Letter 64:
Celie reads another letter from Nettie. In this letter, Nettie shares that she has now been living with the Olinka people for five years. During this time, an English rubber company has been slowly building a road to the Olinka village. The Olinka people are happy about the road and welcome the workers by giving them food and drinks to celebrate. They do not yet realize that the English company might have other plans, and they trust the road builders for now.
Nettie feels very close to Olivia and Adam, and she loves them very much. However, she starts to wonder if they should be sent to Europe or America to continue their education. In the Olinka village, they can only get a limited education, and Nettie wants them to have the best opportunities.
Nettie also mentions that Corrine, Samuel’s wife, has become even more distant from her. Corrine asks Nettie not to visit Samuel’s hut unless she is there too. This makes Nettie feel a bit sad and confused.
Meanwhile, Tashi and Olivia enjoy telling each other stories about their cultures. Nettie encourages Olivia to write down the stories that Tashi shares with her, so they can be saved for the future. During the rainy season, Tashi’s father becomes very sick with malaria. He refuses to take Western medicine and only uses the traditional medicine of the Olinka. Sadly, the traditional medicine does not work, and Tashi’s father passes away.
Nettie also talks about how the Olinka women are very close friends with one another. They support each other, give advice, and help raise each other’s children. Nettie finds this friendship inspiring. However, Samuel is confused by the idea of women sharing a husband and still being friends because he believes it goes against Christian teachings. The only time problems arise is when a wife’s favorite child dies. In these sad moments, the wives sometimes accuse each other of using sorcery or magic as the reason for the child’s death.
Letter 65:
Celie reads another letter from Nettie. In this letter, Nettie shares that she has now been living with the Olinka people for five years. During this time, an English rubber company has been slowly building a road to the Olinka village. The Olinka people are happy about the road and welcome the workers by giving them food and drinks to celebrate. They do not yet realize that the English company might have other plans, and they trust the road builders for now.
Nettie feels very close to Olivia and Adam, and she loves them very much. However, she starts to wonder if they should be sent to Europe or America to continue their education. In the Olinka village, they can only get a limited education, and Nettie wants them to have the best opportunities.
Nettie also mentions that Corrine, Samuel’s wife, has become even more distant from her. Corrine asks Nettie not to visit Samuel’s hut unless she is there too. This makes Nettie feel a bit sad and confused.
Meanwhile, Tashi and Olivia enjoy telling each other stories about their cultures. Nettie encourages Olivia to write down the stories that Tashi shares with her, so they can be saved for the future. During the rainy season, Tashi’s father becomes very sick with malaria. He refuses to take Western medicine and only uses the traditional medicine of the Olinka. Sadly, the traditional medicine does not work, and Tashi’s father passes away.
Nettie also talks about how the Olinka women are very close friends with one another. They support each other, give advice, and help raise each other’s children. Nettie finds this friendship inspiring. However, Samuel is confused by the idea of women sharing a husband and still being friends because he believes it goes against Christian teachings. The only time problems arise is when a wife’s favorite child dies. In these sad moments, the wives sometimes accuse each other of using sorcery or magic as the reason for the child’s death.
Letter 66:
Celie reads another letter from Nettie, where Nettie talks about taking care of Corrine, who is very sick. One day, while Nettie is helping her, Corrine asks when Nettie first met Samuel. Corrine has been feeling angry for many years because she believes that Nettie is the real mother of Adam and Olivia, and that Samuel is their father. This is why Corrine has been treating Nettie so poorly.
Corrine makes Nettie promise, by swearing on a Bible, that she only met Samuel the day she met Corrine. She even checks Nettie’s stomach to see if there are any signs that Nettie has ever had children. Nettie has never given birth, and Corrine realizes she was wrong. Samuel talks to Nettie privately and says he is sorry for how Corrine has been behaving.
Meanwhile, Nettie shares that the rubber company is continuing to destroy the village lands. The men in the village now have to travel far from home to find animals to hunt for food because there is not much left near the village.
Letter 67:
Celie reads another letter from Nettie. In this letter, Nettie explains that Samuel had always thought Adam and Olivia were her biological children. This is why Samuel was so eager to have Nettie come with him and Corrine on their mission to Africa. Nettie clarifies that Adam and Olivia are not her biological children and asks Samuel to explain where the children really came from.
Samuel tells Nettie a story about what happened a long time ago in Georgia. There was a black man who owned a store with his two brothers. Many people liked to shop at this store, which made the white store owners in the town unhappy. So, these white owners killed the three black men and burned down their store. The man who was killed was Celie’s and Nettie’s real father.
After their father’s death, Celie’s and Nettie’s mother became very sick in her mind. A new man started to court her and eventually married her, even though she was mentally ill. This man, who Celie and Nettie called “Pa,” had many more children with their mother. Unfortunately, Pa also hurt Celie and had two children with her as well.
Pa knew Samuel from the community and told him a lie. Pa said that Adam and Olivia were children he had with Celie’s and Nettie’s mother, not with Celie. He told Samuel that his family was too big, and he couldn’t take care of all his children. So Samuel decided to take Adam and Olivia in. He told Corrine that the children were a gift from God and didn’t explain where they actually came from. Nettie ends the letter by saying once again that “Pa” is not their real father.
Letter 68:
Celie writes a short letter to God after reading Nettie’s letter. She is shocked to learn that her children were not born from incest, and she can hardly believe that her real father is actually dead. Celie also mentions that Shug has told her she wants to take Celie to Tennessee with her. Shug loves Celie and wants to live with her there. Celie is confused and doesn’t know how to handle all the new things she has learned about her family.
Letter 69:
Celie decides she wants to visit Pa to ask him about the new things she learned from Nettie. She has only seen Pa once since leaving home, and that was only from a distance in town.
Shug and Celie drive to Pa’s house, which is now a big white building on beautiful land. Shug thinks the house must be owned by white people. When they arrive, Shug tells Pa, who is now married to a young girl named Daisy, that Celie has come to visit and has some questions.
In front of Daisy and Shug, Celie tells Pa that she knows he is their stepfather. Pa acts like he took Celie and Nettie in because it was the nice thing to do, and the Christian thing. Daisy praises him for being so generous. Pa sees that Shug knows about the terrible things he did to Celie, but he doesn’t care and is sure that neither Shug nor Celie will talk about it in front of Daisy.
Celie asks Pa where her real father and mother are buried. Pa says he doesn’t know because a man who was lynched in the South doesn’t get a headstone. Afterward, Celie and Shug leave the house and try to find the graves in the cemetery but can’t find them.
Shug then tells Celie that they are “family now,” meaning that they have each other and are close like family.
Letter 70:
In another letter, Nettie writes about how she and Samuel try to explain to Corrine that Nettie is actually the children’s aunt and that Celie is their real mother. They hope this will make Corrine understand the truth.
Even though Corrine has looked at Nettie’s stomach and seen that there are no signs that Nettie has had children, she still refuses to believe them. Corrine keeps insisting that Nettie and Celie are lying.
Letter 71:
Nettie tries again to help Corrine remember that Celie is the real mother of Olivia and that Nettie is the children’s aunt. She shows Corrine a quilt made from fabric Corrine bought on the day she and Olivia met Celie in the cloth store back in Georgia. Nettie hopes this will help Corrine remember.
Suddenly, Corrine admits that she was afraid on that day that Celie might be Olivia’s real mother and would want to take Olivia away. This shows that Corrine had suspected for a long time that Celie might be the real mother of the children.
Later that night, Corrine tells Samuel that she finally believes Celie is the children’s mother. Samuel is happy to hear this, but Corrine is very sick and dies shortly after telling him this, with Samuel by her side.
Letter 72:
Nettie writes about Corrine’s funeral, which was done in the Olinka way. She also shares that Olivia has started her first period, and now Olivia and Tashi help each other as they both become women.
Even though Corrine was very upset with Nettie for a long time because she thought Nettie was the children’s real mother, Nettie believes she should forgive Corrine. Corrine died in a painful way but finally believed Nettie and Samuel before she passed away.
Nettie finishes her letter by hoping that the Olinka people can somehow protect their land from the English rubber company, which is taking over. However, Nettie is starting to lose hope that the village can survive against the Western influence.
