The Color Purple is a novel by American author
Alice Walker (1944- ). It received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.
The Color Purple
The Color Purple was adapted into a
film and musical of the same name.
Plot SummaryThe story is told in the form of diary entries and letters. Celie is a poor uneducated young black woman in 1930s Georgia who, aged only fourteen, is raped and impregnated twice by a man she calls Pa. Her children both disappear; Celie assumes their father has murdered them, until she meets a small girl in town to whom she bears a strong resemblance. Celie is forced into a marriage against her will, to Mr. Johnson, a man who originally approaches her father to ask permission to marry her younger sister, Nettie. Shortly after moving into her new home, she is joined by Nettie, who is also seeking to escape the unpleasant conditions at home. After Celie's husband tries to seduce her and fails he forces Nettie to leave and, following Celie's advice, she goes to the home of a local pastor, promising to write to Celie. As time passes, no letters arrive and so Celie assumes that Nettie is dead.
In her writings, Celie deferentially refers to her husband as "Mr.__", and it is far into the tale before we find out his first name is Albert. One of his sons, Harpo, falls in love with and marries a strong-willed and physically imposing woman named Sofia. Though both Harpo and "Mr." attempt to treat her as an inferior, Sofia fights back. Celie initially encourages this bullying behaviour, as being second to a man is the only way she has ever known to live, but when confronted by Sofia she realises her error. Celie is both envious of and intimidated by Sofia's strong spirit and florid defiance of her husband's absolute authority.
"Mr." has a long-term mistress, a singer named Shug Avery. She comes to live with the family due to poor health. Like "Mr.", Shug at first has little respect for Celie and the life she lives. She copies her lover, abusing Celie and adding to her humiliation. Celie feels intrigued and excited by this effervescent, liberated version of femininity. Through her relationship with Shug, Celie realizes that she is worthy of being loved and respected. When Shug discovers that "Mr." beats Celie, she decides to remain in the house for a short time in order to protect her.
After a few years of constant fighting, Sofia leaves Harpo, taking their children with her. At the same time, Celie and Shug become intimate and a strong bond grows between them. Shug helps Celie discover her sexuality as a woman. When Sofia returns to town for a visit, she becomes involved in a fight with Harpo's new girlfriend, Mary Agnes, who is nicknamed "Squeak" because of her high-pitched voice.
One day, the mayor’s wife, Miss Millie, asks Sofia to work as her maid. When Sofia declines with the words, "Hell, no," the mayor slaps her, not reckoning with her fiery temper. She returns the blow, knocking the mayor down, and is arrested for hitting a white man. Sofia is severely beaten in jail and is later sentenced twelve years in prison. The separation from her family and the loss of her freedom breaks her spirit. After some intervention from Squeak, who is raped by a white prison warden to whom she is related for her trouble, Sofia's sentence is altered and she serves as the mayor's wife's maid for the remainder of her time.
Having left on a singing tour, Shug returns, married to a man named Grady. Celie is initially hurt by this relationship, as she feels betrayed, but grows to accept it. Other than Nettie, Shug is the only person who has ever truly loved Celie.
One night, when Shug asks Celie about Nettie, Celie says that she believes her sister to be dead, since she had promised to write but Celie had never received any letters. Shug informs Celie that she has seen "Mr." hide numerous mysterious letters in a trunk and suggests that they investigate. When they do so, they find dozens of letters written by Nettie to Celie over the years. These tell of Nettie's travels to Africa with a missionary couple, Samuel and Corrine, and their adopted children, Olivia and Adam. When Corrine becomes ill, Samuel tells Nettie how they came to adopt their children and that his wife has suspected that Nettie was their biological mother due to their close resemblance. It transpires that Olivia and Adam are Celie's long-lost children, and that she is their aunt. She also learns that Alphonso was not her and Celie's father but rather their stepfather. Their biological father, a store-owner, had been lynched by a mob of white men because they believed he was too successful. After Corrine's acceptance of Nettie's story, she dies, and Samuel and Nettie discover that they are deeply in love; they eventually marry.
Having read the letters and learned the truth about her children as well as her biological father, Celie visits Alphonso to confirm the story, which he does. Celie finds a new sense of empowerment, and at dinner one night she releases her pent-up anger at "Mr.", cursing him for the years of abuse that she has had to endure. Shug, Celie, and Squeak decide to move to Tennessee, where Celie begins a lucrative business designing and sewing tailored pants together. She returns to Georgia for a visit and finds that not only has "Mr." reformed himself and his ways, but Alphonso has died. She finds out that the shop, house and land she thought was his had been willed to her and Nettie when their mother died. Celie decides to move back, relocating her business. Soon after, Shug falls for nineteen-year-old Germaine and travels with him across the country in a last hurrah for her youth.
Meanwhile, Nettie and Samuel are preparing for their return to America. Adam falls in love with and marries an African girl named Tashi, who undergoes the painful rituals of female genital cutting and facial scarification. Adam also goes through the facial scarring ritual in solidarity. Nettie writes to Celie to let her know that the family is on their way.
Celie is now an independent woman. Celie and "Mr." eventually reconcile, but remain friends rather than lovers. He helps her with her business, sewing with her as they sit on the porch. Sofia and Harpo reconcile, and Sofia also works for Celie at her pants-making shop. Shug returns, satisfied with her last fling and ready to settle down. Nettie and Samuel return with the children, and Celie and her sister are happily reunited. [
Reference]
Movive (The Color Purple):
