الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 114 |  |  |
| | | from | 114 | | |
Abstract
This thesis is divided into three chapters and a conclusion. The first chapter deals with the myth of Voodoo and how it is used in The Color Purple to offer a definite outlet for its uneducated black heroine, to put an end to her miserable life with her husband. The chapter introduces an explanation of Voodoo and the different gods invoked to help their believers in attaining justice against oppression. The second part of the chapter analyzes different episodes in the novel that show the heroine’s use of Voodoo as a means of her empowerment. The second chapter deals with the myth of shamanism in the second novel which is The Temple of My Familiar. The first part of the chapter explains the myth of shamanism and how it is mainly used in African cultures to heal physical diseases and spiritual trauma through the communication with spirits. Walker’s heroine in this novel is an African Goddess who brings about healing to other characters in the story through reconnecting them to their pasts. This brings us back to the question of my research in how far our own historical roots can secure our present existence when one is surrounded with an oppressive environment. The second part of the chapter provides some analysis of the novel choosing some situations where shamanistic healing occurs for the characters. Walker assigns the process of healing to an African Goddess who represents the origin of wisdom and spiritual recovery. Walker wants to prove that shamanism had been African women’s essential profession before Western civilization intruded upon their world trying to bury this sacred knowledge by obliterating women of color through burning and enslaving them. The third chapter deals with two myths which are the ancestral spirits and the Goddess worship in the last novel in this thesis which is By the Light of My Father’s Smile. This particular novel was dismissed by many critics for its overt sexuality and the claim that it is full of the celebration of pagan religions. The chapter offers an explanation of these two myths and how Walker employed them to clarify the novel’s theme which is the importance of reconciliation between fathers and daughters to prevent disruption of African American familial relationships