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ASND and TCP comparisons - Coggle Diagram
ASND and TCP comparisons
Authorial methods
TCP:
- Narrative structure
- Epistolary
- Multiple narrators (Nettie and Celie)
- First person
ASND:
- Dramatic structure
- Chronology
- Claustrophobic setting (apartment)
- Plastic theatre (piano)
Context
TCP:
- 1909-1947
- Development of civil rights
- Published in 1982 - retrospective
- Some back men felt it was unfair to black men and continued violent stereotypes
- Walker coined the term womanism
ASND:
- 1947
- Stanley involved in WW2
- Women pushed into housewife role despite economic freedom during the war as workers
- Blanche based off Williams' sister who was lobotomised
- Williams was gay - Alan
Oppression
TCP:
- Suffering becomes a catalyst for identity formation
- Celie's narrative is epistolary so actively processes trauma
- Walker reflects Black feminist thought that oppression can be resisted
ASND:
- Suffering leads to psychological fragmentation
- Blanche's dialogue becomes increasingly disjointed, fragmented and performative - metaphorical death
Williams reflects post-war disillusionment - fragility of the individual psyche
- Both texts foreground female suffering but Walker frames it as a means of self-construction, whereas Williams presents it as fundamentally destabilising
Patriarchy
TCP:
- The patriarchy is challenged and structured
- Walker shows patriarchy intersecting with race and class - a system that can be dismantled collectively
ASND:
- The patriarchy pervasive and inescapable
- Williams presents patriarchy through Stanley as naturalised masculine dominance
- Both writers critique patriarchal dominance, but only Walker imagines the possibility of sustained resistance
Female solidarity
TCP:
- Female solidarity is transformative
- Celie's growth is relational (Shug, Nettie, Sofia)
- Shug acts as a catalyst for Celie's self worth and sexual awakening
- Walker demonstrates womanism
ASND:
- Female bonds are unstable and subordinate to the patriarchy
- Blanche and Stella's relationship deteriorates under male pressure
- Stella's decision to remain with Stanley shows prioritisation of desire and security over sisterhood
- Walker constructs female relationships as a source of liberation, whereas Williams presents them as vulnerable to patriarchal disruption
Reality vs Illusion
TCP:
- Walker demonstrates confronting the truth leads to liberation
- Celie's journey involves uncovering hidden truths (letters, identity, abuse)
- Motif of letters - truth, communication, suppressed voices
ASND:
- Illusion becomes a psychological survival mechanism
- Stanley represents reality and blanche is a foil to him symbolising fantasy
- Blanche constructs a theatrical persona to cope with trauma
- Motif of light - Blanche avoids it and has a fear of exposure
- Walker aligns truth with empowerment, whereas Williams presents illusion as both protective and ultimately destructive
Violence
TCP:
- Violence is explicitly condemned and resisted
- Leads to eventual rebellion and independence
- Critique of historical abuse of black women - double oppression
ASND:
- Violence is embedded within social norms
- Violence is intertwined with sexual desire and reconciliation and is normalised
- Reflects the tolerance of domestic violence in mid-century America
- Both texts expose the prevalence of male violence, but only Walker offers a clear trajectory away from it