摘 要

爱丽斯·沃克于 1982 年完成长篇书信体小说《紫颜色》。该书讲述了一名黑人妇女西丽在其朋友,尤其是妹妹的帮助下，最终获得真正自由与独立。全书冲突的描写，不仅向读者展示了黑人，尤其是黑人妇女的反抗，而且向我们展示了黑人妇女通过抗争获得真正的独立与自由。本文主要从人与人、人与社会以及人与自我三方面分析探讨在《紫颜色》中的冲突描写，从而进一步展示艾丽斯·沃克所表达的一贯主张：妇女只有通过不断抗争、相互关心与支持才能摆脱世俗的枷锁，获得真正的独立与自由。

关键词：爱丽斯·沃克；《紫颜色》；冲突；反抗；独立

Contents

1. Introduction 1
   1. A brief introduction to the author and the novel 1
   2. A brief introduction to conflict of plot 1
2. Demonstration 2
   1. An analysis of conflicts between characters 2
      1. Celie’s fight against her husband Mr 3
      2. Sofia’s fight against her husband Harpo 4
   2. An analysis of conflicts between the character and the society 5
      1. Sofia’s fight against the oppression of the white mayor family 5
      2. Nettie’s fight against the racial and gender oppression in Africa 6
   3. An analysis of conflicts between the character and himself/herself 7
      1. The gradual awakening of Celie’s fighting spirit 8
      2. Harpo’s love for and strong control over his wife Sofia 9
3. Conclusion 10

Works Cited 11

Bibliography 12

An Analysis of Conflict in The Color Purple

Introduction

• 1. A brief introduction to the author and the novel

As praised by Harold Bloom as “a wholly representative writer of and for our current era”. (Bloom 1), Alice Walker is a well-known American novelist, short story writer, poet, and activist. In particular, Alice Walker is a feminist, or in her words, she is fighting on behalf of womanism, the term which she coined to represent the “ black females”. Alice Walker shows her great concern for the black females in her works, including In Love and Truth: Stories of Black Women (1973), Meridian (1976), The Color Purple (1982), and The Temple of My Familiar (1989).

The Color Purple, published in 1982, is highly acclaimed as one of the great classics of Western Feminist Literature. It was after the publication of this novel that Alice Walker won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983. This novel tells us the story of a black girl Celie. She was raped by her stepfather at the age of 14 and gave birth to two children, both of whom were sent to other people by her stepfather. What was worse, in order to rescue her younger sister Nettie, Celie was forced to marry Mr. , who treated Celie roughly. Celie, the weak young girl, didn’t dare to fight against her husband at first. She had no choice but to endure everything. Fortunately, with the help of Mr. ’s lover Shug Avery and with the encouragement from her sister Nettie, who escaped to Africa, Celie gradually screwed up courage to fight against her husband. Eventually, Celie left her husband, started her own business and lived a happy life with her children and Nettie.

• 1. A brief introduction to conflict of plot

“In literature, the literary element conflict is an inherent incompatibility between the objectives of two or more characters or forces. Conflict is the confrontation of actions, ideas, desires, or wills. In the plot of a novel, there are usually more than one conflict.” (Shao and Bai 22) Used to create tensions, conflicts should be so intense as to arouse readers’ interests and give them anxiety. Conflicts may be internal or

external, that is to say, it may occur within a character’s mind or between a character