Letter 10:
In this letter, Celie talks about her trip to town with Mr. ________. For Celie, who lives in the country, going to town is exciting because she gets to see all the town people who seem fancy. She says, “I never seen so many even at church. Some be dress too.”
However, the town people aren’t as fancy as they seem. They travel in wagons and buy materials like cloth and thread, not ready-made clothes. The white people in town are not friendly either. The clerk treats Olivia’s mother and Celie poorly. He is rude and says, “You want that cloth or not? We got other customers sides you.” He even calls Olivia’s mother a “girl” and Celie a “gal,” which is disrespectful. The clerk makes the woman buy thread she doesn’t need and acts like she doesn’t have good judgment.
Celie feels like she doesn’t have much to offer and says, “I don’t have nothing to offer and I feels poor.” But Celie actually offers a lot. She shares kindness and helps Olivia’s mother by offering her a seat in Mr. ________’s wagon when she can’t see the Reverend’s wagon. Olivia’s mother jokes about Celie’s “horsepitality,” and this makes Celie very happy. She laughs a lot, feeling like she has found her baby.
Even though Olivia’s mother acts very polite and submissive to avoid angering the white people, she is still relieved to laugh and be happy with Celie. Celie is careful not to make her feel bad, and she compliments the fabric the woman has. Celie is very curious about the baby and asks about the baby’s father. She learns he is a Reverend but doesn’t mention his name because it doesn’t seem important to her.
Celie’s second question about how long the woman has had the baby uses the word “had” in a special way. This makes Celie wonder if the baby might be hers. The baby’s name, Olivia, is a name Celie recognizes because she had embroidered it on her underwear. Olivia’s mother doesn’t really know why she calls the baby Olivia; she just says the baby “look like a Olivia.”
Celie feels deep down that this baby might be hers. She tells God, “My heart say she mine.” This shows that Celie is starting to trust her feelings more, and this will be important as the story goes on.
Letter 11:
When Nettie runs away from home to stay with Mr. ________, she and Celie are happy to be together again. This reunion helps them become even closer and more loving. Nettie helps Celie with housework and teaches her things she needs to know about the world. Celie really appreciates Nettie’s patience and says, “No matter what happen, Nettie steady try to teach me what go on in the world.”
Celie is very tired from taking care of Mr. ________’s four children, and sometimes she is too exhausted to even think. Despite this, both sisters continue to care deeply about each other. Nettie feels sad to leave Celie and says it feels like she’s losing her. Even though Nettie’s idealism is tested, Celie keeps her faith strong. She says that as long as she can “spell G-o-d I got somebody along.” This shows that Celie will keep writing her letters to God, not just thinking about them. The next letter, Letter 12, begins with the letters G-o-d instead of “Dear God.”
Nettie is very important to Celie’s ability to write these letters. Nettie believes learning makes a person strong, and she encourages Celie to be strong and not accept the tough life that is expected of black women. Nettie promises to keep writing to Celie, but Celie ends this letter by saying that Nettie never wrote back.
This will be explained more in Letter 49. Celie doesn’t know that she won’t read Nettie’s letters for a long time. When she finally does, those letters will help tell the rest of the story in the book.
Letter 12:
In this letter, Celie describes a funny and light moment after all the sad letters. Mr. ________’s two sisters come to visit and check out their brother’s new wife, Celie. They gossip a lot, talking about how their brother’s first wife was not very nice (she was killed by her boyfriend after church). The sisters are very strict about how women should act. They believe that women should get married, keep a neat house, and take care of their family.
Celie listens carefully and feels happy because the sisters think she is doing a great job. They say she is a good housekeeper, good with children, and a great cook. This makes Celie proud. She even remembers Nettie when Kate, one of the sisters, says that her brother couldn’t have found a better wife “if he’d tried.” Celie thinks about how Mr. ________ wanted Nettie first, and he only took Celie because he got a cow along with her.
But the sisters are not just there for comic relief. They also talk about Shug Avery, who they don’t think much of. They say bad things about Shug, like she can’t sing well and is a “homebreaker.” Kate even says Shug is “black as my shoe,” which means Shug has very dark skin. In the past, lighter-skinned people were given easier jobs, while darker-skinned people did the hard work.
Celie is not bothered by their comments about Shug. Instead, she is more interested in her. Shug seems magical and beautiful to Celie. When Celie and Kate talk about a new dress, Celie says “purple” because purple is a color linked with royalty, and she thinks of Shug. But for now, there’s no purple dress in the store, only blue. Kate tells Celie that she deserves “more than this,” and Celie agrees, though she’s not sure yet.
Kate tries to get Harpo to help more with the housework but doesn’t succeed. Before she leaves, she tells Celie the same thing Nettie said: Celie needs to “fight them.” Kate also says Celie should “fight them for yourself.” Right now, Celie isn’t ready to fight, but she is alive. Even though she fears Nettie might be dead, Kate’s words are important. Other women will tell her the same thing, and slowly, Celie will start to understand that she is worth fighting for.
Letter 13:
Five years have gone by since Harpo was twelve and hurt Celie on her wedding day. Now, Harpo is seventeen, and Celie is about twenty-five. Mr. ________ has beaten Celie again. When Mr. ________ is asked why he hits Celie, he gives a cruel answer. He says that Celie is stubborn and that women are only good for being beaten, especially wives.
Harpo is confused about this, and Celie thinks about how her own father was also cruel without any reason. Celie feels like she has no choice but to accept her role as a black woman, which means she is treated as property by her husband. Mr. ________ is frustrated with his past wife, Annie Julia, and his current girlfriend, Shug Avery. He is also frustrated because he feels like a black man doesn’t matter much in the white man’s world.
Celie feels ashamed because she is treated worse than Mr. ________’s children. Mr. ________ calls Celie “stubborn,” which means he is angry at her for standing up to him. He doesn’t punish her for something specific, but because she is strong and doesn’t let life get her down. Even though Celie says, “I don’t fight… but I’m alive,” she tries to make herself feel strong by imagining she is like a tree. She tells herself, “Celie, you a tree.”
Celie doesn’t really understand why she is being hurt, and there’s someone else who is also confused—Harpo. He thinks he’s ready to get married, but he doesn’t know much about love or relationships. Harpo, who is only seventeen, thinks he loves a girl he has never even talked to. They’ve only exchanged shy looks, but Harpo is sure this is love and that he is ready to be a husband.
With Mr. ________ as his role model, Harpo might end up repeating the same mistakes, like being a harsh husband. It looks like another cycle of abuse might start because of Harpo’s lack of understanding.
Letter 14:
In this letter, Celie is super excited because Shug Avery is coming to town. Even though Celie won’t be able to see Shug’s performance, she is thrilled just to catch a glimpse of Shug. Celie feels like Shug is from another world, almost like a star from the sky. Shug will be singing at a place called the Lucky Star club, and Celie feels that Shug is like her own lucky star.
Mr. ________ wants to look his best for Shug, who is his girlfriend. To him, Celie is more like a servant than a wife. But this time, Celie doesn’t mind helping Mr. ________ because she really wants to see Shug and learn more about her. She has been imagining what it’s like to be with Shug through Mr. ________.
In Letter 6, Celie only saw one picture of Shug. Now, she sees that Mr. ________ has put up sixty pink posters of Shug, who is called the Queen Honeybee. He has put these pink posters on trees, and they look like lots of pretty pink butterflies. Shug, who is known as the Queen Honeybee, is a famous blues singer. Her name starts with “Shug,” which is close to the word “sugar,” and “honeybee” means something sweet and special. Shug is called a “sugar babe,” which is a nice way to refer to a black woman who sings blues.
Letter 15:
In this short letter to God, Celie shows both her simple understanding and her deep feelings. She knows her husband has another woman, Shug Avery, but she is okay with it. Celie doesn’t wonder why her husband values Shug more than her. Celie doesn’t think much of herself. She feels that Shug is the most important thing, and she’s grateful just to be a small part of Shug’s world.
While her husband spends time with Shug, Celie works very hard in the fields, simply because that’s what she’s expected to do. She doesn’t complain about her tough life. Instead, she dreams about Shug Avery’s glamorous life, her fancy clothes, and her beautiful hair. Even though Celie knows Shug and her husband have children together, she isn’t jealous. She’s happy just to think about Shug and see her through Mr. ________.
Celie sees Shug as a character from a fairy tale. She feels like Shug is a magical person, even though she has never met her. For Celie, Shug is like a storybook character that she watches and admires from afar.
Letter 16:
Mr. _______ stops working in the fields completely. Instead, he just sits on the porch. He tells Celie and Harpo that they need to work in the fields and finish the plowing he has stopped doing. Harpo tries to argue with his father, but even though Harpo is strong, he is “weak in will” and doesn’t stand up to Mr. _______.
Celie thinks that Mr. _______ has stopped working because he is still in love with Shug Avery and is sad that their time together has ended.
Letter 17:
Harpo wants to marry his girlfriend, but her father says Harpo isn’t good enough for her. He says Harpo is too young, doesn’t have much money, and comes from a bad family. Mr. _______ explains why this is true: Harpo’s mother, Annie Julia, was killed by her lover, not by Mr. _______ but by another man she was seeing. This murder caused a big scandal, and now many people in town don’t want to be friends with Mr. _______’s family.
Harpo has scary dreams about his mother, Annie Julia. In his dreams, she is chased by the man who killed her and then gets shot in the stomach. Harpo wakes up from these dreams yelling, and Celie comes to help and comfort him in the night.
People say that Celie is good with Mr. _______’s children, but three of them, besides Harpo, are not nice to her and do not help with any chores. The youngest boy, Bub, is always getting into trouble with the local authorities.
Harpo tells Celie that he is in love with Sofia Butler, the girl whose father doesn’t want them to marry. Harpo says he wants to marry Sofia and that she is going to have his baby. Celie warns Harpo that Sofia’s father will be angry, but Harpo believes everything will be okay once they are married.
Sofia, who is seven months pregnant, comes to visit Mr. _______ with Harpo. Mr. _______ tries to be rude by asking who the father is, but Sofia calmly says that Harpo is the father. Mr. _______ doesn’t seem to believe her.
Mr. _______ says he won’t let Sofia and Harpo get married, even though Sofia is pregnant. Sofia says she doesn’t need to be married right now. She is living with her sister and her sister’s husband. Sofia tells Harpo that once he is on his own and not working for his father anymore, they can live together with their baby.
Letter 18:
Harpo and Sofia get married, even though Mr. _______ didn’t want them to. Harpo starts getting paid by his father, who hopes this will make him work harder. Harpo and Sofia fix up a small house on the edge of Mr. _______’s land where they plan to live together.
Their wedding is simple but happy. Celie helps by making curtains for their new home. Harpo works harder in the fields now that Sofia is with him. However, Mr. _______ warns Harpo that Sofia might “switch traces” on him. This means Mr. _______ thinks Sofia might be unfaithful to Harpo or leave him.
