Aspects of racism and feminism in Mules and Men By Zora Neale Hurston And The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Abstract

African American literature rose and was brought up in the midst of controversies, plotting and a jeopardizing policy. It has been written by African American writers about their issues. It emerged in a time when the blacks were in need of a means of representation to their pathetic lives. But this literature did not convey all Africans’ problems since it neglected the women’s needs and desires. It dealt with men’s issues only; this is why a new genre of literature called African American female literature was introduced. Female African American literature is all literature written by black African women concerning their own problems and experiences and what they were going through because being black and female was not an easy task. So, writers such as Tony Morrison, Lucy Terry, Zora Hurston, Alice Walker...etc decided to speak up for their rights and choose the pen and words as their weapon against injustice. Though Mules and Man and The Color Purple were not published in the same period, they do share common points that characterize the black female literature. Zora Neale Hurston and Alice Walker were born in different time but within the same community and under the same life condition. Never meeting each other, the two novelists are linked together and Walker has decided to follow Hurston’s path. Mules and Man 270 pages long published in 1935 by Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) who was born in Eatonville Florida and The Color Purple 300 pages long published in 1982 by Alice Walker born in 1944 in Eatonton Georgia. The two novels focus upon themes that have a relationship with their society; being a woman of colour; they are suffering from both oppression and discrimination; they explore racism and feminism within the black community and give a truthful image about black characters.