Letter 55:
Nettie’s next letter comes two months later. She has been on a boat, traveling to Africa with the Reverend and Corrine because she is going to be a missionary. She felt so sad that she destroyed some of her letters before sending this one. This letter has some of the things from the letters she destroyed.
Nettie tells Celie that she is now working for Samuel and Corrine in Africa and helping take care of Adam and Olivia. She also mentions that she saw a woman working as a maid for a mayor’s wife before she left for Africa. The woman looked very sad and tired. (Nettie doesn’t know that this woman is Sofia.)
Nettie says she learned a lot about Africa and its people before leaving. Samuel and Corrine think that Olivia and Adam were sent to them by God. Only Nettie knows that Celie is their real mother. Nettie feels happy knowing she can love and take care of the children as their aunt.
Letter 56:
Nettie talks about how they got ready for their trip to Africa. Corrine made special clothes for traveling. Nettie also realized in church that the word “Ethiopia” in the Bible means all of Africa, and that when Jesus’ hair is described as being like “lamb’s wool,” it means Jesus wasn’t white, even though some people want to believe he was.
Nettie describes their train ride from Georgia to New York City, where they would get on a ship. In New York, Nettie sees Harlem, the biggest black community she’s ever seen. Samuel, Corrine, and the kids, Adam and Olivia, collect money for their mission work from pastors and churchgoers in New York.
Nettie talks about a short, two-week training in New York, where she learns the Olinka language. The Olinka are the African people they will be helping. Nettie is confused because some white people in the Missionary Society think white missionaries are better at helping Africans than black missionaries like Corrine, Samuel, and Nettie.
Letter 57:
Nettie and the Reverend’s family sail from New York to England. In England, they meet with other missionaries and get ready for their work in Africa. Nettie visits museums and sees beautiful pottery and other things that were taken from Africa. She is amazed at how well-made these objects are and learns more about African culture.
While learning about Africa, Nettie also finds out something surprising. She discovers that some African people in the past sold their own people to white traders, who then took them to America as slaves. This makes Nettie feel sad and confused because it changes the way she thought about African culture and the village she will be helping.
Letter 58:
In Nettie’s next letter, she talks about arriving in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. The city is full of both white and black traders who speak French and the local language, Senegalese. Nettie notices that the market is very busy, and she sees some of the darkest-skinned people she has ever seen.
After Dakar, Nettie and the Reverend’s family go to Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. There, they meet the President of Liberia, named Tubman, and many of the people who work for him. Nettie is surprised to see that many of these workers are white, while the local black workers remind her of the farm workers in the United States. She also notices that big Dutch companies own most of the farms in Monrovia.
As Nettie spends more time in Africa, she realizes that Africa has many of the same problems as the United States. She had once imagined it as a perfect place, but now she sees that there are unfair social divisions, and people are not treated equally.
Letter 59:
After Celie finishes reading Nettie’s letters, she feels very angry. There are some words in the letters that Celie doesn’t understand, but she is still furious that Mr. ____ kept them hidden from her for so long. Celie tells Shug that she wants to kill Mr. ____ for doing this. But Shug quickly tells Celie not to do it, saying that if Celie kills Mr. ____, then Shug will be left with only Grady, and she still has feelings for Mr. ____.
Even though Celie is happy to have heard from her sister, her anger at Mr. ____ is so strong that she can barely think straight. Celie then makes a deal with Shug. She says she won’t harm Mr. ____ if Shug can convince him to let Shug sleep in Celie’s room from now on. Somehow, Shug manages to get Mr. ____ to agree, though Celie isn’t sure how Shug made it happen.
Letter 60:
Celie is still really mad at Mr. ____, and because of this, she doesn’t feel as close to Shug as before. Shug notices this and thinks Celie needs something to help her feel better. Shug has an idea: she tells Celie that she should try making pants! Shug explains that Celie always works in the fields wearing a dress, but pants would make the job much easier.
So, Shug and Celie decide to use a pair of Army pants that belong to Jack (Odessa’s husband) as a pattern for Celie’s first pair of pants.
Letter 61:
Celie is happy and proud to know that her sister Nettie and her children are still alive. She feels so good about it that she “struts” around her home, feeling excited about the news. However, Celie starts worrying a little. She thinks about her children and wonders if they will have problems because they were born from an incestuous relationship. Celie has heard that children born from such relationships can sometimes have mental issues, and this makes her worried.
Celie receives another letter from Nettie. Celie and Shug have secretly taken all the letters out of the trunk where they were hidden. After reading each letter, they carefully put them back, resealing them so that no one would notice they had been opened.
In this letter, Nettie tells Celie about a man named Joseph, who welcomed Nettie, Samuel, Corrine, and the two children when they arrived at a village in Africa. Joseph took them by dug-out canoes and then carried them in hammocks to the Olinka village, where they were going to work as missionaries.
Nettie is amazed by the Olinka people. They are very tall and have big shoulders, and their teeth are bright white. The Olinka people are also surprised to meet Nettie and the others. They ask if Nettie is the mother of the two children and if Samuel is married to both Corrine and Nettie. In Olinka culture, it is possible for a man to have more than one wife. But Samuel and Corrine explain that Nettie is not Samuel’s wife but is there to help as the children’s maid and assistant.
Nettie goes on to talk about a special welcoming ceremony in the village. The Olinka tell a story about the roofleaf, a plant that is very important to their village. The roofleaf is a large, palm-like leaf that they use to make roofs for their homes. A long time ago, the village’s chief grew a lot of roofleaf. But one day, a terrible storm came and destroyed most of the roofleaf and other crops. Without enough roofleaf to protect them, many villagers died during the cold winter.
After the winter, the villagers found some remaining roofleaf roots and planted them. In five years, the roofleaf grew back and became plentiful again. From that time, the villagers began to see the roofleaf as something sacred, like a god, because it saved their lives.
Joseph tells the missionaries that while the roofleaf isn’t the same as Jesus Christ, it is a symbol of life and earth’s blessings. He says that, in a way, it’s like a god because it represents life. Nettie finds this ceremony and her time in the village to be amazing and special.
Letter 62:
Celie reads another letter from her sister, Nettie. In the letter, Nettie explains that she has been working very hard in the village. She helps with everything, from early in the morning until late at night, and also helps Samuel and Corrine with their missionary work. Even though Nettie enjoys helping out, she finds it very tiring.
There is a woman in the village named Catherine. She has a daughter named Tashi, who likes to play with Olivia. Catherine thinks Tashi doesn’t need to go to school because her only job is to grow up and be a good wife someday. But Nettie disagrees and says girls should be educated too, just like boys. Nettie even says she’s not married, showing that a woman doesn’t need to get married to be important. But Catherine argues back, saying that because Nettie isn’t married and has no husband or family, she doesn’t really matter much in their village.
Even though Catherine feels this way, Olivia is a very smart girl. She learns a lot at school and even teaches Tashi some of what she learns when they play together. Corrine, later on, talks to Nettie and tells her that she should make it clear to the villagers that she is not Samuel’s wife and that Corrine is his only wife. Nettie feels a little hurt and upset by this, but she agrees to do it. Nettie doesn’t understand why Corrine is suddenly acting strange and distant toward her.
At the end of the letter, Nettie talks about her small hut where she lives in the village. She wishes she had a picture of her sister, Celie, to put next to her picture of Jesus Christ.
Letter 63:
Celie reads another letter from her sister Nettie. In this letter, Nettie explains that Tashi’s parents, her mother and father, came to visit her. They told Nettie that they know life is different in other parts of the world, like in the Western countries. In those places, women have more responsibilities and are more educated than women in the Olinka village. But, Tashi’s parents don’t agree with these changes and don’t want that kind of life for Tashi or the other women in their village. They asked Nettie to stop trying to educate Tashi.
Tashi’s parents explained that Tashi is now feeling sad and confused. She is learning new things from Olivia about the world, but she knows she won’t be able to use this knowledge as an Olinka woman. Tashi’s father also told Nettie that they don’t have to listen to the missionaries. There are only five missionaries, and every year, some die during the rainy season. He said the villagers think of the missionaries as tourists who come and go and don’t really make a big difference in their lives.
Nettie writes in her letter that the way the men treat women in the village reminds her of their own father. Nettie and Celie were not allowed to look men in the eyes when they were being spoken to or told what to do. Nettie is sad to see that the way men and women interact in the Olinka village is very similar to the abusive relationships that she and Celie experienced back in Georgia.
