Alice Walker Expect Nothing

Expect nothing. Live Frugally

On Surprise

Become a stranger

To need of Pity

Or, if compassion be freely

Given out

Take only enough

Stop short of urge to plead

Then purge away the need.

Wish for nothing larger

Than your own small heart

Or greater than a star;

Tame wild disappointment

With caress unmoved and cold

Make of it a parka

For your soul

Discover the reason why

So tiny human midget

Exists at all

So scared unwise

But expect nothing. Live Frugally

On Surprise. 

One of the beautiful things about The Color Purple is Celie’s boldness, her ability to conceptualize the world around her asserts her as an intelligent person even though she is not well educated and her character speaks in a way some would deem improper. Like the transformation Celie goes through with the pants, Celie transforms how she sees God . At first Celie has a difficult time believing there was a God out their protecting her, this can bee seen when she reflects upon her misfortunes in life

Yeah I say, and he give me a lynched daddy, a crazy mama, a lowdown dog of a step pa and a sister I probably won’t ever see again (Stowe 192).

The previous passage shows Celie believes God is responsible for having a crazy mother, a stepfather who rapes her, a father who was lynched and a sister whom she loves but feels she will never see again. Celie also believes God doesn’t listen to colored women because if he heard their cries of anguish he would most definitely help them this is shown in the following lines,

Let’ im here me, I say. If he ever listened to poor coloured women the world would be a different place, I can tell you (192).

Shug tells Celie she has never found God in a church and that God is something each person brings with them.

She say, Celie, tell the truth, have you ever found God in a church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I ever felt in church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did too (193).

Celie believes that God is a male and that God is white this can be seen in the lines that follow,

How come he look just like them, then? She say. Only bigger? And a heap more hair. How come the bible just like everything else they make, all about them doing one thing and another, and all the colored folks doing is gitting cursed? (194).

The way Shug feels about God is similar to the way Mary Wollstonecraft feels about God, which is that everything God made is beautiful.

God made it. Listen, God love everything you love- and a mess of stuff you don’t. But more than anything else, God love admiration (196).

By the end of the novel, we see Celie’s perceptions of God have changed, she is able to find hope and beauty in the things around her despite the prejudice and racism she has encountered her entire life.  In her final letter, Celie addresses God as the following,

“Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God ” (285).

I got pants now in every color and size under the sun. Since us started making pants down home, I aint been able to stop. I change the cloth, I change the print, I change the waist, I change the pocket. I change the hem, I change the fullness of the leg. I make so many pants Shug tease me. I didn’t know what I was starting, she say laughing (Walker 211).

The following lines describe the pants that Celie makes Shug, Celie knows that Shug is a performer who is on the road and needs to be comfortable. Shug’s identity as a person is reflected in the pants Celie makes for her.

Then I finally made the perfect pair of pants. For my sugar naturally. They soft dark blue jersey with teeny patches of red. But what make them so good is, they totally comfortable. Cause shug eat a lot of junk on the road, and drink, her stomach bloat. So the pants can be let out without messing up the shape (Walker 212).

Celie makes pants for Odessa’s loving husband Jack ,who is busy raising Sophia. Celie knows that Jack is a good father and his pants as described in the following lines, reflect his identity as a father,

I started to make pants for Jack. They have to be camel. And soft and strong. And they have to have big pockets so he can keep lots of children’s things (Walker 213).

Celie also makes pants for her sister Nettie. Celie knows that Nettie is far away in a hot place so she makes Nettie’s pants comfortable for her lifestyle as a missionary, as seen in the lines that follow, 

Nettie, I am making some pants for you to beat the heat in Africa. Soft, white, thin. Drawstring waist. You won’t ever have to feel too hot and overdress again. I plan to make them by hand. Every Stitch I sew will be a kiss (Walker 214).

John Stuart Mill, much like Mary Wollstonecraft, is in favor of the rights of women. John Stuart Mills text The Subjection Of Women fights for the rights and freedoms of women and calls for a change in society that places men and women as equals. John Stuart Mill believes that the subordination of women is wrong as seen in the following lines,

The principle which regulates the existing social relations between the two sexes-the legal subordination of one sex to the other- is wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement; and that it ought to be replaced by a principle of perfect equality, admitting no power or privilege on the one side, nor disability on the other (Mill  3).

John Stuart Mill feels that the subordination of women by men, is a hindrance to human improvement and until we replace the system of subordination with one that values men and women as equal, we cannot progress as a society.  John Stuart Mill believes that women should have the same freedoms as men and that those who disagree are only hurting all of society; this is demonstrated in the lines that follow,

It is equally unveiling for me to say that those who deny to women any freedom or privilege rightly allowed to men, having the double presumption against them that they are opposing freedom and recommending partially, must be held to the strictest proof of their case, and unless their success be such as to exclude all doubt, the judgment ought to go against them (Mill 4).

John Stuart Mill argues that the way society is structured makes women dependant on their husbands and that the authority of men over women was established without attempting other modes of social organization as seen in these lines,

If the authority of men over women, when first established, had been the result of a conscientious comparison between different modes of constituting the government of society; if, after trying various other modes of social organization- the government of women over men, equality between the two, and such mixed and divided modes of government as might be invented- it had been decided, on the testimony of experience, that the mode in which women are wholly under the rule of men, having no share at all in public concerns, and each in private being under the legal obligation of obedience to the man with whom she has associated her destiny, was the arrangement most    conductive to the happiness of both (Mill 6).

John Stuart Mill also believes that the theory that women are weaker than men is only believed because there has never been a trial to prove otherwise, this belief is shown in the following lines,

In the first place the opinion in favor of the present system, which entirely subordinates the weaker sex to the stronger, rests upon theory only; for their has never been a trial made of any other; so that experience, in the sense which it is vulgarly opposed to theory, cannot be pretended to have pronounced any verdict …It arose simply from the fact that from the very earliest twilight of human society, every woman (owing to the value attached to her by men, combined with her inferiority in muscular strength) was found in a state of bondage to some man (Mill 6).

John Stuart Mill believes that men and women are different in physical strength but that does not necessarily mean that women are weaker beings. John Stuart Mill also believes that it is impossible to make judgments about women’s or men’s nature because they have never existed without each other, this philosophy is demonstrated in the following lines,

Standing on the ground of common sense and the constitution of the human mind, I deny that anyone knows or can know, the nature of the two sexes, as long as they have only been seen in their present relation to one another. If men had ever been found in society without women, or women without men, or if there had been a society of men and women in which women were not under the control of men, something might have been positively known about the mental and moral differences which may be inherent to the nature of each (Mill 22).

The writings of John Stuart Mill remind me of an older type of community where there is no sexual division of labor, men and women work together. John Stuart Mill hopes for a community in which the exploitation of community members at the hands of a few people does not exist. Men and women should work together; their self-esteem should not be based on wealth and possessions but rather on what is done to make society a better place.

John Stuart Mill’s text not only talks about the subjection of women, but also the oppression of slaves. John Stuart Mill argues that it was the banding together of men who protected slavery that allowed it to happen for so long, this is shown in the lines that follow, 

Slavery, from being a mere affair of force between the master and the slave, became regularized and a matter of compact among the masters, who binding themselves to one another for common protection, guaranteed by their collective strength the private possessions of each, including his slaves(Mill  7). 

Although John Stuart Mill does not come right out and say it, he is making an inference that if people could band together and allow something horrible like slavery to occur, they can also change society by banding together to do good. Like Mary Wollstonecraft, John Stuart Mill also argues against absolute control. John Stuart Mill not only believes in equality between men and women but also equality between classes. John Stuart Mill believes that the rule of force is the driving force of society and it disguises itself as moral law as seen in these lines,

If people are mostly so little aware how completely, during the greater part of the duration of our species, the law of force was the avowed rule of general conduct, any other being only a special and exceptional consequence of peculiar ties- and from how very recent a date it is that the affairs of society in general have been even pretended to be regulated according to any moral law; as little do people remember or consider, how institutions and customs which never had any ground but the law of force, last on into ages and states of general opinion which would have permitted their first establishment             (Mill 11).

John Stuart Mill warns people against falling into the trap of morality because often it is used as a tool of oppression. Our Studies of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and The Color Purple show that people often used the bible as a means of justifying slavery and racism. John Stuart Mill tells people that the black race being marked for slavery is not natural but rather an idea created by absolute rulers.

ROM her resting-place by the trader chased,

Through the winter evening cold,

Eliza came with her boy at last,

Where a broad deep river rolled.

 

Great blocks of the floating ice were there,

And the water’s roar was wild,

But the cruel trader’s step was near,

Who would take her only child.

 

Poor Harry clung around her neck,

But a word he could not say,

For his very heart was faint with fear,

And with flying all that day.

 

Her arms about the boy grew tight,

With a loving clasp, and brave;

“Hold fast! Hold fast, now, Harry dear,

And it may be God will save.”

 

From the river’s bank to the floating ice

She took a sudden bound,

And the great block swayed beneath her feet

With a dull and heavy sound.

 

So over the roaring rushing flood,

From block to block she sprang,

And ever her cry for God’s good help

Above the waters rang.

 

And God did hear that mother’s cry,

For never an ice-block sank;

While the cruel trader and his men

Stood wondering on the bank.

 

A good man saw on the further side,

And gave her his helping hand;

So poor Eliza, with her boy,

Stood safe upon the land.

 

A blessing on that good man’s arm,

On his house, and field, and store;

May he never want a friendly hand

To help him to the shore!

 

A blessing on all that make such haste,

Whatever their hands can do!

For they that succor the sore distressed,

Our Lord will help them too.

By creating Marie St Clare as a racist mother, Stowe is able to strengthen the power of Eva’s character. Eva demonstrates a new way of thinking that sees all people as human no matter their skin color, she chooses not to follow in her mothers racist footsteps. Considering Eva’s new way of thinking today, in a time where America has a black president, it is hard to believe that a child seeing blacks as human was a big deal, but it was. Reading novels like Uncle Tom’s Cabin remind us of the severity of the oppression that existed in a time not long ago and also provides an insight into the reason why Black pride is so strong today. The novel reminds us that Social Injustices exist today, if a child can make a difference in the lives of others, so can we. Often times we feel powerless, but remembering that Eva, Mrs. Bird and Rachel Halliday were able to make a difference in a time when women had not even gained the right to vote, is inspiring to the women of today. I have included a page in my blog that give links to websites that get people involved with Social Justice issues of today. Several incidents in the novel show Eva’s compassion towards the black slaves around her and she often openly shows her discontent with how some of the slaves are treated by adults. When Eva is on her deathbed, she wants to share the gift of her gorgeous curls with the people she loves. Eva makes sure that each of the black slaves is treated fairly and gets a curl, even when Eva knows she is going to die, she is not thinking about herself, but what she can do to help others. The following quote shows that Eva’s love for the slaves is based upon the beauty of their inner person, not their skin color.

 

There isn’t one of you who haven’t always been very kind to me; and I want to give you something that, when you look at, you shall always remember me. I’m going to give all of you a curl of my hair; and, when you look at it, think that I loved you and am gone to heaven, and I want to see you all there (Stowe 328).

Another character that believes that the oppression of any human being is wrong is Mrs. Bird. In contrast to her doll like image, Mrs. Bird shows power, strength and independence in her interactions with her husband.  Senator Bird comes home and tells his wife that he voted in favor of the fugitive slave law, a law prohibiting people to help runaway slaves, she is appalled by the law and influences her husband to break the law he just voted on and help Eliza and Harry. The following lines show Mrs. Birds criticism of her husband,

You ought to be ashamed, John! Poor,homeless, houseless creatures! Its shameful,wicked, abominable law, and Ill break it, for one, the first time I get a chance; and I hope I shall have a chance, I do! Things have got to a pretty pass, if a woman cant give a warm supper and a bed to poor, starving creatures, just because they are slaves, and have been abused and oppressed all their lives, poor things! (Stowe 92).

Mrs. Bird chooses the Mary Wollstonecraft way of thinking and becomes a tool of social justice by influencing her husband to be good to slaves. Whereas many people in Uncle Tom’s cabin use religion to support slavery, Mrs. Bird argues that Gods way is to clothe the naked, feed the hungry and comfort those less fortunate regardless of their race.

Although it was many years after Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published that women gained the right to vote, by contrasting white mothers such as Mrs. Bird, Mrs. Halliday and Marie St Clare to black mothers such as Eliza and Prue, Stowe shows the power and privilege that women with white skin had over women with black skin. Eliza is a black slave who works as Mrs. Shelby’s maid, when she discovers that the Shelby’s have run out of money and must sell her only son Harry, she escapes North. When searching for an image of Eliza and Harry crossing the Ohio river most of the illustrations depicted Eliza as a white woman. The illustration I chose was the most authentic to what Eliza may have looked like ,but as you can see she does not appear very black.

Eliza’s extraordinary bravery when she crosses the Ohio River in the dead of winter with her son in her arms defines her as a selfless mother. Eliza does not even have the basic right to be a mother. When Eliza is running towards freedom in Canada and a better life for her child, she is chased by slave catchers. Despite the fact that Eliza could have been killed for wanting a better life for her child, she chooses to escape the fate laid out for her and her son by createing a new identity in Canada. Stowe goes even further into the depths of despair and discrimination towards black mothers through the character of Prue. Prue’s character symbolizes the type of sexual exploitation women faced as slaves. Women slaves were considered legal property of the slave masters and black slave women like Prue were subject to be raped by their masters. Any children that were produced from the rapes took on the slave status of their mother and could be sold into slavery. Most people would classify Prue as a bad slave because of her excessive drinking but we learn Prue’s misery stems from the fact that she lost all of her children to slave-traders who auctioned them off on the slave block. The following story of Prue’s child’s death shows the extreme abuse mothers like Prue faced during slavery.

But Misses tuck sick, and I tended her; and I tuck the fever, and my milk all left me, and the child it pined to skin and bone, and Missis wouldn’t buy milk for it. She wouldn’t hear to me, when I telled her I hadn’t milk. She said she knowed I could not feed it on what other folks eat; and the child kinder pined and cried, and cried, and cried, day and night, and got all gone to skin and bones, and Misses got sot again it, and she said ‘t warn’t nothin’ but crossness. She wished it was dead, she said; and she wouldn’t let me have it o’ nights,’ cause, she said it kept me awake, and made me good for nothing. She made me sleep in her room; and I had to put it away off in the kind o’ garret, and that it cried itself to death                                             (Stowe 248).                 

After imagining the disturbing image of a helpless emaciated infant it is no surprise Prue turns to alcohol as a means to cope. Prue ends up drinking and dieing alone when she is thrown in her slave masters cellar, her death shows the sad realization that not all endings are sentimental especially when you are a female black slave in the 1800’s.

Two years after Uncle Toms cabin was published, Coventry Patmore wrote the poem The Angel in the House, which was a model for how women should behave, modeled after the perfect wife. Two characters that exemplify the Angel in the House are Mrs. Bird and Rachel Halliday. Stowe constructs Mrs. Bird and Rachel Halliday’s characters around the model of loyal wife and good mother. The very way Stowe describes Mrs. Bird and Rachel Halliday shows they are constructed as loving and suggest they are good willed. Mrs. Bird is described in the following lines,

Mrs. Bird was a timid, blushing little woman, about four feet in height, and with mild blue eyes, and a peach bow complexion, and the gentlest, sweetest voice in the world (Stowe 92).

Mrs. Bird feels it is her duty to help Eliza and Harry escape to safety, she takes them into her house to protect them for the night and then passes them on to be protected by The Van Trompe sons. Mrs. Bird fits the role of a feminist because she believes in equal rights for all women no matter what race they are. Mrs. Bird’s maternal instincts are triggered by the fact that Eliza is a mother also, the very thought of having a child taken away from their mother drives Mrs. Bird to protect Eliza and her son Harry in whatever ways she can.

Rachel Halliday is described in the following lines

Her face was round and rosy, with a healthful downy softness, suggestive of a ripe peach. Her hair, partially silvered by age, was parted smoothly back from a high placid forehead, on which time had written no inscription, except peace on earth, good will to men, and beneath shone a large pair of clear, honest, loving brown eyes; you only needed to look straight into them, to feel that you saw to the bottom of a heart as good and true as ever throbbed in woman’s bosom (Stowe 154).

Rachel Halliday’s character is also maternal, this is demonstrated when she extends her role as a mother outside of her own children and shelters George, Harry and Eliza when they are running from the
slave catchers. Rachel Halliday is a religious Quaker who risks being punished  to help slaves.   

Stowe contrasts the image of the ideal mother, as seen in Mrs. Bird and Rachel Halliday, with the image of Eva’s mother Marie. Mary Wollstonecraft argues that women are told they are weak and sick therefore that is what they become; Marie St. Clare falls into the trap of believing women are prone to illness and constantly complains about being sick. Marie becomes the embodiment of a bad mother when she becomes jealous of the attention that is showered on her dieing daughter. Unlike the other mothers, Mrs. Bird and Rachel Halliday, Marie St. Clare has no compassion for slaves and deems them lower than human beings. Readers get a good sense of Marie St. Clare’s personality when she is described in the following lines,

Augustine was glad in his heart that he had married so undiscerning a woman; but as the glosses and civilities of the honeymoon wore away, he discovered that a beautiful young woman, who has lived all her life to be caressed and waited on, might prove quite a hard mistress in domestic life. Marie never had possessed much capability of affection, or much sensibility, and the little that she had, had been merged into a most intense and unconscious selfishness; a selfishness the more hopeless, from its quiet obtuseness, its utter ignorance of any claims but her own (Stowe 177).

Marie St. Clare is the type of woman that values physical beauty, the previous quote emphasizes that she does not posses the characteristics of a good mother and that she has become so used to relying on others that she has done little to cultivate her mind.