

‘purple’ itself has a meaning of glory. It means that Celie as the main character of this

novel could transform into the better condition in which she suffers much oppression

in the first and finally she can gain her independence. The relationship between Shug

and Celie is very important for Celie’s finding of identity. Shug promotes a

transformation in Celie’s consciousness and individuality:

“I believe God is everything, say Shug. Everything that is or ever was

or will be. And when you can feel that, and be happy to feel that,
you’ve found it. My first step from the old white man was trees. Then
air. Then birds. Then other people. But one day when I was sitting quiet
and feeling like a motherless child, which I was, it come to me: that
feeling is part of everything, not separate at all. I knew that if I cut a
tree, my arm would bleed. And I laughed and cried and I run all around
the house. I knew just what it was. In fact when it happen, you can’t
miss it. …Everything want to be loved. Us sing and dance, make faces
and give flower bouquets, trying to be loved. You even notice that trees
do everything to git attention we do, except walk?” (Walker, 1982: p.
178-179)

From the quotation above, I can assume that Shug tries to explain to Celie

about the spiritual and abstract interpretation of God. Celie has always thought that
 42

God is a White man who has power and goodness, “…big and old and tall and gray-

bearded and white,” (Walker, 1982: p. 176). While in other hand, Shug argues that

God is everywhere, “God is inside everybody,” (Walker, 1982: p. 176). By realizing

that God is not a White man who never listens to Blacks and never listens to her

either, she comes to accept Shug’s spiritual concept of God.

In line with the description above, Celie’s understanding about God has

change. God who is the only one meant to her life. Even, she believes that He takes

care of her beloved sister whom she has not seen over a period of thirty years by

discovering her letters. By finding those letters, a significant change takes place in

Celie; a significant moment in her psychological maturation. She consciously

declares to Shug that from then on she will write to Nettie, at the same time realizing

that “the God she had been praying and writing to is a man, just like all the other

mens she knows. Trifling, forgitful and lowdown”, later adding, “If he ever listened

to poor colored women, the world would be a different place,” (Walker, 1982: p.

175). From then on, she ends her writing by giving signed ‘amen,’ ‘your beloved

sister,’ etc. In addition, Horváth said,

“…Along with the gradual change of her religious faith, which until
now meant her only source of energy and consolation as she bears
the abuses and hardships of life, Celie’s individuality starts to take
shape and her sense of self becomes stronger, a fact that is marked
not only by the shift in the addressee of the letters but by the attendant
change of the ending of her letters. While the letters addressed to God
are not even signed, those addressed to Nettie are all consciously
signed, either as Celie, Your sister Celie, or “Amen”, an obvious
 43

expression of approval. A similar statement of validation also

expresses a strong growth of her self respect, a sign that the heroine is
already able to treat her own experiences as something meaningful for
others, what is more she realizes that her words can express an
authoritative attitude on certain matters...,” (n.d.: par. 14)

I am as the reader (the researcher) of the letters can feel the changes from the

senseless God to a forceful, self expressing tone. As stated by Horváth:

“…As an empowered author, Alice Walker manipulates these letters in

such a way that her presence remains unnoticed throughout the book. By
introducing the letters of a second person, the author is able to present
the reader with a second point of view without interfering as a more
objective authority. Thus, Nettie’s letters clearly present another aspect
of the gender oppression existing among the Olinkas: their objection to
the education of the girls, their various, painful and health threatening
initiation practices. It is easy to realize that the present social condition
of black women is deeply rooted in African tribal traditions, where
women’s prestige was very low, their only role in society being
reproduction,” (n.d. 16)

Moreover, Nettie tells about the custom happened in Africa through her letter

to Celie:

…There is a way that the /Olinka/ men speak to women that reminds me
too much of Pa. They listen just long enough to issue instructions. They
don’t even look at women when women are speaking. They look at the
ground and bend their heads toward the ground. The women also do not
“look in a man’s face” as they say. To “look in a man’s face” is a brazen
thing to do. They look instead at his feet or his knees. And what can I
say to this? Again, it is our own behaviour around Pa, (Walker, 1982: p.
149)

Nettie’s letters argue that black women’s oppression is Trans cultural. For the

readers it is obvious that the legacy of slavery is intensified by the gender oppression
 44

of patriarchal family traditions inherited from Africa. It should be observed that the

degrading status of black women is presented from two perspectives: which have

strong social, political and historical implications: on the one hand from the point of

view of Celie’s private experiences, and on the other hand from Nettie’s public

vantage point. As McDowell (n.d.: par 3) noted:

The majority of Celie’s letters represent the private paradigm of the

African American female tradition in the novel, and the majority of
Nettie's letters can be said to represent the public paradigm” (Walker,
1982: p. 47). The two perspectives are subtly suggested by the different
registers used by the sisters. As Nettie is more fortunate in getting a
much wider chance to improve herself, she represents the educated and
conscious member of both her race and sex, who sacrifices her life for
the cause of black people everywhere in the world by becoming a
missionary in the land of her ancestors. Her letters often assume the
quality of essays, pamphlets, or public speeches when she talks about the
indignations caused by her African experiences. These meditations and
also the style of the letters reflect social awareness, and give a self
conscious interpretation of the experiences quite opposed to Celie’s lack
of ability to understand either the world around her or her own
condition. Thus the two kinds of experiences overlap in the two sets of
letters to mutually support the underlying message: the universal
condition of oppression of Black women…,

It is not incidental that it is during this activity that Celie starts thinking about

herself in a broader context: “First time I think about the world. What the world got

to do with anything, I think. Then I see myself sitting there quilting tween Shug

Avery and Mr. ___. Us three set together. For the first time in my life, I feel just

right” (Walker, 1982: p. 61). As Horváth (n.d.: par. 18) said:

…The act of voicing until now unnoticed voice of the Celie type
African American woman is an important step in reevaluating the role
 45

of women in black communities. Just as the gaining of literacy marks a

step toward spiritual and political freedom on the part of the slave
narrators, the act of writing or articulating certain experiences brings
understanding and spiritual independence to Alice Walker’s Celie, and
makes possible the great leap from the incidental and particular to
general and universal…,

Based on the discussion above, it is seen that the novel examines black

women's struggle, the courageous fight they put up against a racist and sexist society

that stifles their growth towards selfhood and wholeness. The struggle in and of itself

requires the need to reach an understanding of the racial past, as a meaningful part of

the present, in order to change the self. Moreover, developing a consciousness to

inherit the black heritage renews the black woman's sense of race and place,

expanding her vision into a larger world. Celie, in this novel I conducted, The Color

Purple, re-visualizes the sense of female community to find her true self.

4.2.3 Celie’s Gaining of Independence

Celie’s struggle to gain her independence is the main topic of this research.

This research is focused on Celie as the main character of the novel The Color Purple

who suffers a dreadful life. In the early part of the novel, she has to face the

oppression and ignorance of the patriarchal society in which men are considered as

the head of family matters. In this case, her father and her husband take roles to

oppress Celie. She has to be obedient of the abusive father and husband. She also

faces discrimination from White because of being a Black woman. Both the
 46

oppression from the patriarchal family and White society lead her into being

independent woman. She succeeds being independent woman by having good

relationship among women character namely Nettie, Sofia, and Shug Avery. Those

women have reshaped Celie from the submissive woman who is usually oppressed by

male characters especially her father and her husband into independent woman who is

not dependent to men anymore. Her struggle is succeed by having a sewing pants

business. While the men who oppressed and ignored Celie in the early part of the

novel, her husband helps Celie in her business and the other one, her father, has died

and given the home back to Celie.

Celie as the reflection of Afro-American woman tries to be an independent

woman who is inspired by other women; her sister Nettie, her step daughter in law

Sofia, and her friend Shug Avery after getting a dreadful life in her lifetime. They

have encouraged and empowered her to struggle and rebel from her dignity in which

she was just served as an animal in her own home; by her step father and in her own

husband home. So, by being an independent woman, it means that she doesn’t need to

be dependent on other people, especially on men. By the end of the novel, she is a

successful business woman who produces pants which are worn by men and women.

In this case, sewing pants mean that similarly, the women are equal with men in

everything. They are different in physical; however, as stated in (“Patriarchy”, n.d.:

par. 1) “…Black women again had it worse because they were women. Women were
 47

believed to be weak and incompetent in comparison with men .....”

Celie starts to stand up to Mr. __ and she also starts to wear pants. In doing so,

she shows her independence. In those days, men were only supposed to be clothed in

pants. Also as stated by Mr. __, “Men are supposed to wear pants,” (Walker, 1982: p.

25). Celie shows, in a small way, that a woman can do things that a man can do.

Through Shug’s help, Celie starts a successful business making pants for all the

relatives. This is another way Shug helps Celie to gain her independence. Finally,

Celie can gather with her beloved family and they have family reunion on July 4th.

Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear
everything. Dear God.
Thank you for bringing my sister Nettie and our children home.
…
By now my heart is in my mouth and I can’t move.
It’s Nettie, Albert say, gitting up.
All the people down by the drive look at us. They look st the struck.
I try to speak, nothing come. Try to git up, almost fall. Shug reach
down and give me a helping hand. Albert press me on the arm.
…
After while, she say Celie
I say Nettie.
…
 48

…
Why us always have family reunion on July 4th, say Henrietta.
Mouth poke out, full of complaint. It so hot.
White people busy celebrating they independence from England
July 4th, say Harpo, so most black folks don’t have to work. Us can
spend the day celebrating each other.
…
I feel a little peculiar round the children. For one thing, they grown.
And I see they think me and Nettie and Shug and Albert and
Sammuel and Harpo and Sofia and Jack and Odessa real old and
don’t know much what going on. But I don’t think us feel old at all.
And us so happy. Matter of fact, I think this is the youngest us ever
felt.
Amen (Walker, 1982: p. 249-251).

From the very last letter I can take for granted that Celie is succeed to gain her

Independence. The family has reunited each other and she does not need to depend on

men anymore:

…Afro-American women have experienced considerable success not

only in getting laws changed, but in stimulating government action
redress past wrongs. The Voting Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Right
Acts of 1965, and other important federal, state, and local legislation
have outlawed discrimination by race, sex, national origin, age, or
disability status. This changed legal climate granted Afro-American
women some protection from the widespread discrimination that we
faced in the past…. (Collins, 2000, p: 278)

From the quotation above I can imply that along with the time passed by

African American can climb up over many obstacles and they can get the

better lives.
 CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

The experience of African Americans was very miserable. They had to climb

over many obstacles to get their freedom; to gain their position as equal as others.

Such miseries can be found in some literary works, one of which is The Color Purple

written by Alice Walker. Based on my analysis, this novel is definitely a clear

example of miseries undergone by African-American women.

Male domination in African-American society is reflected in the early part of the

novel in which it shows how Celie suffers a lot from the male characters’ oppression

and underestimation. Living in a patriarchal system, Celie experiences a very dreadful

life since in her childhood where her family, especially her step-father does not care

her about. She gets unfair treatment such as being abused in the very early age and

after getting married with Mr. ___. She has to accept her husband’s and her Pa’s bad

treatment without having a power to fight against. She is dutiful and must be obedient

to her Pa and her husband. Even, she has to live with her husband’s lover, Shug in

one house and one roof. It’s clear how Celie’s right as an individual and a wife is

ignored. Besides, Celie also faces the discrimination from Whites in which her family

especially her father is a victim of Lynching. In spite of her miseries as an ignored

and oppressed African-American woman, Celie finally struggles for her

49
independence.

Celie’s process of gaining her consciousness that brings to her independence is

inspired and built through her relationship with the other women character in the

novel namely Sofia, Nettie, and Shug Avery. Sofia is a strong woman who is not

dependent on men. She influences Celie’s thought that woman not must be obedient

to what men said. While Nettie is an important person who inspires and gives Celie

desire to live and be better woman. She narrates her story about the broader world

that she undergoes in her journey through the letters to Celie. The last woman who

takes a big part in reshaping Celie to gain her independence is Shug Avery. She is an

independent woman blues singer who teaches Celie how to be her own person. Those

women have influenced and encouraged Celie to fight against male dominance.

As her consciousness as a woman develops, Celie finds her identity as a woman

that she has to step upon her own feet. She should not depend on men because women

are not inferior to men. At last, Celie gains her independence.

 51

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 BERITA ACARA BIMBINGAN SKRIPSI

1. Nama : Nur Lailatin Azizah

2. NIM : 0410330036
3. Jurusan : Sastra Inggris
4. Topik Tugas Akhir : Feminism
5. Judul Tugas Akhir______________________________:
African-American Women’s Struggle to Gain Independence
Reflected in Celie, the Main Character of Alice Walker’s The
Color Purple
6. Tanggal Mengajukan : 02 April 2008
7. Tanggal Selesai : 10 Maret 2009
8. Nama Pembimbing : I. Dr. Indah Winarni, M.A.
II. Juliati, MHum
9. Keterangan Konsultasi :
No Tanggal Materi Pembimbing Paraf
1 02 April 2008 Pengajuan Judul Skripsi II
2 14 April 2008 Menyerahkan dan II
Konsultasi Bab I, II dan
III
3 08 September 2008 Revisi Bab I,II dan III II
4 15 September 2008 Revisi Bab I,II dan III II
5 16 september 2008 Menyerahkan dan I
Konsultasi Bab I,II dan
III
6 23 September 2008 Menyerahkan Revisi Bab II
I dan II
7 13Oktober 2008 Revisi bab I,II, dan III I
8 20 Oktober 2008 Menyerahkan revisi bab II
I-V
9 27 Oktober 2008 Acc Bab II,III Revisi II
Bab I
10 16 November 2008 Konsultasi, Revisi Bab I I
dan IV
11 23 November 2008 Acc Bab I dan IV II
12 30 Desember 2008 Menyerahkan bab I-V I
13 05 Januari 2009 Bab I-V II
14 13 Januari 2009 Revisi bab I,II,III,IV I
 15 14 Januari 2009 Revisi bab I II
16 19 Januari 2009 Acc bab II dan III Revisi II
bab I dan V
17 03 Februari 2009 Revisi bab I,II,III,IV,V I
18 05 Februari 2009 Revisi Abstract, II
aknowledgment, etc.
19 09 Februari Revisi aknowledgment I
20 02 Maret 2009 Konsultasi, revisi bab II
I,II, dan IV setelah ujian
21 02 Maret 2009 Konsultasi, revisi bab Penguji
I,II, dan IV setelah ujian
22 06 Maret 2009 I-V, abstract, II
acknowledgement,
References, etc.
23 06 Maret 2009 I-V, abstract, Penguji
acknowledgement,
References, etc.
24 09 Maret 2009 I-V, abstract, I
acknowledgement,
References, etc.

10. Telah dievaluasi dan diuji dengan nilai:

Malang, 10 Maret 2009

Dosen Pembimbing I Dosen Pembimbing II

Dr. Indah Winarni, M.A. Juliati, MHum

NIP. 130 890 045 NIP. 132 318 427

Mengetahui
Ketua Program Bahasa dan Sastra

Dra. Francien H. Tomasowa, Ph.D.

NIP. 130 802 240
 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP

Herewith I,

Name : Nur Lailatin Azizah

NIM : 0410330036
Address : Jl. Banyu Biru 06/02 Lowayu Dukun Gresik 61155

declare that:
1. this Sarjana thesis is the sole work of the author and has not been written
in collaboration with any other person, nor does it include, without due
acknowledgement, the work of any other person.
2. if at a later time it is found that this Sarjana thesis is a product of
plagiarism, I am willing to accept any legal consequences that may be
imposed upon me.

Malang, February 2009

Nur Lailatin Azizah

NIM. 0410330036