Subject of the Study

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the methodology in conducting this study. This chapter consists of three parts. The first part discusses about the subject matter that contains a brief description of the novel. The second part presents the critical approaches used in this study. The third part tells about the research procedure, which discusses the steps done by the writer in conducting the study to answer two questions stated in the problem formulation.

A. Subject of the Study

This study deals with the novel which is written by an Afro-American woman, Alice Walker. The title is The Color Purple. Alice Walker won the Pulitzer Price for this novel. This novel consists of 244 pages. It was published in 1982 by Harcourt Brace Javanovich, New York. This novel consists of 91 letters. These letters were written by the main character, Celie, and also her sister Nettie. In this novel Celie writes 70 letters which are written to God and also addressed to her sister, Nettie. Whereas Nettie, her sister, writes 21 letters all of them addressed to her older sister, Celie. From the letter which Celie wrote to God, she tells about her feeling and also her daily activity, while the letters to Native consists of her interactions with her circumstances includes Sophia, Shug Avery, Mr.___, Harpo,etc and Celie’s opinion about them. Nettie writes letters about her experience in New York and also her journey as a missionary in Africa when she 22 find Celies children which are sold by Celies father. Some of these letters are never sent and they are like diaries. The story takes place in South of America, where most black people live. Some small towns are mentioned in the story which actually lies in the state of Georgia. This novel portrays the condition about the distinction of black and white people also the men and women in the black community. Black people do not have equal status with white people. In black community, women’s positions are always below the men’s position. Men dominate women in every aspect of life. This black community is a place where the main character, Celie, accepts all the pain, not only from the white people who make her as their slave because she is black, but also from her own society. The black male also makes her as a slave to fulfill their sexual needs, taking care of their children and also the field. All of these bad conditions could be seen as a suffering. The main character has to deal with this condition to survive and not to fight or rid off all the pain from the male domination.

B. Approach of the Study