Authors

& Portrayal Of Women Essay, Research Paper

Female Authors and the Portrayal of Women

In writing, each individual has a unique style; one that they can call their own.

The kind of style and the quality of the story is what separates a good writer from an

extraordinary writer. As part of my research process, I have read a number of books

written by female authors. I chose to research the unique style of writing that each author

uses and the way women are portrayed in these books. The writing styles of these women all

varied and were all interesting to read, however my personal favorite was The Color Purple

written by Alice Walker.

The authors of the books I chose to write about had much in common. For example,

these female authors had some similarities in the way women are portrayed in their books. All

the authors, from Susanna Kaysen to Alice Walker wrote stories that dealt with all different

types of women who came from various backgrounds and situations that were hard to deal

with. Their strength is truly admirable. The women in these stories demonstrated great

strength and courage in the handling of their situations.

As mentioned, my favorite story of the ones I researched was The Color Purple by

Alice Walker. Alice Walker is a very well known, female author of African American decent.

She is the brilliant author of six novels and has received a Pulitzer Prize for The Color Purple.

Other similarities the authors shared amongst one another was the pain and emotion

that was expressed so well in their writing. The choice of words and the language used truly

brings the heartache of these women to life. Women in these novels were mistreated and were

put into a place in their lives where they no longer felt the strength to continue or move on

from where they are. My research is based on how the strength of these women progress

throughout the novels.

Alice Walker s writing style in The Color Purple is truly unique. The story is told

through a series of letters that the main character, Celie, writes to God. There are also letters

from a certain other character, Nettie, scattered throughout the book. Through these letters,

Walker allows the reader to feel the pain and emotion that the characters are expressing. She

shows what life is like for an average, poor, black girl growing up with an abusive father and

later on having to go through a rough life. It starts out with a young, black girl, Celie, who is

abused by her father when she is young. And because of the fact that she has no mother, she

feels that it is her job to protect her younger sister, Nettie, from also being abused by their

father. When Celie grows up and marries a man named Albert (who is only identified as Mr.

_______), she continues to be abused by him. As years go by, Celie mindlessly works harder and harder for her husband. One day she finally decides that it would be best for her if she left

Albert. She builds up her courage and finally tells him that she is leaving him. This seems to be

a very difficult time for Celie, but she manages to make it through. He does not allow her to

leave and orders her to stay, but she leaves him anyway. After years have gone by allowing

Celie to forget her past, she decides to go back to her old home. She pays a visit to Albert,

Harpo and Sofia (her step-daughter). She finds that both Albert and Harpo have changed

drastically. However, to her surprise, their changes were for the better. Albert no longer has

the attitude he had when she left him. He works hard to make money, raise the children and

keep the house clean with food on the table. He even tells her that he realizes what a fool he

was for letter her leave and for treating her the way he did. Celie seems to be the cause for the

change in Albert s life. If she had never left him, he would have never realized what a great

thing he had and what she did for him.

Through this story, Alice Walker demonstrates the strength that Celie held within her

to endure the most harsh situations. She shows how one woman had to deal with abuse

everyday of her life and had no control over it. Finally, after years of suffering one person

comes along and makes her realize that she really did have control over her life and that she

had it in her to change the way she was living.

Alice Walker specializes in the type of writing that portrays women as strong, hard-

working individuals that make a great effort to relieve themselves from their difficult lives.

The Color Purple is written as an epistolary novel. This means that the story is told through

letters. These letters show the different voices and personalities of each individual character.

Susanna Kaysen s Girl , Interrupted is told from the writers own perspective. It is read more like a diary of her personal thoughts rather than a story or biography. It fluctuates between her own voice and the voice of her fellow patients. She comments on her view of her life and the things

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