Sign in with FacebookJennifer P.'s Reviews > The Color Purple
The Color Purple
by Alice Walker
by Alice Walker
Plot Summary:
Celie, the book’s narrator, is a young black teenager who is writing letters to God. Her father, Alphonso, abuses her, rapes her and fathers her two children.
A man who is referred to as Mr. ________ tries to marry Nettie, Celie’s younger, more attractive sister. Her father rejects this but suggests that he marry Celie, an offer that Mr. _______ accepts. Soon after she moves in with Mr. _____ and his family, she learns that he has a lover named Shug Avery. Celie is intrigued by Shug’s picture and wonders what she is like.
Nettie runs away from her father to Celie’s new home, but is driven away by Mr. _______’s inappropriate advances towards her. Celie does not hear from her sister, after she ran away yet again, and assumes she is dead.
Her husband’s son, Harpo, falls in love with a girl named Sophia who becomes pregnant. They marry and move in next door to Celie and Mr. ______. Sophia and Celie become great friends. Celie admires Sophia, who is much stronger than her husband and will beat him if he tries to abuse her.
Shug Avery comes to town to sing in a local club but Celie is not allowed to visit her. One night Mr. ________ brings home Shug, who is seriously ill. Initially Shug is rude to Celie but they become good friends. When Shug learns that Mr. _______ beats Celie, she decides to stay with them. Celie and Shug develop romantic feelings for each other and become intimate.
After being away, Shug returned with a new husband, Gary, which does not stop her from having sexual relationship with Celie. One night Shug asked Celie about Nettie and told her that she had seen Mr. ______ secretly hide letters . They find the letters and learn that Nettie had become good friends with a missionary couple, Samuel and Corrine, and went with them to Africa on a mission trip. The couple adopted children that resembled Nettie. Samuel told Nettie how they adopted the children and she learned that the children were Celie’s and Alphonso was only their step-father. Corrine became deathly ill and eventually died. Soon after her death Nettie and Samuel married.
After a huge fight Celie tells Mr.______ that she and Shug are moving to Tennessee, where she became a tialor. Towards the end of the novel, Celie returns home to Georgia and discovered that Alphonso is dead and that she now owns his house. She reconnects with Mr.____ and they learn to enjoy spending time with each other. Celie was reunited with Nettie who brought Samuel to America with her.
Quotes
"Well how you spect to make her mind? Wives is like children. You have to let 'em know who got the upper hand. Nothing can do that better than a good sound beating."
“Yeah, I say, and he give me a lynched daddy, a crazy mama, a lowdown dog of a step pa and a sister I probably won't ever see again. Anyhow, I say, the God I been praying and writing to is a man. And act just like all the other mens I know. Trifling, forgetful and lowdown."
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.”
“Tell the truth, have you ever found God in a church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I evr felt in church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did too. They come to church to share God, not find God.”
My Review
This book was disturbing yet inspiring. Celie, the main character, is abused, raped and impregnated by her father. She endures countless hardships yet does not lose faith. The author used language that an uneducated, innocent, fourteen year old African Americain girl would use. For example, when she got pregnant she said that she got 'big'. Celie did not have hatred for those around her who had done her wrong. In the end of the story she becomes friendly with Mr.____, who had beaten her and stolen her letters.
Celie, the book’s narrator, is a young black teenager who is writing letters to God. Her father, Alphonso, abuses her, rapes her and fathers her two children.
A man who is referred to as Mr. ________ tries to marry Nettie, Celie’s younger, more attractive sister. Her father rejects this but suggests that he marry Celie, an offer that Mr. _______ accepts. Soon after she moves in with Mr. _____ and his family, she learns that he has a lover named Shug Avery. Celie is intrigued by Shug’s picture and wonders what she is like.
Nettie runs away from her father to Celie’s new home, but is driven away by Mr. _______’s inappropriate advances towards her. Celie does not hear from her sister, after she ran away yet again, and assumes she is dead.
Her husband’s son, Harpo, falls in love with a girl named Sophia who becomes pregnant. They marry and move in next door to Celie and Mr. ______. Sophia and Celie become great friends. Celie admires Sophia, who is much stronger than her husband and will beat him if he tries to abuse her.
Shug Avery comes to town to sing in a local club but Celie is not allowed to visit her. One night Mr. ________ brings home Shug, who is seriously ill. Initially Shug is rude to Celie but they become good friends. When Shug learns that Mr. _______ beats Celie, she decides to stay with them. Celie and Shug develop romantic feelings for each other and become intimate.
After being away, Shug returned with a new husband, Gary, which does not stop her from having sexual relationship with Celie. One night Shug asked Celie about Nettie and told her that she had seen Mr. ______ secretly hide letters . They find the letters and learn that Nettie had become good friends with a missionary couple, Samuel and Corrine, and went with them to Africa on a mission trip. The couple adopted children that resembled Nettie. Samuel told Nettie how they adopted the children and she learned that the children were Celie’s and Alphonso was only their step-father. Corrine became deathly ill and eventually died. Soon after her death Nettie and Samuel married.
After a huge fight Celie tells Mr.______ that she and Shug are moving to Tennessee, where she became a tialor. Towards the end of the novel, Celie returns home to Georgia and discovered that Alphonso is dead and that she now owns his house. She reconnects with Mr.____ and they learn to enjoy spending time with each other. Celie was reunited with Nettie who brought Samuel to America with her.
Quotes
"Well how you spect to make her mind? Wives is like children. You have to let 'em know who got the upper hand. Nothing can do that better than a good sound beating."
“Yeah, I say, and he give me a lynched daddy, a crazy mama, a lowdown dog of a step pa and a sister I probably won't ever see again. Anyhow, I say, the God I been praying and writing to is a man. And act just like all the other mens I know. Trifling, forgetful and lowdown."
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.”
“Tell the truth, have you ever found God in a church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I evr felt in church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did too. They come to church to share God, not find God.”
My Review
This book was disturbing yet inspiring. Celie, the main character, is abused, raped and impregnated by her father. She endures countless hardships yet does not lose faith. The author used language that an uneducated, innocent, fourteen year old African Americain girl would use. For example, when she got pregnant she said that she got 'big'. Celie did not have hatred for those around her who had done her wrong. In the end of the story she becomes friendly with Mr.____, who had beaten her and stolen her letters.
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“Tell the truth, have you ever found God in a church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I evr felt in church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did too. They come to church to share God, not find God.”
It both exposes the hypocrisy we sometimes find in church and allows for legitimate encounters with God.
The title quote about purple is the best.
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