These letters are structured with irony. It is painfully ironic that Sofia leaves prison only to become the one thing that she absolutely refused to become: a white woman’s maid. And the irony is compounded by the fact that she must watch over Miss Millie’s children and not her own. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 43-45Summary and Analysis Letters 41-42
After Squeak returns, she and Celie have something in common: they both have been raped by a relative. The white warden, of course, doesn’t think that it was wrong to rape his niece — Squeak is black. In the American South, there is an unwritten law that if a person […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 41-42Summary and Analysis Letters 36-40
One of the ways to approach this particular series of letters lies in the idea of “strength” — that is, what does “strong” mean? Does it mean physical might? The evidence in this novel seems to indicate that black men use physical might in order to keep their wives in […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 36-40Summary and Analysis Letters 33-35
These letters are primarily concerned with Celie’s emotional, physical, and geographical isolation and now — because of Shug Avery — these letters focus on Celie’s “awakening” from her isolation. This awakening first begins in Harpo’s jukejoint. Shug is so grateful that Celie has nursed her back to health that she […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 33-35Summary and Analysis Letters 28-32
For the most part, these letters concern Harpo’s aching unhappiness because of the fact that the only role model he has for being a husband and a man is that of his indolent father, Albert. Unfortunately, Harpo thinks that he himself is a failure — simply because he can’t beat […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 28-32Summary and Analysis Letters 22-27
Finally, after years of hearing about, thinking about, and dreaming about the fantastic Shug Avery, Celie is at last going to meet Shug. Walker has classically constructed an “entrance scene” for Shug — that is, novelists and playwrights often like to create intense interest and curiosity about a major character […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 22-27Summary and Analysis Letters 18-21
Celie never learns, or at least she doesn’t tell God, what finally persuades Sofia to marry Harpo and make a home for him and their baby boy. But once they are settled, Celie studies this strange black woman who is unlike any woman whom Celie has ever known. Celie’s word […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 18-21Summary and Analysis Letters 16-17
The focus in these letters is mostly on Harpo. Celie talks about all the hard fieldwork that she and Harpo have done since Mr. ________ returned in a stupor from his rendezvous with Shug. Celie is sensitive to the fact that Harpo is nearly as big and strong as his […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letters 16-17Summary and Analysis Letter 15
Celie’s earthy wisdom, in contrast to her child-like innocence, underscores every line of this short note to God. That is, Celie knows that her husband has a mistress, but she accepts the situation matter-of-factly; at the same time, she never once questions herself (as most women would) about why she […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letter 15Summary and Analysis Letter 14
This letter is filled with Celie’s ecstatic anticipation of Shug Avery’s coming to town — even though Celie herself won’t be going to hear Shug’s performance. Nevertheless, Celie aches just to see, “just to lay eyes on” this beautiful creature from seemingly another world (another star in the universe). Symbolically, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letter 14