Christianity in the Lives of Unfortunate Women
             Christianity is known to be one of the most universal doctrines of religion practiced throughout the world. It has been seen through the years as the basis of cultural identity in many societies as well as the basis of self-identity in respects to self-transformation in the hopes for a better world of the way of living. In the novels, Comfort Woman and The Color Purple, Christianity is shown in two extremes of influence and empowerment through two women, Celie and Akiko. Both women become victims to male domination to the extent of sexual and violence abuse. Through these horrid experiences, Christianity functions as a tool of salvation, colonization, and domination in their journeys in life. However, it can be argued that Christianity was in fact more of a positive drive through Celie's eyes rather than in the eyes of Akiko. In the novel The Color Purple, Celie embraces her world around her faith in God to which she believes is the reason of her existence, the drive in life. Although Akiko views Christianity, or in this case "the mission", as a tool of colonization, she neither embraces nor accepts it as a faith of her own. Through these two women and the women who play powerful roles in their lives, Christianity is viewed as a function of hope and salvation in one light and a function of weakness, loneliness, and hypocritical in another light.
             With every obstacle comes the essence of hope for a successful completion, with every day that Celie is faced with abuse and degradation of her self-being, comes her impeding faith in God for strength to drive on. In the novel The Color Purple, Celie's character is shown to be the epitome of obedience and patience, even in her journey with Christianity. Christianity in this sense is powerfully portrayed to be the driving force of Celie's existence. As it is seen throughout the novel, Celie has engrossed her...