Book summary

In the first few letters, Celie tells God that she has been raped by her father and that she is pregnant for the second time with his child. Celie's mother is quite ill and after cursing Celie, dies, leaving Celie alone to face her father. Celie then turns her attention to protecting her sister, Nettie, from her father's sexual advances. Celie soon marries Mr. _______ (later called Albert) after her father strikes a bargain with the older widower, and Celie finds herself in a loveless marriage, caring for her husband's four children and being regularly raped and beaten. Celie becomes fixated on Shug Avery, a glamorous blues singer who is her husband's mistress. Several years later, Celie eagerly accepts the responsibility of nursing Shug back to health, thus beginning a lifetime of friendship and love between the two women.

The oldest of Celie's stepchildren, Harpo, marries an independent young women, Sofia, and soon after, Celie encourages Harpo to beat her into submission, just as all men have beaten Celie. Sofia later confronts Celie about this betrayal, but that confrontation leads to a deep and enduring sisterhood, and Sofia remains an independent, strong woman throughout the novel. The two women create a "Sister's Choice" quilt together—the symbolism of quilts permeates much of the novel. Just as scraps of cloth come together to form a new, strong, useful product, so, too, can black women come together to forge a similar strong and useful bond.

Sofia later punches the town's white mayor, an act that lands her in prison and snatches the independence she so values. By this time, she and Harpo have split up and taken other lovers, so the women in Sofia's life take on the responsibility of releasing her from jail. An alliance forms between Celie, Shug, Sofia's sisters, and Squeak, Harpo's mistress. When trying to help Sofia, Squeak is raped by her uncle, the prison warden, but in telling her friends about the rape, she becomes stronger, insisting that she will no longer be called by her nickname and beginning to compose her own blues music. Sofia is able to leave prison, but she finds herself caged nonetheless, working as a maid in a white household.

Meanwhile, Nettie has become a missionary in Africa and has written countless letters to Celie, all of which Albert has hidden. Nettie, in spite of her upbringing, is a self-confident, strong, faith-filled woman. When Celie discovers Nettie's letters, she not only catches up on her sister's life, she also discovers that her own two children are alive and living with a missionary couple with whom Nettie works. Nettie's letters about their shared African heritage are a tonic to Celie, who becomes stronger and more self-assured every day. That confidence soon turns to fury—over her rapes, her beatings, and the love and affection the men in her life have kept from her. Nettie's letters also demonstrate parallels between Celie's world and the African world, including the bond that can develop among the multiple wives of African men, the deep friendship and love that exists between two women, the deep love of a man for a woman, and the unrelenting structure of sex roles.

With her new-found strength, Celie confronts her father, whom she has just learned is her stepfather and not a blood relative, and this brings great relief to Celie, who now know that her children are not her brother and sister. She also confronts Albert, leaves him, and moves to Memphis to live with Shug, a move that stuns and pains Albert. In Memphis, Celie, who started wearing pants when she gained her strength and self-confidence, opens a business as a pantsmaker. Later, after Shug has taken on a male lover, Celie visits Albert, and they develop a new bond that eventually grows into love and respect.

Nettie, still living in Africa, marries the now-widowed man who had adopted her sister's children, thus becoming a mother to her niece and nephew. Later, when Celie's father dies, she and Nettie inherit his home, creating financial freedom for the two women. At the novel's end, the two sisters are reunited, while Albert and Harpo have learned to take on new roles in the household and in their relationships.

Note that the novel's title is alluded to in Letter 12, when Celie associates the color purple with royalty and longs for a purple dress. But the title undoubtedly comes from a passage near the end of the novel, in which Shug says that she believes that it "pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it."

Letters written by Celi to god

1. Celie, a nearly illiterate black Georgia girl, writes a short note to God, confiding to him that she's only fourteen, but already she is burdened with cooking, cleaning, and caring for a multitude of brothers and sisters because of her mother's failing health. In addition, her father has raped her.
2. In Celie's first letter to God, she referred to herself as a girl, in the sense that she was chronologically a girl, and, moreover, she emphasized that she was a "good girl." Other children who are Celie's age may still be literally and chronologically "girls," but we realize here that Celie is a woman. At fifteen, she is pregnant and she is carrying her father's child. Moreover, Celie's current pregnancy is not even Celie's first pregnancy.
   1. In this letter, Walker focuses on two key ideas: first, Celie tells God that she thinks that Fonso took his and Celie's second child, a boy, and sold it to a childless couple. Note here that Celie is relieved that her baby has been sold. Again we are stunned; theoretically, selling black children went out with the abolition of slavery. But we hear this young woman confess to happiness that this extraordinary, inhuman act of "salvation" has, in fact, happened to her baby. This is Walker's way of emphasizing the fact that life with Fonso is a deadly nightmare. Celie is grateful that her baby is far away from Fonso's vicious temper. We realize also that Fonso still has not told Celie precisely what he did with their first baby. At this point in the novel, Fonso seems little more than a one-dimensional, evil and wicked villain.
   2. Celie's happiness because of her new baby's safety is short-lived because she herself is left with unneeded milk in her breasts, and she has no decent clothes to wear. As a result, Fonso becomes hateful and acts "like he can't stand me no more." Accordingly, Fonso's sexual lust turns from Celie to her younger sister Nettie.

Celie's adult-like concern for her younger sister Nettie is the second focus in this letter to God. Celie doesn't want Nettie to be sexually brutalized as she herself has been. She hopes that her father will find a new wife soon because she senses that with a new "mother" around, they will all be happier. Interestingly, Celie's having to act like a mother to Nettie at this time is ironic because of the fact that both girls are so close in age — and yet Celie has already had two children, but both babies have been taken from her; she has never had a chance to be a "real," loving, nurturing mother — except to Nettie.

We see from this letter that Celie still has an incredibly strong faith in God, and selfless as ever, Celie vows to use his help to protect not herself, but to protect Nettie. Celie's selflessness and her lack of lasting bitterness are proof that she is, and will remain, a strong Christian woman. In summary, note again that Celie is not sad about the fate of her second child; as Walker emphasizes, Celie feels glad that her baby is far away from the evil Fonso. Now Celie has only Nettie to worry about. Not herself, but Nettie. And Celie promises Nettie in this letter to God that she will "take care of you . . . with God help.

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 conclude from this statement that, at last, Nettie is safe from Fonso's brutal sexuality.

But Nettie, who is about fifteen, while not being victimized by her father, is being courted by an older widower, a man with three children. Moreover, Celie says that the man resembles Fonso, and she tells God that his first wife was murdered on her way home from church — "kilt by her boyfriend." Again, we unexpectedly encounter extraordinary violence. Yet Celie seems to accept this violence as a natural, ever-present, if unpleasant, part of life. We read these short letters almost in disbelief because of the matter-of-fact way that Celie describes what is jarringly tragic — to us.

Of course, Celie doesn't encourage the relationship between Nettie and the widower; she urges Nettie to use her energies on studying. She doesn't want Nettie to end up dead like their mother, from too much hard work and too many pregnancies.

The bond between Celie and Nettie is a bond of unusually deep love. Yet, except for the love that Celie and Nettie share, and the love that God offers to the women here, there is a painful lack of love; in its place, there is a sense of paralyzed doom in this household. The fates of the new stepmother, Nettie, and Celie all seem inescapable. They all have to toil endlessly, and their only relief lies in going to church and believing in an afterlife, and therefore, the key sentence in this particular letter is "All needing something."

Character list                 

CelieA young black Georgia girl who faces adulthood believing that she has been raped by her father and that he killed both of their babies. The novel examines her struggle to find love, self-esteem, and continuing courage despite harsh setbacks.

NettieCelie's sister. Celie loves Nettie more than anyone else in the world.

FonsoCelie and Nettie's stepfather; shortly after their father is killed, he marries their widowed mother.

Mr.  AlbertThe moody, vicious man whom Fonso chooses as Celie's husband.

Celie's MotherShe loses her mind after her husband is lynched, mutilated, and burned. After she marries Fonso, she is constantly pregnant and ill.

Annie JuliaAlbert's wife who is killed by her boyfriend while coming home from church.

Shug (Lilly) AveryA blues singing, no-nonsense woman who teaches Celie about love and self-esteem.

HarpoAlbert's misguided, immature son; Sofia's husband.

Kate and CarrieAlbert's sisters who come to "inspect" Celie and her housekeeping.

SofiaThe outspoken and independent wife of Harpo.

BubAlbert's son; he is in and out of jail frequently.

Albert's DaddyA carping, prejudiced man; he dislikes Albert's relationship with Shug Avery.

TobiasAlbert's toadying brother; he is fascinated by Shug.

OdessaSofia's sister; she, Shug, and Squeak are able to get Sofia out of prison.

JackOdessa's husband.

SwainHarpo's musician friend who helps Harpo build the jukejoint.

Henry ("Buster") BroadaxSofia's boyfriend; he is tall and stocky, built like a prizefighter.

Squeak (Mary Agnes)Harpo's girlfriend; she is a scatterbrained woman who begins to make a name for herself as a blues singer after she leaves Harpo.

The MayorAn arrogant, power-wielding white man; he is responsible for putting Sofia in prison.

Miss MillieThe mayor's wife; a dithery white woman who fancies herself a champion of black people.

Bubber HodgesThe prison warden; Squeak's uncle who rapes her.

Miss BeasleyNettie and Celie's teacher.

CorrineReverend Samuel's wife. She and her husband buy Celie's babies from Fonso.

SamuelA missionary who takes Nettie with him and his family to Africa; after his wife, Corrine, dies, he marries Nettie.

OliviaCelie's daughter; she is reared in Africa by Samuel and Corrine.

AdamCelie's son; he is also reared in Africa by the missionaries. He marries Tashi.

JosephThe short, fat spokesman for the Olinka village; he meets Nettie's ship.

BillyMiss Millie's little boy; he steps on a rusty nail.

Eleanor JaneMiss Millie's daughter; after she is grown, she does baking and odd jobs for Sofia.

GradyShug marries him; he is a "skinny big toof man wearing suspenders," according to Celie.

May EllenThe woman Fonso marries after Celie's mother dies.

DaisyThe woman Fonso marries after May Ellen leaves him.

TashiAn Olinka woman whom Adam falls in love with.

Jimmy HodgesBubber's brother; Squeak's father.

Suzie Q (Jolentha)Squeak and Harpo's little girl.

HenriettaSofia's youngest child, probably fathered by Henry Broadnax; ironically, Harpo's favorite.

Jerene and DarleneTwo women who sew for Celie's Folkspants, Unlimited.

Doris Baines ("Jared Hunt")An elderly white missionary, whom Nettie and Samuel meet on their sojourn to England. She is accompanied by her "grandchild," Harold, a small black child.

GermaineShug's nineteen-year-old, blues flute playing, last-fling lover.

Stanley EarlEleanor Jane's husband.

JamesShug's son; a schoolteacher who lives on an Indian reservation; he is married to Cora Mae, and they have two children, Davis and Cantrell.

Character analysis:

When the novel opens, Celie is a young black girl living in Georgia in the early years of the twentieth century. She is largely uneducated; her letters to God are written in non-standard dialect. Walker has called the dialect black folk language, and while it may not be polished English, it is raw and honest — and strong. Celie's letters are unusually strong; they are evidence of an unusual strength in a very young woman. They are evidence of Celie's painful struggle to hold on — despite all of the multiple horrors of her life.

Celie is about to go into adolescence, believing that she was raped by her father and that he killed both of their children. She writes to God because she has no one else to help her bear this terrible knowledge. What has happened to Celie is so terrible that she can talk about it only to someone who she feels loves her. Of course, her sister, Nettie, loves her, but Nettie is too young to understand what terrible things have happened to Celie. Only to God can Celie talk honestly and openly about the hell that she has suffered.

And this point is important: Celie is not complaining to God. She simply needs to talk to someone — someone whom she loves and trusts and someone who she feels loves her.

Celie's instinct for survival, however, is more solid than even Celie realizes. She was born into a poor family; her mother was ill much of the time (later, we find out that she was mentally ill as well); there were too many children in the family; and then Celie was victimized by the man who she believed was her father. Celie feels used, and she feels that she is a victim, and she doesn't understand why all this has happened to her. She doesn't complain; she simply wonders why. In fact, so many bad things have happened to Celie that she feels worthless. She has very little self-worth and self-esteem. You should notice that she doesn't even sign her letters to God. Normally, most people take pride in signing their names; our name is one of the first things we learn to write. This is not true of Celie. Her self-worth is so miniscule that she does not even sign her own name.

Slowly, Celie will mature into a woman of enormous confidence — but not before her beloved sister Nettie is taken from her and not before she herself is married to a cruel man who really wanted to marry Nettie.

For a time, Celie is more a slave to her husband than she is a wife. And then a near-miracle happens. Her husband's mistress, Shug, comes to the house to recuperate and Celie becomes her nurse. By nature, Shug is a strong woman; men don't tangle with Shug, unless she wants them to — in bed. As Shug grows stronger physically, and as Celie nurses her, Shug encourages Celie to grow stronger psychologically. Similarly, Celie's daughter-in-law Sofia shows Celie how to stand up to men and how to stand up to prejudice and injustice — and fight.

Celi-It isn't easy for Celie to learn how to verbalize her independence, and it is harder still for her to act on these new concepts, but after she discovers how intentionally cruel her husband has been to her, she rebels and throws off her role as a slave to her husband.

By the end of the novel, Celie's newfound strength, as well as her ever-enduring love for Nettie, pays off. All through the years, she has kept the memory of Nettie alive, despite the fact that there was no proof that Nettie was alive. Nettie not only is alive, but she helped raise Celie's two children, and when the book ends, Celie and Nettie and Celie's two children, now grown, are reunited. Despite all the odds, Celie held on. She learned to fight, to stand up for herself, and she was rewarded. She never gave up on her love for Nettie, nor did she give up on her love for God. Celie survived physically and spiritually, and she matured into a full, solid, modern twentieth-century woman.

Many critics of the novel have been annoyed and repelled by the content of the book's opening letter to God. The idea of beginning a novel with the fact of a rape is repugnant to them. Walker's answer is straight to the point. "This is the country in which a woman is raped every three minutes," she says, "where one out of three women will be raped during their lifetimes and a quarter of those are children under 12."

There is no delicate, glossy way to introduce the subject of rape. Accordingly, Walker handles it head-on, immediately. After we have accepted the horror of what we read, we can stand back in awe at Celie's continuing courage in the face of what she has to endure, and we can particularly admire her continuing, sustaining love for her sister, Nettie. This book isn't about rape. It is about what happens after rape.

In fact, one of the central focuses of the book is on Celie's mental and emotional rebirth. Hate and violence have almost killed Celie, but then she meets Shug, a woman who is able to kindle feelings of sexual love and self-love within Celie — for the first time. In a similar way, Celie becomes friends with her daughter-in-law, who teaches her by example what courage is.

The strength of these women, and their caring for one another, offer opportunities for all three of them to continue growing — despite the racist, sexist world they live in. During the course of the book, they cry together, laugh together, affirm life together, and share one another's joys. They respect one another. They live together in a world that Celie could never have imagined when she was fourteen; in fact, it is a world that she never could have imagined until, ironically, her husband brought home his ailing mistress. Never did Albert imagine the mental and physical sense of new health that Shug, his mistress, would bring to Celie. Because of Shug and because of Sofia, Celie is able to triumph — and triumph joyfully — over the sexual and racial oppression that smothered many of her female ancestors.

The Color Purple, then, is a story about growth, endurance, loyalty, solidarity, and joy — all nurtured by the strength of love.

 Shug Avery-Initially, Shug Avery seems litile more than a flashy blues singer who is not only selfish, but also arrogant. However, the key to Shug's character is the element of surprise: Shug always catches us off-guard. In particular, we never expect the self-centered and seemingly superficial Shug to awaken love and self-esteem in Celie, and we certainly never expect Celie to awaken generosity in Shug.

However, just as Celie has never had the opportunity to recognize the potential of herself, Shug has tried to avoid realizing the truth about who she herself is. For example, Shug discarded her name — "Lilly" — and adopted the nickname (not a real name) of "Shug," suggesting a bite of super-sweetness, a quality that is exactly diametrical to the "real" Shug. Shug, in fact, refuses to be "sweet"; she is uncompromisingly honest. Her first words to Celie are "You sure is ugly."

Later, however, Shug befriends Celie, and still later, she becomes her lover. A psychologist would probably classify Shug as bisexual, but the terminology isn't important. The significance of Celie and Shug's sexual relationship is that Celie learns how to be proud of her body and how to use it to enjoy sex.

Celie, in fact, is probably Shug's only authentic friend. Shug, by nature, is manipulative and superficially popular — a free spirit. When Shug is ill, none of the people who seem to enjoy her singing come to see her; they enjoy her music more than they like her. Even her lover, Albert, Celie's husband, doesn't take care of her; he gives her to Celie to care for. Shug, like Celie, never had much affection in her life, especially when she was growing up in Memphis, and although Shug and Albert have three children, Shug is not a "mother." Shug only becomes a "mother" when she begins to love and respond to the warmth that she sees in Celie.

One of the qualities that makes Shug such a "natural" in this novel is the fact that Walker did not, by accident, decide to make Shug a blues singer. Clearly, Shug's being a blues singer is central to her character. The blues are the simplest form of jazz — like "Shug" is the simplest form of "sugar." And the word "jazz" itself comes from a West African word meaning, literally, sperm — and, figuratively, life. In turn, Shug brings a sense of life to her audiences with her singing, and, of course, she brings Celie to life.

Shug is full of life on stage, and she seems to live a sweet life, for the most part, because she enjoys shaking and crooning. However, Shug's "blues" dimension is defined by her selfishness — which leads to lonely isolation. In fact, her love for Albert is reduced to a simple, physical longing for him. He has slighted her twice — by not marrying her initially, and again by not marrying her after Annie Julia died. Shug resents Albert's slighting her; she may be a black woman, but she doesn't want to be defined by someone else's sense of a black woman's worth, or in Albert's particular case, by his sense of a black woman's non-worth.

By nature, especially in her singing, Shug is a "changer"; she starts singing the blues, then turns to a fast snappy ragtime tune. Jazz by its very nature is lovely, unpredictable, and improvisational, and Shug is jazzy because she invents rules and cannot be contained. She is originality. She is a changer, and she effects the most change, ultimately, not on herself, but on Celie.

By being an original, a unique kind of black woman in this novel, one of the things that strikes us most forcefully about Shug is her original concept of God — particularly when compared to the limited concept of the God whom Celie believes in. Shug realizes that although churchgoers may condemn her and her glowing lifestyle, God himself, or itself, does not condemn her — because he, or it, is everything. Shug postulates that it is a sin to be miserable and unappreciative of the world and its beauty.

Finally, Shug is the color purple personified. She is both red and blue simultaneously. Red represents jazz and life, and the blues' origins are in misery and disappointment. Together, red and blue create purple.

Albert-Albert is not easy to understand. His character is at once evil and weak. One usually thinks of an evil person as being a strong person, but in Albert's case, this is not true. He is weak and he is evil. His mistreatment of Celie is unthinkable today — and totally unnecessary. And yet his adoration of Shug Avery humanizes him.

Of all the central ideas in this novel, the key to understanding many of the characters lies in their lack of self-knowledge and in their gradually learning to know themselves and value themselves. This is certainly true in Albert's case. The roots of his evil nature come from his not knowing himself. Albert's father didn't rear him to be independent, but rather to be subservient to his father's own interests. When Albert became a man, he used his father for a role model and evolved into a self-centered, irrational individual.

For example, note that Albert never asks Shug to marry him, although he openly declares his love for her. In contrast, his first wife was driven to take a lover because she received so little attention from Albert. It is possible that Albert is both very frightened and very awed by Shug. If this is true, then perhaps he was too afraid to ask her to marry him. He couldn't control her. She ruled the relationship. She came to him when she wanted to be involved with him. Eventually Albert does go to Shug, but he waits — until Shug is weak and sick. Then he goes to her and brings her to his home. But note that he is totally unconcerned about what his dutiful wife, Celie, will think. It is his house. Albert is much more concerned with what Shug will think and that her health will improve.

Albert, of course, never really wanted to marry Celie. When he first approached Fonso, Celie and Nettie's stepfather, it was Nettie whom he wanted to marry. Nettie was not flashy like Shug, but she was pretty and young. Fonso opted to marry off Celie instead. Celie wasn't "valuable"; she wasn't a virgin. Nettie was. Albert had to take second-best, Fonso's "spoiled" daughter.

In assessing Albert's character, one always returns, ultimately, to his cruelty to Celie. Celie suffers terribly at Albert's hands. He beats her because she is not Shug. He hides the letters that Nettie writes to Celie to hurt both Nettie and Celie. He is not strong enough to tell Celie that Nettie refused his offer and fought off his sexual advances. Instead, he hides Nettie's letters, an act that defines him indelibly as a coward.

Albert has sex with Celie in a callous and uncaring way. He cares little about her pleasure. However, when Albert is with Shug, he is obviously an expert and exciting lover.

In the course of the novel, Albert is completely reformed. He goes from being the mean, anonymous Mr. _______, a detestable figure, to being an understanding, grandfatherly figure. The key to this transformation lies in the misery he experiences when both Shug and Celie leave him. The reason for his character reversal is that Celie finally becomes a person in her own right. She becomes independent and full of love. The transformation in Celie allows Albert to realize that his meanness cheated him from enjoying the wonderful new Celie during the years that they were married.

Sofia-Sofia is strong, fierce, and daring to a fault. In fact, it is her refusal to lessen or belittle herself that almost leads to her destruction.

As a black American woman reared in the South in the 1930s, she rejects completely the systematic oppression that engulfed the position of the black woman. In that system, a black person had to remain absolutely subservient to whites — economically and socially. Blacks worked for whites, who paid them very little. In addition, a black woman came under the rule of her husband. A black woman was a virtual prisoner in the system. White men controlled the state, and black men controlled the black households. Sofia had no chance in such a setting. She simply wasn't suited for it by her very nature.

Sofia is younger than Celie, which partially explains why she is unable to accept the confining role laid out by the system for the "meek" black maid and the "dutiful" black wife. Sofia was meant to rule — not to take orders.

She fights back when Harpo tries to rule her with an iron fist. She wants a partnership relationship in their marriage, not a master-servant relationship. Sofia is a devoted mother and an excellent sister to her sisters, and she is generously forgiving. She even befriends Squeak, her husband's mistress, by volunteering to rear her child until Squeak is able to establish herself as a blues singer.

After Celie advises her stepson Harpo to beat Sofia into submission, Sofia confronts her. They are eventually reconciled, of course, but Sofia is thoroughly honest with others, as well as with herself. In contrast, when Celie admits — only to herself — that she wronged Sofia by telling Harpo to beat her, Sofia demands that Celie admit aloud that she told Harpo to beat her.

Although Sofia survives severe beatings during her imprisonment, she pays much too much for being herself, and in the process, she loses much of her strength and dignity. It is ironic that the value that she places on fighting back is the very thing that prevents her from living an independent life. Her adamant refusal to be a white woman's maid is eventually crushed, and she is forced to work — first, without pay in the prison, doing laundry, and then, with pay, as the white mayor's family maid. It is no wonder that she becomes a stranger to her own children. But it is to Harpo's credit that he loves Sofia more than anything, and he has a lasting love for her that proves that he respects her personhood.

In summary, Sofia is not tragic as much as she is symbolic of a woman who had the courage to fight against known odds.