"The Color Purple" and Black Boy; Two Very Similar Pieces
Summary:
Richard Wright's novel Black Boy and the movie The Color Purple (based on the book by Alice Walker) are very similar in their analysis of their respective main characters. Both Celie in The Color Purple and Richard in Black Boy are surrounded by racism, violence, and lack of affection.
"The colour purple" and Black Boy; two very similar pieces
"I don't know how to fight, all I know is how to stay alive" said Celie, role played by Whoopi Goldberg in the movie "The Colour Purple" directed by Steven Spielberg. Unlike Celie, Richard, main character from the autobiographical novel Black Boy written by Richard Wright, does fight for his rights and tries to seek justice in order to become successful throughout the entire novel ."..yet I felt that I had to go somewhere and do something to redeem my being alive" (p. 170). Celie and Richard, although being very different characters, share three main problems; they are surrounded by racism, violence and lack of affection. By analysing the racist events from the movie and the novel, the violence suffered by all the characters and how much they are in the need of affection, it is obvious that both characters suffer and are surrounded by the same problems.
It was very tough for blacks in United States of America around the 1900's to fit into society, why? Because they were not white. Racism has always been a very big issue around the world, not only between blacks and whites, but also between blacks, which are the two main types of racism found in both the novel and the movie. Whites, in the novel, believed that black men were worthless, therefore "if you two niggers are lying, I'll kill both of you" (p.223) showing that whites do not care about black people and that they have the right to kill them for such a small sin, even though whites do it all the time. Mrs. Millie, the mayor's wife in the movie, obviously white, asks Sofia, a black woman, if she wants to be her maid. What this proves is that white people believe that blacks are inferior because it is certain that if Sofia were white, Mrs. Millie would have never asked her to be her maid, but because of the difference in their skins, she believes that Sofia needs a job and the only job they are good at, is at being maids. Obviously, Sofia feels insulted and answers back rudely. Consequently, Sofia ends up spending 8 years of her life in prison because she answered back to the mayor's wife, being a clear example of racism because whites can insult, beat up, humiliate etc... blacks, and nothing is done to punish them. Another example of racism in the book is when .".. I felt something hard and cold smash me between the eyes. It was an empty whisky bottle...Nigger, ain't you learned no better sense'n that yet? ... Ain't you learned to say sir to a white man yet"" (p. 182 + 183) confirming that whites do feel superior to blacks as well as in the right to injure a black man because he treats both races equally. Albert, Celie's husband, is constantly threatening her for no reason, only because she is a woman, he believes that he is superior to her and therefore terrorize her with his behaviour, to such extent that "if you cut me, I kill you" making Celie very scared. Whites, in the autobiography, already have a place for blacks in society and nothing is going to make them change what they already think, for example:
"A what"" she demanded.
"A writer," I mumbled.
"For what""
"To write stories," I mumbled defensively.
"You'll never be a writer," she said. "Who on earth put such ideas into your nigger head"" (p. 174)
Showing that even though the white woman had not read the stories, she already knew that because he was black, he could not be a writer. Albert also discriminates Celie because "you're ugly, you're black, you're poor and you're a woman" making it clear how Albert, although being black himself, discriminates Celie for being black and a woman. Besides Celie, Richard as well suffers this type of racism. One of the examples is when he is about to graduate and is chosen as valedictorian:
"Well, Richard Wright, here's your speech" he said...
"But, professor, I've written my speech already," I said.
"Listen, boy, you're going to speak to both white and coloured people that night. What can you alone think of saying to them? You have no experience..." (p. 175)
Clearly demonstrating that although Richard believes he is capable of making a good speech, his professor supposes the opposite only because he is black, making this conversation a clear act of racism. These events make it clear that intolerance is an element which is always present in both of their lives. However, not only racism is part of Richard's and Celie's living, violence also plays a big role in their everyday life.
Violence is something that cannot be ignored, it happens everywhere and every minute, in the movie and novel is something which is particularly noticeable. Celie is so used to Albert beating her up for any little mistake she makes, that she ends up thinking that the best solution to solve any type of problem is by beating that person up. This is why she advices Harpo to beat up his wife, Sofia, since he cannot handle her. In the novel, violence is also clearly seen, when Richard .".. was lashed so hard and long that I lost consciousness" (p. 5) because he had burnt the house. Since the beginning of the autobiography, it is clear how violent people are. Celie is constantly being abused, not only physically, but also mentally because of the bad treatments she receives from her family, excluding Nettie, he sister, but she decides that it is "better not never tell nobody but God" because she is afraid that her abusers will do something worse if she tells anybody, showing how violence can affect not only ones body, but also ones mind, in this case, it makes Celie afraid of any serious consequence if she tells anybody about the abuses that are going on. Richard, trying to obey his father, decides to kill the kitten, as he was ordered, but by doing this, his father gets mad and tells Richard to .".. get out of my eyes before I smack you down!" (p. 10) showing that it is the parents the ones who teach him wrongly in this particular case, because if he did not obey, he probably would have beaten him anyway. Albert "beat me when you not here [Shung]... he beat me for not being you" meaning that Albert does not really have a reason for beating Celie up, it is just because he has nothing better to do. Violence in between the family is not only present in the movie, in Richards family "there were more violent quarrels in our deeply religious home than in the home of a gangster ... granny bore the standard for God, but she was always fighting." (p. 135) What this proves is that although Richard's family boasts of being a religious and very proper family, they are always fighting and being rude and violent to each other, even Aunt Addie "stung my palm until it was red, then lashed me across my bare legs until welts rose." (p. 104) only because "there were tiny bits of walnut meat scattered about;" (p. 103). Similarly to Celie's position, where Albert beats her up for no valid reason. These examples show how in both the book and the movie, violent behaviour is constantly surrounding both main characters. Even though violence is a very important issue in both, the main characters also face another type of problem, this being that they are in need of affection.
Affection is something that everybody needs throughout their lives so they can have a happier and better day. Unfortunately, Celie and Richard never really receive any type of affection. For Celie, it is very hard to live far away from her sister, the only one that really loves her; nobody else gives her any loving, she only receives abuses and rudeness from the rest of her family. Shung decides to sing a song to Celie and it is the first time that she feels loved by someone else. Richard is desperate to get some affection from his mother; therefore, he decided to join the church, not because he believed in God, but because he knew that this would please his mother, so he did. Celie is also desperate for some affection; she is so desperate that she becomes friends with Shung, the woman with whom her husband is having an affair with, but because Shung is the only one that has really showed some type of affection to her, she ignores this fact. Richard decides to get a job in order to help his mother because she cannot work therefore does not bring enough money to the house. When Richard tells the rest of his family, they do not agree but he confronts them "but my mother smiled when I told her I had defied them" (p. 144) is one of the only places where his mother shows some type affection. Both characters have never had real affection from anyone; this is why they both try desperately to find it anywhere and however they can.
Injustice against Richard, discrimination against Celie, clashes in between their families make it obvious that violence, racism and lack of affection are three elements that are always present in their lives. Racism not only happens between whites and blacks, but also between blacks, like in the movie and in the book, but many other types of racism exist nowadays. Not long ago, the Nazis discriminated Jews for no valid reason, only because they were not catholic, and even though many claim that there is no racism today, every once in a while there are some acts of racism witnessed in the news. Violence between families is quite common today, not just parents hitting their kids, but in many cases, men beating up their wives, as observed very often in Spanish news. Although Black Boy and "The Colour Purple" are pieces situated quite long ago, the world has not changed so much and things continue being as they used to be, the only difference is that these events are usually not shown publicly.
This is the complete article, containing 1,699 words
(approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page).
