Alice Walker (1944) ranks among the greatest American writers of the twentieth century. Through her novels Meridian and the color Purple, Alice outlines many issues concerning the effect of authoritarian thinking upon its often innocent victims, and the possibility of meaningful, productive resistance. Walker's texts aim at giving a voice to those who have no voice especially those poor, rural black women who are robbed of power and the right to make decisions about their own lives by a range of forces standing against them. These texts also aim at clarifying how Walker's female protagonists, Meridian and Celia try to free themselves from oppression, misery , fear and underestimation by men in the Patriarchal society.
Walker's heroines nevertheless articulate clear visions not just of the wrongs they face, but also of the hope and strength that cannot be quenched within them. In 1976, walker's second novel, Meridian, was published . The novel dealt with activist workers in the South during the civil rights movement, and closely paralleled some of Walker's own experiences. In 1982, Walker published what has become her best-known work, the color Purple. The novel follows a young troubled black woman fighting her way through not just racist white culture but patriarchal black culture as well.
Walker has been described as an activist who is a defender not only of human rights but of all people. Walker through her effective style presents how African American woman who have been treated as slaves , will rebel and achieve brighter future life.
