About five years have passed. Harpo was twelve when he gashed Celie’s head on her wedding day; now he is seventeen. Celie is about twenty-five, and Mr. ________ has just beaten her again. Mr.________’s answer about why he beats Celie is tyrannical; in essence, he states that Celie is stubborn […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Letter 13

After the pain of most of the preceding letters, this letter seems almost like comic relief. Mr.________’s two sisters come to inspect the new bride, and they gossip like a pair of nosy neighbors about what a tacky person their brother’s first wife was (the one who was killed by […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Letter 12

Nettie’s running away from home to Mr. ________’s house reunites the sisters and helps bond them even more firmly together with sustaining love. Nettie is able to help her overworked sister with the household chores and, more important, with her schooling. Nettie deeply wants to teach, and Celie is deeply […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Letter 11

Celie’s trip into town with Mr. _______ is exciting and stimulating for her because, as a country woman, she has a chance to observe these seemingly sophisticated townspeople: “I never seen so many even at church. Some be dress too.” The townspeople, however, are not sophisticated. They drive into town […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Letter 10

Here, we realize that Celie doesn’t write to God about packing her things, or about her wedding ceremony, or even about moving into a new home. Her opening lines concern violence: “I spend my wedding day running from the oldest boy.” On Celie’s wedding day, this twelve-year-old hellion, who will […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Letter 9

The significance of this letter lies in its rendering of the especially close relationship that exists between Nettie and Celie. Nettie’s trying to persuade their father into letting Celie attend school is strong evidence of her deep, maternal compassion for her sister and her concern for her sister’s future. Celie […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Letter 8

This letter emphasizes the fact that Celie is powerless to refuse to marry any man whom Fonso chooses as her husband. And Fonso is ready to get rid of her. Celie offers herself to Fonso, instead of Nettie, so that he can have sex while his new wife is sick. […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Letter 7

In this letter, we realize that Celie may be unschooled, but she has a deep intuitive sense; we will see evidence of this throughout the book. For example, Celie isn’t convinced that Fonso’s objections to Nettie’s marrying Mr. ________ have anything to do with the truth of the matter. Celie’s […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Letter 6

In this letter to God, Celie confides that life is still unjust; Fonso beats her for flirting in church. Flirting with men, Celie tells God, is something completely foreign to her nature. She is frightened of men — and for good cause. The men in her life have been brutal […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Letter 5

Here, we discover that God has seemingly fulfilled Celie’s hopes. Celie tells him that her father has married a woman about sixteen years old who comes from a neighboring town. They have sex frequently, and Celie’s new stepmother has taken over the responsibility for all of Fonso’s children. We can […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Letter 4