Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Harpo's Personality
By first impression, I imagined that Harpo would be like his father, because of that famous saying, "Father like son". Ironically,the personality of Harpo and his father are completely different. His father, Albert, has a rotten, abusive, and malicious attitude that cannot be overlooked. His father is all about abusing his wife, committing adultery, and male dominance. On the other hand, Harpo is more sensitive and caring. He openly confesses his love toward his independent woman, Sofia, to Celie, and he is less focused on male dominance. Harpos shows love toward his children by giving kisses, which cannot be said for his father. Surprisingly, he also enjoys cooking and doing housework, which his father would have never done. Albert sees his son's gentle personality and attempts to change him. He convinces Harpo about using male dominance by beating his wife, Sofia. Then Harpo starts to beat Sofia, which does not last long. Eventually, Harpo disregarded his father's horrible advice and saves his crumbling marriage. This contrast of personalities is quite interesting to read about, and it is seen hundreds of times in life.
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I thought that Harpo was an interesting addition to the book as well. I was reading earlier and saw a blog that was talking about the two kinds of men that are mentioned in this book. Despite the horrible atrocities that were done to Celie by the countless men in her life, we also see a contrast from them with men like Samuel, Harpo and Adam. It's as if Alice Walker was not just content to simply portray the ugly man, but added the contrast to set a higher standard. This is what men can be, they don't all have to be masogynisic. I also see the addition of the good men as a means to emphasize the atrocious behavior of Celie's father and husband.
ReplyDeleteAs for the idea concerning Harpo, we see a lot of switching in this book. I don't really know the literary term here, but it's a difference of roles. Role reversal maybe? We see a lot of things occur that go against the norm and the expected. Harpo takes the feminine role in the relationship while Sofia takes the man's role (working out in the field, able to beat up her partner). We see Celie falling in love with a woman, much more feminine than herself. We see Adam falling in love with an African.
I agree, but I don't think Harpo was a great man though. I only say that because he had a desire to control Sophia...he wanted to beat her and sought advice from his father on how to do so. I think, more than anything, that Harpo did not like having Sophia controlling situations as much as she did...he wanted to be the dominant man and by showing her that he was, he tried to beat her, becuase to him that was the best thing to do, even if she beat him back!
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