With Fonso’s death, Nettie and Celie can enjoy financial security, a matter that the two sisters never considered before; in fact, they have never before had any place that they could call “home.” In keeping with her basic, sturdy humility, Celie has never even thought about having a home of […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 82-85Summary and Analysis Letters 80-81
Letter 80 is a rich storehouse of all the themes of the novel. The three most significant themes discussed are male and female relationships, African and black American relationships, and personal independence. Concerning the second of these themes, you should be aware that Samuel and Nettie (now that Corrine is […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 80-81Summary and Analysis Letters 73-79
Having thrown off Fonso and Albert’s vicious domination, Celie’s newfound strength begins to crumble. Why? she asked God in the first letter she wrote to him, and now, she asks why again. Long before Job, people who were victims of injustice cried out to their gods and, when they got […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 73-79Summary and Analysis Letters 70-72
“Unbelief is a terrible thing. And so is the hurt we cause others unknowingly,” Nettie writes in an insightful and meaningful revelation. Corrine refuses to believe that Celie is the mother of Olivia and Adam; she says that she cannot even remember meeting Celie (Letter 10). In addition, Nettie realizes […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 70-72Summary and Analysis Letters 68-69
The discovery that Fonso is not her father stuns Celie. Her sense of the family unit has been negated. She must mourn for her unknown, natural father, killed unjustly, and a mother who was both demented and weak, and Celie must also accept the fact that she was the victim […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 68-69Summary and Analysis Letters 62-67
One of the themes running throughout The Color Purple concerns sex roles. Whether the problem of sex roles focuses on Harpo and Sofia, or on Albert and Celie, or on Grady and Shug, there is always a clear-cut sexual division of labor, and tensions usually arise when one half of […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 62-67Summary and Analysis Letters 59-61
Only one matter deeply worries Celie now — the matter of incest; she believes that her own father is the father of her two babies. According to folklore, Adam and Olivia may grow up to be retarded. This fear will be alleviated eventually, but because Celie can now hope to […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 59-61Summary and Analysis Letters 52-58
The notion of “chance” plays a major role in this novel; already we have seen that Fonso’s chance perversion of values caused Celie, and not Nettie, to be married to Albert. But Albert’s mistress was (by chance) Shug Avery, who was, first, responsible for slowly instilling in Celie a sense […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 52-58Summary and Analysis Letters 49-51
These three letters are filled to the brim with joy and hope and promise. Celie tells God that she finally holds a letter from Nettie. Nettie’s letter with the funny-looking stamps is proof that not only is Nettie alive, but that Celie’s babies — Olivia and Adam — are also […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 49-51Summary and Analysis Letters 46-48
The reappearance of Shug, now with a husband, reawakens Celie’s interest in herself. Unlike the years when she didn’t mind being plain and ragged (because “it bees that way sometimes”), Celie now minds a lot. Shug is back, and Shug has reawakened Celie’s sense of values. Now, however, the sight […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 46-48