Themes
God and Spirituality
The first words
written by Celie, the novel's protagonist, are "Dear God," and the
novel ends with a letter, the salutation of which reads, "Dear God. Dear
stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God."
This encapsulates The Color Purple's relationship to religion and spirituality:
a transition from a belief in a single God, an old white man in a long beard,
to a God that exists all around, and is a part of human happiness. Celie begins
writing letters to God in order to survive the her father's sexual abuse; she later
comes to view God as an outgrowth of nature's beauty, after Shug convinces her
that God is more than what white people say, and what church teachings confirm.
Although Shug
is not typically religious, she believes strongly that God wants people to be
happy, and that God, too, wants to be loved, just as people do. Nettie serves
as a missionary to the Olinka people, intending to spread Christianity, but
realises, like her sister, that God is more pervasive, more bound up in nature
than some Christian teaching suggests. Even Mr. _____ comes to realise that he
behaved evilly as a young man, and his growing belief in the "wonder"
of God's creation makes him a better person, and a friend to Celie. Nettie's
return to Celie, at the novel's end, confirms that the beauty of family
togetherness is one manifestation of God's power on earth.
Race and Racism
The novel takes
place in two distinct settings—rural Georgia and a remote African village—both
suffused with problems of race and racism. Celie believes herself to be ugly in
part because of her very dark skin. Sofia, after fighting back against the
genteel racism of the mayor and his wife, ends up serving as maid to that
family, and as surrogate mother to Eleanor, who does not initially recognizs
the sacrifices Sofia has been forced to make. In general, very few career paths
are open to the African Americans in the novel: for the men, farming is the
main occupation, although Harpo manages to open a bar. For women, it seems only
possible to serve as a mother, or to perform for a living, to sing as Squeak
and Shug Avery do.
In Africa, the
situation Nettie, Samuel, Corrine, Adam, Tashi, and Olivia experience is not
that much different. Nettie recalls that the ancestors of the Olinka, with whom
she lives, sold her ancestors into slavery in America. The Olinka view African
Americans with indifference. Meanwhile the English rubber workers, who build
roads through the village and displace the Olinka from their ancient land, have
very little concern for that people's history in Africa. The British feel that,
because they are developing the land, they "own" it, and the African
people who have lived there for centuries are merely "backward"
natives. It is only at the very end of the novel, after Samuel, Nettie, and
their family have returned from Africa, to Celie's home in Georgia, that Celie
and Nettie's entire family is able to come together and dine—a small gift, and
something that would be considered completely normal for the white families of
that time period, whose lives had not been ripped apart by the legacy of
slavery and poverty.
Men, Women, and Gender Roles
The novel is
also an extended meditation on the nature of men, women, and their expected
gender roles. In the beginning, Celie is expected to serve her abusive father,
and, later, her husband Mr. _____, and Nettie, not wanting to do either, runs
away. But Nettie sacrifices the job generally reserved for women—motherhood—in
order to educate herself and work for Samuel and Corrine during their
missionary labours in Africa. Celie, meanwhile, has two children, whom Nettie
then raises in Africa, coincidentally—Celie only leaves behind the drudgery of
housework when Shug comes to live with her and Mr. _____ and begins to teach
Celie about her body and about other ways of living, outside the control of
men. Celie and Squeak, Harpo's second wife, end up living with Shug in Memphis,
and Celie is able to start her pants-making company.
The men in the
novel, however, experience a different trajectory. It is expected that black
men of this time, especially in the South, work in the fields, and that women
obey them absolutely. But after Shug and then Celie leave him behind, Mr. _____
realises just how much he took for granted and how much he, and his son Harpo,
have relied on the work of women throughout their lives. Similarly, in Africa,
Nettie manages both to achieve the gender role initially expected of her (by
marrying the widower Samuel), and keeps working and forging her own path in
life, eventually spending over twenty years as a missionary in Africa.
The end of the
novel, then, celebrates both the continuity of family, populated both by strong
female characters and repentant male ones, and the fact that
"families," and the roles within them, are fluid, often overlapping,
and part of a long arc toward equality and greater understanding, even if that
arc is often dotted with tragedy, abuse, and neglect.
Violence and Suffering
Violence and
suffering in 'The Color Purple' are typically depicted as part of a greater cycle
of tragedy taking place both on the family level and on a broader social scale.
Celie is raped by her stepfather and beaten for many years by her husband, only
to have Shug Avery intervene on her behalf. Sofia is nearly beaten to death by
white police officers after pushing a white family; she nearly dies in prison.
Nettie is almost raped by her stepfather and by Mr. _____, and must run away in
order to protect herself. Harpo tries, unsuccessfully, to beat and control
Sofia, his first wife, and he beats Squeak until she leaves him for Grady
(though Squeak returns to Celie's home at the end of the novel). These cycles
of violence are repeated across the South: Celie's biological father and uncles
were lynched by whites jealous of their business success, and there is always
the threat that, if black people agitate too much for their rights, they will
be struck down by the white people who control the local and state government.
In Africa, too,
this violence occurs within the local culture and in the relation between whites
and blacks. Men in the Olinka village have absolute control over their wives,
and a scarring ritual takes place for all women going through permanently,
leaving their faces permanently marked. The white British rubber dealers who
take over the Olinka land end up killing a great many in the village, without
concern for the humanity or customs of the Olinka, who have lived there for
many years. But despite all this violence and suffering, there is a core of
hope in the novel: the hope that Celie and Nettie might be reunited. It is this
hope that, eventually, stops the cycle of violence, at least within Celie's
family, and enables the reunion of many of the family members in Georgia at the
novel's end.
Self-Discovery
The novel is,
ultimately, a journey of self-discovery for Celie, and for other characters.
Celie begins the novel as a passive, quiet young girl, perplexed by her own
pregnancy, by her rape at the hands of Pa, and her ill-treatment by Mr. _____.
Slowly, after meeting Shug and seeing her sister run away, Celie develops
practical skills: she is a hard worker in the fields, she learns how to manage
a house and raise children, and she meets other inspiring women, including
Sofia, who has always had to fight the men in her life. Further, she discovers
her own sexuality and capacity to love through her developing romance with
Shug. Eventually, Celie discovers that her sister Nettie has been writing to
her all along, and this, coupled with Shug's support, allows Celie to confront
Mr. _____, to move to Memphis with Shug, to begin her own pants company, and,
eventually, to make enough money to be independent. Celie's luck begins to
change: she inherits her biological father's estate, allowing her greater
financial freedom, and she manages to repair her relationship with Mr. _____
(he gives her a purple frog as a symbol of his recognition of his earlier bad
behaviour), and create a kind of family with Mr. _____ Shug, Harpo, Sofia,
Squeak, Nettie, and her own children.
Nettie's arc is
also one of self-discovery. Nettie received more years of schooling than did
Celie, and Nettie has seen the world, working as a missionary in Africa, and
eventually marrying a kind and intelligent man. But Nettie also realises that
she can balance her independence, and her desire to work, with a loving married
life that also includes two stepchildren—Celie's children, Olivia and Adam.
Indeed, it is the arrival of this extended family on Celie's land at the end of
the novel that signals the last stage in both Celie's and Nettie's journey of
self-discovery. The sisters have found themselves, and now, as the novel
closes, they have found each other.
