Essay on Interrelation of Domestic Violence and White Oppression in the Novel of Alice Walker “The Third Life of Grange Copeland”
A strong desire to feel more like a man is a widely spread phenomenon. The book of Alice Walker vividly describes this phenomenon in her book “The Third Life of Grange Copeland”. Thus, the first scene between son and father after Brownfield’s imprisonment, Grange Copeland gives a bright definition of masculinity and manhood and emphasizes the responsibility for one’s actions. Grange feels sorry that he had tried to assert his masculinity by using Josie and leaving his wife. In the third life, Grange Copeland makes another definition of manliness and manhood in terms of total devotion to children and wife and a commitment to one’s family duties despite racial oppression. Before Grange left his wife, he used to beat her and thus wanted to express his manhood. However, this was not a way out. When he returns back to the family, he starts appreciating his wife and considers that there was nothing as dear as his family. Thus, Grange Copeland seems to have understood that using physical force against women is not the way of showing masculinity and it is surely right.
The correlating point underlined by Alice Walker in her novel is the necessity for Whites to be responsible for their unjust and inappropriate behavior towards African-Americans. In an attempt to explain this point, it needs to be said that Grange Copeland was extremely dissatisfied with the discrimination of Whites against African-Americans, but could do nothing about that. Thus, he started showing his manhood by beating his wife, just to show that he is a strong man. In such a way, the major idea of Alice Walker was to show that African-Americans often used violence against their own family during the times of racial oppression directed on their nation. The following research deals with the theme of manhood that penetrates the novel of Alice Walker on the example of the stories of Grange and Brownfield. The research deals with the theme of using force and violence within the families of African-Americans during the severe times of oppression directed on them. The examples of Brownfield and Grange vividly show that they used extreme measures directed against their wives in order to express their own masculinity and not realizing that it is not a way out.
It is important to pay more attention to the reason of why the male characters in the novel of Alice Walker abuse and badly treat women. The reason for such behavior is their reaction to how they themselves are treated by the white society. In fact, since the times of slavery, African-Americans has always been undermined and abused by Whites. And the novel of Alice Walker gives bright examples of such mistreatment. Jenkins presumes that black male characters strive for masculinity as well as “manhood through the reaction of a patriarchy in their own homes” (Walker, 101). All this produces a conclusion that domestic violence among Black people is often grounded on white racism.
Nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind that although the author explains the actions of the main characters of the book, she does not excuse their violent actions towards their wives. Instead, Alice Walker shows what happens or may happen if such behavior is accepted. This leads to the destruction of the entire lives of men who choose to mistreat and abuse their women trying to show masculinity and reveal manhood in an indecent way.
Life constantly changes around us and we are forced to change ourselves as well. The Third Life of Grange Copeland examines the life of the main character and analyzes the changes of a man in his struggle to survive. No one will doubt that in the darkest times when everything seems unbearable and some problems seem too hard to solve, only those who love you most will help you overcome difficulties and support your actions in any situation. Thus, it becomes clear that in the severest time of our life, we should keep closer to our family in order to deal with the hardships of life. This is what the character of Alice Walker, Grange Copeland has understood after leading an indecent life and severely beating his own wife. Seemingly, he finally realized that using violence was not a way out at all.
Here, it is important to mention that The Third Life of Grange Copeland contains a number of features that help readers understand the motives of the main characters in terms of using violence within one’s family (Jenkins, 63). The key point is that it raises vital questions of race relations, domestic violence and gender. The main characters of the novel are Brownfield Copeland and his father Grange. The author takes readers through forty years of the relationship between father and son as well as their relationships with different women. Here, the author shows the role of manhood in the lives of these two characters. From the very beginning, Alice Walker emphasizes the domestic violence in the family of Grange and Brownfield on the example of the abuse caused by Grange towards his mother Margaret. As the novel goes on, Brownfield grows up and turns into a bitter young fellow who starts searching his father who has left the family to start a new life in the North. Brownfield enters into relations with one of Grange’s old girlfriends, Josie, but still he eventually marries Mem, Josie’s niece. However, Brownfield seems to have started treating his own wife just like his father used to treat his wife. At first, he is severely beating her, and eventually he ends up committing a crime of killing his own wife. As a result, Brownfield is imprisoned for murdering his wife. At this time, Grange comes back from the North and realizes that there is nothing more important than love for one’s own family. He seems to have realized that beating his wife and using violence against the beloved woman does not help a man to show his masculinity. Walker manages to not simply criticize showing manhood by means of using force against women, but also show the possibilities of a great number of masculinities, exposing certain highly negative repercussions (Jenkins, 76).
While reading the book of Alice Walker, it becomes clear that love for the family stands behind all actions taken by Grange, but only after he realized his mistakes and his indecent behavior against his wife. The thesis for this paper would be the question of struggle of a Black man in the attempt to show his manhood within the family as a result of living in the severe world among White people. The questions raised by Alice Walker are interrelated. Thus, it becomes clear that one can show masculinity not only among close and beloved people, but also within society that sometimes creates challenges.
In such a way, the questions of white repression and manhood are interrelated in the novel of Alice Walker. The author vividly depicts the results of white oppression and longing for manhood and manliness. The author writes that Brownfield beats Mem simply because it makes him “feel good about himself” (Walker, 55). This shows that Brownfield tries to show his manhood by accepting violent actions towards beloved people.
Furthermore, it is important to note that Grange experiences totally different feelings living in the South where he is oppressed and in the North where he is treated better and not perceived as inferior. And thus, the rate of domestic violence in the North is much lower than in the South. This is also what Alice Walker tries to express in her novel.
The problems of white oppression and mistreatment of women are interrelated. Thus, Grange first beats and then kills a woman, but nevertheless, he eventually realizes that there is nothing as dear and precious as his own family. On the other hand, Brownfield also tries to show his manhood by beating his own wife, and this tendency shown by Walker on the example of a father and his son vividly expresses the idea that Black men try to show their manhood and be more like real men by using physical force against unprotected women.
In conclusion, it is worth saying that Alice Walker interweaves the questions of white oppression and the matter of domestic violence among Black people. The bright example of the latter is the fact that Grange and Brownfield used physical force against their wives and treated them violently simply to be more like real men and thus, show their manhood. On the whole, the paper has analyzed the key points of the novel in terms of violence against Black people and violence against women within the African-American society. In this regard, domestic violence has in most cases been caused by the aggression of Blacks towards White people and concurrently their attempt to show their manhood. In general, the question of manhood, masculinity and patriarchy is pervasive and can be analyzed in different ways. The paper contains only few examples of how longing for manhood influences the behavior of men and treatment of women. It should be admitted that African-American men experience psychological violence of the supremacist ideology of White people. And thus, Blacks are trying to show their masculinity at least within their own family members making them experience violence as well and at their own hands.
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