The Color Purple

By Alice Walker
Frustrated by Harpo's domineering behavior,
Sofia moves out, taking her children with her.
Story
Several months later, Harpo opens a juke
Celie is a poor 14-year-old African-American joint where a fully recovered Shug performs
girl living in rural Georgia in the early 1900s. nightly. Shug decides to stay when she learns
She writes letters to God because her father that Mister beats Celie when she is away.
Alphonso beats and rapes her, resulting in Shug and Celie grow closer.
two children, Olivia and Adam, that he
Sofia returns for a visit and promptly gets
abducts. A farmer identified as "Mister" asks
into a fight with Harpo's new girlfriend,
to marry her younger sister Nettie, and
Squeak, knocking Squeak's teeth out. She
Alphonso gives him Celie instead. Mister
begins seeing a prizefighter, and while they
abuses Celie physically, sexually and verbally,
are in town one day she has verbal spat with
and his prior children mistreat her as well.
the mayor's wife, Miss Millie. The mayor and
Soon afterward Nettie runs away and stays
Sofia exchange blows, whereupon the police
with Celie, but Mister makes advances toward
beat Sofia severely, leaving her disfigured and
her. Celie tells her to seek help from a well-
debilitated. She is subsequently sentenced to
dressed black woman she saw in town. Nettie
12 years in prison. Squeak tries to blackmail
promises to write but never does, and Celie
her uncle, the sheriff, into releasing Sofia, but
concludes that she is dead.
he refuses and rapes Squeak. Squeak cares for
Mister's son Harpo falls in love with an Sofia's children while she is incarcerated, and
assertive girl named Sofia, gets her pregnant the two women develop a friendship. Sofia is
and marries her. Soon they have five children. eventually released and begins working for
Celie is impressed by Sofia's self-esteem and Miss Millie, which she detests.
asks Harpo to treat her well, but Mister chides
Despite being newly married to a man called
him for what he considers weakness. In a
Grady, Shug instigates a sexual relationship
moment of envy, Celie tells Harpo to beat
with Celie on her next visit. One night Shug
Sofia. Sofia fights back and confronts Celie,
asks Celie about her sister, and Shug helps
who apologizes and confides about Mister's
Celie recover letters from Nettie that Mister
abuse.
has been hiding from her for decades. The
Mister takes in Shug Avery, a jazz and blues letters indicate that Nettie befriended a
singer and Mister's long-time mistress, during missionary couple, Samuel and Corrine, the
an illness. Celie, who has been fascinated by well-dressed woman Celie saw in the store.
photos of Shug that she found in Mister's Nettie eventually accompanied them to Africa
belongings, is thrilled to have her there. to do missionary work, Samuel and Corrine
Mister's father expresses disapproval of the having unwittingly adopted both Adam and
arrangement, reminding Mister that Shug has Olivia. Corrine, noticing her adopted children
three out-of-wedlock children, though Mister resemble Nettie, wonders if Samuel fathered
implies to him that he is those children's the children with Nettie. Increasingly
father, upon which Mister's father leaves in suspicious, Corrine tries to limit Nettie's role
disgust. While Shug is initially rude to Celie, in her family.
who has taken charge of nursing her, the two
Through her letters, Nettie reveals she has
become friends, and Celie soon finds herself
become disillusioned with her missionary
infatuated with Shug.
work. Corrine became ill with a fever, and
Nettie asked Samuel to tell her how he Albert proposes that they marry "in the spirit
adopted Olivia and Adam. Realizing Adam and as well as in the flesh," but Celie declines.
Olivia are Celie's children, Nettie then learned
Meanwhile, Nettie and Samuel marry and
Alphonso is actually her and Celie's
prepare to return to America. Before they
stepfather. Their actual father was a store
leave, Adam marries Tashi, an African girl.
owner that white men lynched because they
Following an African tradition, Tashi
resented his success. She also learned their
undergoes the painful rituals of female
mother suffered a mental collapse after her
circumcision and facial scarring. In solidarity,
husband's death and that Alphonso exploited
Adam undergoes the same facial scarring
the situation to control their mother's
ritual.
considerable wealth.
As Celie realizes that she is content in her life
Nettie confesses to Samuel and Corrine she is
without Shug, Shug returns, having ended her
the children's biological aunt. The gravely ill
relationship with Germaine. Nettie, Samuel,
Corrine refuses to believe her until Nettie
Olivia, Adam, and Tashi all arrive at Celie's
reminds her of her previous encounter with
house. Nettie and Celie reunite after 30 years
Celie in the store. Later, Corrine dies, finally
and introduce one another to their respective
having accepted Nettie's story. Meanwhile,
families.
Celie visits Alphonso, who confirms Nettie's
story. Celie begins to lose some of her faith in
God, which she confides to Shug, who
explains to Celie her own unique religious Alice Walker tells a great story and teaches
philosophy. Shug helps Celie realize that God numerous lessons in The Color Purple. She
is not someone who has power over her like also uses an interesting narrative style of
the rest of the men in Celie's life. Rather, God letter writing to narrate the entire story.
is an “it” and not a “who." Below is an in-depth analysis of some of the
themes and symbols in the novel.
Having had enough of her husband's abuse,
Celie decides to leave Mister along with Shug
and Squeak, who is considering a singing Themes
career of her own. Celie puts a curse on
Mister before leaving him for good, settling in Gender is the major theme in The Color
Tennessee and supporting herself as a Purple. We see the dynamics of gender from
seamstress. different dimensions. Also, we see race,
religion, and an array of other themes. Let’s
Alphonso dies, Celie inherits his land, and explore some of these themes.
moves back into her childhood home. Around
this time, Shug falls in love with Germaine, a
member of her band, and this news crushes
Gender Inequality and Injustice
Celie. Shug travels with Germaine, all the
while writing postcards to Celie. Celie pledges In The Color Purple, we see the unjust
to love Shug even if Shug does not love her treatment of females by males, subjugation
back. of women by the society, and also women
sabotaging their fellow women.
Celie learns that Mister, suffering from a
considerable decline in fortunes after Celie
left him, has changed dramatically, and Celie
begins to call him by his first name, Albert.
There is the vulnerable girl child that is house, Harpo replies that ‘Women work. I’m a
preyed upon, abused, and raped by cruel man’, which shows that he has been trained
individuals in the family units. For instance, to believe that chores are only for females
we hear Sofia’s melancholy words, as quoted and that as a male he is entitled to be in the
from ‘The Color Purple’: house without helping out with chores.

a girl child ain’t safe in a family of men Gender Solidarity

Sofia to Celie (page 41) The Color Purple is emphatic with the
message that women should support their
fellow women and that women’s support for
Celie’s life is a testimony of the sad truth of each other helps them thrive as individuals
the above words by Sofia. We see young Celie and gives them the power to overcome their
who is repeatedly raped by her stepfather struggles.
from so early an age that as a teenager, she
This is most notable in the support and
has been impregnated twice. Then her
friendship between Celie and Shug Avery,
stepfather marries her off without her
Celie and Nettie, Celie and Sofia, Shug Avery
consent and her husband continues the
and Squeak, and between the women of
vicious cycle of abuse that her step-father
Olinka.
began.
Celie cared for Shug Avery when she was sick
Then we see in the novel, stereotypes,
and her care was instrumental in nursing her
cultural practices, and beliefs that are created
back to life. Shug on her part, teaches Celie a
to subjugate women in society. This is most
new concept of religion that empowers her,
notable in the village of Olinka where the
and encourages her to leave Albert and begin
essence of a woman’s existence is in getting
a business of her own, without the friendship
married to a man and becoming the mother of
of Shug, Celie’s redemption as an individual
the man’s children. In the words of an Olinka
might have taken longer to achieve or might
mother to Nettie;
not have happened at all. It was Shug who
A girl is nothing to herself; only to her helped Celie control her instinct to murder
husband does she become something Albert and helped her direct her energy to
something productive. It was also Shug that
An Olinka woman to Nettie when asked why brought Nettie’s hidden letters to Celie and
they do not send their daughters to school the loving words in Nettie’s letters
(page 171) contributed to Celie’s healing as an individual.
The people of Olinka do not permit females to In Olinka, the women have camaraderie and
go to school or act independently, there must friendship with each other, even among
be a man at every point in her life to “look women that share the same husband and
after” her. these women work together and care for each
We also see an indication of a patriarchal other, often excluding their husbands in this
society that subjugates women in the beliefs friendship.
and actions of most of the male characters.
For instance, when Harpo as a boy is asked by
his aunt Kate to help with chores around the Sofia’s sister Odessa takes Sofia in when Sofia
leaves her marriage and also cares for Sofia’s
children when Sofia goes to prison. Sofia
encourages Squeak to pursue her singing
The mayor’s wife does not realize that her
career and offers to look after Squeak’s
patronizing treatment of blacks is
daughter in Squeak’s absence which also
condescending. The mayor’s wife sees a clean
shows gender solidarity.
and respectable-looking black woman with a
car and her well-dressed children, and
instead of her admiration for them to inspire
Gender Stereotypes
respect, it inspires in her the desire to have
Another theme on gender in The Color Purple the black woman come to serve as her maid.
is that the traditional gender stereotypes for
Sofia’s response of “Hell No” to the mayor’s
men and women are wrong and often hinders
wife leads to assault by the mayor and by a
individuals from doing things that make them
large group of police officers because it is
happy and from being productive.
almost inconceivable for a black woman to
Albert reminisces on his love for sewing as a talk back sharply at a white woman.
youth but how he was forced to abandon
In the USA at the time, there were separate
sewing because folks made fun of him for
sections for whites and blacks in public trains,
doing a chore that they believe is meant for
which was a glaring indication of racial
women.
discrimination.
We also have Alice Walker rebuffing some
Beauty standards of the time also reflect a
notions of masculinity and femininity through
prejudiced notion of being black. For instance,
events in the novel. On page 326, Albert
Albert’s sister Carrie does not agree that
describes Shug’s qualities of being upright,
Albert’s deceased wife, whom Kate described
honest, speaking her mind without caring
as beautiful was actually beautiful just
what people think, and fighting for her
because Albert’s deceased wife had a dark
happiness as being ‘manly’. And he also
complexion. Also, Tashi observes that from
admits that Sofia shares those same qualities.
pictures of women she saw in western
Celie replies that those qualities are rather
magazines, it was clear that the people of
‘womanly’ qualities especially since he and
America did not like dark-skinned women.
his son do not have those qualities and the
people that are known to have those qualities Another pitiable indication of racial
are Shug and Sofia who are women. discrimination is the case of Squeak, who is
biracial and who was asked to act like a white
Walker also deals with the dressing
lady in order to plead Sofia’s case with the
stereotypes for men and women in The Color
prison warder but who unfortunately was
Purple, fighting the notion that wearing pants
raped as the prison warder recognized her as
is a dressing meant for men alone.
a biracial lady and not as a white. This shows
how blacks are regarded by the privileged
whites.
Race
Race is another key issue. The Color Purple
gives an unobtrusive depiction of racial Religion
discrimination against blacks, particularly
One of the religious lessons The Color Purple
in the South of the USA.
teaches is that God is not restricted to the
traditional image of the Christian God. That
God can be found everywhere and in Alphonso, though a villain, was tactful enough
everything. to avoid being lynched like Celie’s father by
using a white person to run his business and
Celie was writing letters to the Christian
by reaching certain compromises with the
image of God, to which she felt no connection
powerful whites in his area of business.
to and nothing in her life improved until she
changed her perception of God and began to
feel free and powerful.
Imperialism and Exploitation
Nettie, who went to Africa on a mission to
Alice Walker did some expositions of the
convert the roof leaf-worshipping villagers of
exploitative motivations of the Western world
Olinka into Christendom, later became
in Africa. In The Color Purple, we see how the
confused about what was the true image of
more powerful countries of the world will
God between Jesus Christ and the roof leak.
always exploit and destroy the less powerful
countries and that sometimes, these
exploitative motives are disguised as
Tact and Survival
philanthropy, development, or benevolence.
Another theme in The Color Purple is the
She talks about England looting valuable
importance of tact in survival. Walker was
artifacts from Africa, Holland using cheap
passing the message that sometimes one
labor of Africans on questionably acquired
condones unpleasantness in order to avert
cocoa plantations, and western capitalists’
worse outcomes, especially in situations
forceful evacuation of the people of Olinka
where one is dealing with people who wield
from their homes and imposing taxes on
more power than oneself.
them.
Celie was tactful in acting docile in the face of
abuse because she was a vulnerable child that
had no one to protect her, and she was not Analysis of Key Moments
powerful enough to protect herself. So she
1. Celie is fourteen years old and writing
condoned abuse without resistance in a bid to
to God about being sexually abused by
survive.
her father, Alphonso.
Sofia is a strong woman and a fighter but 2. Celie’s mother dies. Celie is pregnant
lacks tact, for which she paid a great price. for the second time and fears
She was not tactful in her reaction to the Alphonso will kill the child just as he
mayor and his wife, and this got her to killed the first one. Alphonso takes the
respond with indignation at the mayor’s second child away from Celie, too,
wife’s request that she serve as a maid and to without letting her know the
retaliate against the physical assault by the whereabouts of the child.
mayor, an action which stripped her off 3. A widower called Albert comes to ask
twelve years of her freedom and made her for Nettie’s hand in marriage, but
lose out on her children’s growing up. She Alphonso persuades Albert to marry
later learned tact the hard way as she began Celie instead of Nettie, which he does.
to conduct herself as a submissive and well- 4. Albert beats, rapes, and abuses Celie
behaved prisoner even though underneath in their marriage and Albert’s spoiled
that docile exterior, she was furious enough children give Celie a difficult time in
to kill. her matrimonial home.
5. Celie meets a little girl, whom her been hiding the letters. Celie begins to
instincts tell her is her daughter, with read Nettie’s letters.
a rich woman at a store in town. They 17. Celie learns that Nettie is on a mission
talk, and the rich woman introduces in Africa and that the lady she saw at
herself as the reverend’s wife. the store and her husband adopted
6. Nettie runs away from home when Celie’s two children who are alive and
Alphonso tries to rape her and goes to well.
Celie 18. Shug Avery and Celie become closer
7. Albert begins to make sexual as friends and eventually become
advances at Nettie, and when she lovers. Shug advises Celie to start
fights him off, he sends her away from sewing pants to distract her mind
his house. Celie suggests to Nettie to because Celie is angry and wants to
run to the rich woman she saw at the kill Albert for being an abusive
store in town and also makes Nettie husband to her and for hiding her
promise to write her letters. sister’s letters from her.
8. Harpo, Albert’s son, marries a pretty 19. Shug travels to Tennessee, taking
and confident woman called Sofia. Celie and Squeak. And while there,
After a while, Harpo begins to Celie begins to design and sew so
complain that Sofia does not obey him many pants and eventually makes a
and asks Celie for advice. Celie advises business out of it.
Harpo to beat Sofia. 20. Celie learns that Alphonso is not her
9. Sofia confronts Celie about the advice and Nettie’s biological father but only
to Harpo, and Celie admits guilt and their stepfather. She also learns that
apologizes, and the two women begin her real father was a wealthy
to get along. merchant who was lynched by white
10. Albert brings home his ex-lover, Shug people for being a business
Avery, who is critically ill, and Celie competition to them.
begins to nurse her. 21. Alphonso dies and Celie discovers that
11. Sofia complains of being unhappy in her childhood home, her late father’s
her marriage and leaves Harpo, taking store, and all their other properties
their five children with her. were left to her by her mother.
12. Harpo converts their home into a juke 22. Nettie gets married to Samuel after
joint after Sofia and the kids leave. his wife Corrine dies.
13. Shug Avery regains her health and 23. Albert becomes a changed and better
begins to perform at Harpo’s juke man and asks Celie for forgiveness,
joint. and they both become friends,
14. Sofia gets arrested for retaliating although Celie refuses to stay married
against a slap by the mayor and to him.
sentenced to twelve years in prison. 24. Nettie returns from Africa with Celie’s
15. Harpo’s girlfriend, Squeak, who is children, Adam and Olivia, and they all
biracial, pretends to be a white lady reunite happily.
and goes to plead Sofia’s case with the
prison warder but unfortunately gets
raped by the prison warder.
16. Shug Avery finds out that Nettie had
been writing Celie but that Albert had
Style, Tone, and Figurative Language
Alice Walker uses letter writing to narrate the Juke Joint
entire events in the novel. The epistolary style
The Juke Joint is a place where people
of The Color Purple takes on three key
convene in the evening to relax and have a
narrative perspectives. First is Celie’s letters
good time. It symbolizes momentary relief in
to God, then Nettie’s letters to Celie, again
suffering and togetherness. The characters,
Celie’s letters to Nettie, and the last letter is
both friends and adversaries, all sought this
Celie’s letter addressed to “Dear God. Dear
relief and came together.
stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear
Everything. Dear God”. It is also a symbol of Harpo’s coming of age
and independence from his father.
The diction is mostly vernacular as the main
narrator Celie is an uneducated southern
girl who does not know to spell so many
words correctly. There are instances of her Quilts
limited literacy in her spelling of words like This is a symbol of the creativity and
tuberculosis as “two berkulosis” and using resourcefulness of the African-American
the pronoun “us” where “we” should be used. woman. It is also a symbol of friendship,
Alice Walker also makes use of character foils togetherness, and storytelling. For instance,
in The Color Purple. Celie and Shug Avery are Sofia and Celie began quilting after
character foils. Celie is docile and subdued, reconciling and sharing their stories with
while Shug Avery is vivacious, bold, and free. each other.
The characters Albert and Jack also foil each
other; Albert is abusive to women while Jack
is supportive of women, Albert is not a loving Pants
father even though he has children, while Jack
Pants in The Color Purple symbolize the
loves and cares for children even though he
gender stereotype of manliness. It then goes
has none of his own.
further to show that the quality of manliness
is not fit for men alone but for women too.

Analysis of Symbols
The Color Purple Animals

The color purple symbolizes beauty, Shug Avery’s love of elephants symbolizes
especially beauty found in nature. When Shug strength, loyalty, and a nurturing quality in
says she thinks it pisses God off when one herself. And her love of turtles symbolizes her
walks by the color purple in a field and does longevity and a hard exterior that protects a
not notice, she is referring to missing out on soft inner self.
appreciating the beauty of nature all around
Celie chooses the duck as an animal that
us(page 223). Celie goes further to ponder on
represents her. A duck being an animal that
the creativity it took to create the color
can swim, walk and fly, it represents Celie’s
purple when she admits that she’d been so
quality of adaptability to circumstances
occupied with thinking about God that she
around her.
failed to notice creations like the color purple
and marvels at where it comes from.
What is the main theme of The Color Alice Walker, in full Alice Malsenior Walker,
Purple? (born February 9, 1944, Eatonton, Georgia,
U.S.), American writer whose novels, short
The main theme of The Color Purple is
stories, and poems are noted for their
Gender. The novel exposes gender
insightful treatment of African American
subjugation and preaches gender solidarity
culture. Her novels, most notably The Color
among women. It also tries to break certain
Purple (1982), focus particularly on women.
gender stereotypes about masculinity and
femininity. Some other themes in the novel
are race, religion, and imperialism. It talks
Walker was the eighth child of African
about the racial discrimination against blacks
American sharecroppers. While growing up
in the United States, tries to change the notion
she was accidentally blinded in one eye, and
of God as depicted by Christianity, and
her mother gave her a typewriter, allowing
laments the exploitation of Africa by western
her to write instead of doing chores. She
countries.
received a scholarship to attend Spelman
College, where she studied for two years
before transferring to Sarah Lawrence
Why did Alice Walker name her novel The
College. After graduating in 1965, Walker
Color Purple?
moved to Mississippi and became involved in
Alice Walker named her novel The Color the civil rights movement. She also began
Purple to symbolize the beauty of nature. A teaching and publishing short stories and
reference to the title is found on pages 223 essays. She married in 1967, but the couple
and 224 of the novel, where the character divorced in 1976.
Shug Avery tells the protagonist Celie that it
pisses God off when one walks by the color
purple in the fields and does not notice. Walker’s first book of poetry, Once, appeared
Celie also marvels at where such a beautiful in 1968, and her first novel, The Third Life of
color comes from. Grange Copeland (1970), a narrative that
spans 60 years and three generations,
followed two years later. A second volume of
What does Celie do that surprises poetry, Revolutionary Petunias and Other
everyone at the dinner table? Poems, and her first collection of short
stories, In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black
Celie shouts back at Albert in outrage. The Woman, both appeared in 1973. The latter
action surprises everyone at the table bears witness to sexist violence and abuse in
because Celie is known to be docile and the African American community. After
submissive and never stands up for herself. moving to New York, Walker completed
Her outrage is a result of years of suppressed Meridian (1976), a novel describing the
emotions as a result of the physical and coming of age of several civil rights workers
emotional abuse she has suffered in her life. in the 1960s.

Alice Walker
Walker later moved to California, where she
wrote her most popular novel, The Color
Purple (1982). An epistolary novel, it depicts (2013). Walker also wrote juvenile fiction and
the growing up and self-realization of an critical essays on such female writers as
African American woman between 1909 and Flannery O’Connor and Zora Neale Hurston.
1947 in a town in Georgia. The book won a She cofounded a short-lived press in 1984.
Pulitzer Prize and was adapted into a film by Throughout her career Walker occasionally
Steven Spielberg in 1985. A musical version attracted criticism. Notably, some African
produced by Oprah Winfrey and Quincy Jones Americans strongly objected to the perceived
premiered in 2004. negative portrayal of Black men in The Color
Purple. In later years Walker, who often
spoke out against Israel’s policies toward
Walker’s later fiction includes The Temple of Palestinians, was accused of being anti-
My Familiar, an ambitious examination of Semitic, with her support of a Holocaust
racial and sexual tensions (1989); Possessing denier drawing particular attention.
the Secret of Joy (1992), a narrative centred
In the unconventional memoir The Chicken
on female genital mutilation; By the Light of
Chronicles (2011), Walker discussed caring
My Father’s Smile (1998), the story of a
for a flock of chickens while also musing on
family of anthropologists posing as
her life. Gathering Blossoms Under Fire
missionaries in order to gain access to a
(2022) is a collection of her journals. The
Mexican tribe; and Now Is the Time to Open
documentary Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth
Your Heart (2005), about an older woman’s
was released in 2013.
quest for identity. Reviewers complained that
these novels employed New Age abstractions
and poorly conceived characters, though
The Color Purple won the Pulitzer Prize for
Walker continued to draw praise for
Fiction in 1983, making Walker the first black
championing racial and gender equality in her
woman to win the prize. Walker also won the
work. She also released the volume of short
National Book Award for Fiction in 1983. Mel
stories The Way Forward Is with a Broken
Watkins of the New York Times Book Review
Heart (2000) and several other volumes of
wrote that it is a "striking and consummately
poetry, including Absolute Trust in the
well-written novel", praising its powerful
Goodness of the Earth (2003), A Poem
emotional impact and epistolary structure. It
Traveled Down My Arm (2003), Hard Times
was also named a PBS Great American Read
Require Furious Dancing (2010), and Taking
Top 100 Pick.
the Arrow Out of the Heart (2018). Her Blue
Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems Though the novel has garnered critical
(1991) collects poetry from 1965 to 1990. acclaim, it has also been the subject of
controversy. The American Library
Association placed it on the list of top
Walker’s essays were compiled in In Search of hundred banned and challenged books in the
Our Mother’s Gardens: Womanist Prose United States from 1990 to 1999, 2000 to
(1983), Sent by Earth: A Message from the 2009, and 2010 to 2019, as well as the top ten
Grandmother Spirit After the Bombing of the list for 2007 (6) and 2009. Commonly cited
World Trade Center and Pentagon (2001), We justifications for banning the book include
Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For sexual explicitness, explicit language,
(2006), and The Cushion in the Road: violence, and homosexuality.
Meditation and Wandering as the Whole
World Awakens to Being in Harm’s Way
The book received greater scrutiny amidst
controversy surrounding the release of the
film adaptation in 1985. The controversy
centered around the depiction of black men,
which some critics saw as feeding
stereotypical narratives of black male
violence, while others found the
representation compelling and relatable.
On November 5, 2019, the BBC News listed
The Color Purple on its list of the 100 most
influential novels.