In 1982, Alice Walker wrote what became one of her most well-known books, The Color Purple. It was only a year later that Walker’s book received the Pulitzer Prize, as well as the National Book Award. Later, the book was made into both a movie and a play. The Color Purple was also on Broadway. It performed over nine hundred times on Broadway. When The Color Purple stopped showing on Broadway, it began a national tour. In The Color Purple, the narrator is a young, uneducated girl named Celie telling of her life and the plight of women. Throughout the story, Celie writes letters to God. These letters allow Celie to tell someone of her Pa, Alphonso, beating and raping her. The beating and raping not only hurts her physicaly, but it hurts her emotionally. Through the letters, Celie is able to release all of her emotions. Celie winds up having two children, a boy and a girl, by her Pa, but her Pa takes the kids away and takes them to another couple. Not long after her mother's death, her Pa finds another woman but this does not stop him from abusing her. One day a man, Mr. _, turns up on Alphonso's porch. Mr. _ had come to ask for Nettie's hand in marriage, but Alphonso refused to let Mr. _ marry Nettie, instead, Alphonso offers Celie to Mr. _ and Mr. _ accepted. When Celie reaches Mr. _'s home, she finds her hands are full because she has to keep his house, cook for the family, and take care of his poorly raised children. Even though Celie has left her Pa's house, she is still sexually and physically abused by Mr. _. Upon Celie's arrival, she finds out that Mr. _ has only beenin love one timeand that was with Shug Avery, a singer that often came to town to perform. Shug Avery and Mr. _ had past relationships, but she never felt the same way about him as he did about her. Mr. _ kept a picture of Shug Avery in his home. The picture made Celie become fascinated with Shug Avery. One day, Nettie comes to Mr. _'s home looking for a place to stay. Nettie had fled Pa's home and had nowhere else to turn but her sister. Mr. _ still saw something in Nettie that he wanted, so he tried to rape her. Nettie would not allow him to treat him like this so she ran from him. Nettie's running made Mr. _ angry. He made Nettie leave and assured Celie that she would never hear from her sister again. Mr. _'s sister, Kate, paid a visit one day to see her family. Upon her arrival, she had a talk with Celie about how she needed to fight back against men and not let them treat her like Mr. _ does. Mr. _'s son, Harpo, confronts his father about the woman he is in love with, Sophia. Sophia and Harpo soon marry and have their first child. Harpo finds that he wants his wife to respect him and do everything he wants, so he tries to beat her. His attempts at beating her are no good because she beats him worse than he beats her. Shug Avery had come to town and fell ill. It isn't long before Mr. _ goes out to find Shug and brings her back to his house to stay while she recovers. The first impression the reader gets of Shug is not a good one. Shug seems to be just as rude to Celie as all the men in her life have been. Celie takes care of Shug and does everything for her. Even though Celie does so much for Shug, Shug continues to treat Celie poorly. Once Shug begins to feel better and she realizes how much Celie has done for her, she talks to Celie as a human being rather than an animal. Shug begins to develop a womanly relationship with Shug. Harpo begins to frustrate Sophia so badly by beating her that she moves out. Although this is bad for Harpo and Sophia's marriage and family, it is good for Shug and her career. By the time Shug feels completely well again, Sophia has left and Harpo has opened a place for people to come and spend their evenings. Shug spends many evenings entertaining people with her singing. Celie and Shug continue to grow closer because Shug finds that Mr. _ beats Celie. Shug and Celie form a close connection to one another and are able to talk to one another about anything. Unfortunately, Shug has to eventually leave so she can continue her singing career on the road. Sofia returns only to find that her home has been turned into a place of entertainment. She also finds that her Harpo has a new girlfriend, Squeak. Sofia does not hesitate to start fighting with Squeak as soon as she gets there. Later, Sofia is in town and runs into the mayor and his wife. The mayor's wife asked Sofia to come live with them and be their maid. This made Sofia mad so she immediately responded by telling her 'hell no.' The mayor then slaps Sofia in the face for speaking this way to his wife, and Sofia responds by hitting the mayor so hard that he falls down. This act of Sofia puts her in jail. Through efforts of Squeak, Sofia was able to leave jail and work as the mayor's maid for twelve years. Shug returns to see Celie and Mr. _. Except this visit, Shug shows up with a new husband. Shug's new husbands name is Grady. Celie and Shug pick up their frienship where they left off. When the two were talking, Shug asked Celie about her sister, Nettie. Celie tells Shug that she believes Nettie to be dead because she had not heard from her. When Grady and Mr. _ are not at home, Shug digs through Mr. _'s trunk with important things to him. Shug had seen some mail come in and she knew how to get into Mr. _'s trunk. As Celie and Shug went through the trunk, they came across many letters that Nettie had sent to Celie over the years. These letters reveal that Nettie is in fact alive and is doing very well. She had become good friends with a missionary couple, Corrine and Samuel, that had adopted two children, Adam and Olivia. The missionaries took Nettie to Africa to help them with missionary work. Nettie tells Celie of her travels to Africa and what the life is like over there and tells how interesting it is to her that she learn of the history of Africa. The letters also reveal that Adam and Olivia are really Celie's children by her Pa. Nettie writes telling of her niece and nephew and how she is able to help raise them and see them grow up and mature in many ways. Nettie goes on to tell that Corrine falls ill and dies while they are in Africa. After Corrine's death, Nettie and Samuel marry. She also tells Celie that Alphonso is not their real Pa. The only reason he tried to convince Celie and Nettie that he was their real Pa was so he could inherit everything that their mother owned when she died. The mayor and his wife allow Sofia to leave their home. Celie is finally able to stand up for herself. She is able to finally say things to Mr. _ she has never been able to say before. Celie lets all of her angry emotions out on Mr. _. After this, Shug, Celie, and Squeak leave for Tennessee. Moving to Tennessee allowed Celie to get out on her own. Celie started the hobby of making pants. Celie continued to make different pants that would well suit each of her friend's personalities. Soon, making pants became Celie's career and not just a hobby. Eventually, Celie finds it would be nice to make a trip back to Georgia and visit Mr. _'s home. Celie finds that, while she was in Tennessee, Mr. _ had reevaluated himself and changed his attitude in life. While there, she is able to civily talk with Mr. _. Mr. _ asks Celie for her hand in marriage. He assures her that he has changed and he will no longer treat her as an animal, but she rejects his offer. Instead, Celie goes back to the home that belonged to her mother where she continues her life. Soon, Nettie, Samuel, Olivia, Adam, and Tashi, Adam's wife, return to Georgia from Africa. Celie and Nettie are finally reunited and Celie is the happiest she has ever been. According to Celie, it is the youngest she and her sister have felt, as well.
In 1982, Alice Walker wrote what became one of her most well-known books, The Color Purple. It was only a year later that Walker’s book received the Pulitzer Prize, as well as the National Book Award. Later, the book was made into both a movie and a play. The Color Purple was also on Broadway. It performed over nine hundred times on Broadway. When The Color Purple stopped showing on Broadway, it began a national tour.
In The Color Purple, the narrator is a young, uneducated girl named Celie telling of her life and the plight of women. Throughout the story, Celie writes letters to God. These letters allow Celie to tell someone of her Pa, Alphonso, beating and raping her. The beating and raping not only hurts her physicaly, but it hurts her emotionally. Through the letters, Celie is able to release all of her emotions. Celie winds up having two children, a boy and a girl, by her Pa, but her Pa takes the kids away and takes them to another couple. Not long after her mother's death, her Pa finds another woman but this does not stop him from abusing her.
One day a man, Mr. _, turns up on Alphonso's porch. Mr. _ had come to ask for Nettie's hand in marriage, but Alphonso refused to let Mr. _ marry Nettie, instead, Alphonso offers Celie to Mr. _ and Mr. _ accepted. When Celie reaches Mr. _'s home, she finds her hands are full because she has to keep his house, cook for the family, and take care of his poorly raised children. Even though Celie has left her Pa's house, she is still sexually and physically abused by Mr. _. Upon Celie's arrival, she finds out that Mr. _ has only been in love one timeand that was with Shug Avery, a singer that often came to town to perform. Shug Avery and Mr. _ had past relationships, but she never felt the same way about him as he did about her. Mr. _ kept a picture of Shug Avery in his home. The picture made Celie become fascinated with Shug Avery.
One day, Nettie comes to Mr. _'s home looking for a place to stay. Nettie had fled Pa's home and had nowhere else to turn but her sister. Mr. _ still saw something in Nettie that he wanted, so he tried to rape her. Nettie would not allow him to treat him like this so she ran from him. Nettie's running made Mr. _ angry. He made Nettie leave and assured Celie that she would never hear from her sister again.
Mr. _'s sister, Kate, paid a visit one day to see her family. Upon her arrival, she had a talk with Celie about how she needed to fight back against men and not let them treat her like Mr. _ does. Mr. _'s son, Harpo, confronts his father about the woman he is in love with, Sophia. Sophia and Harpo soon marry and have their first child. Harpo finds that he wants his wife to respect him and do everything he wants, so he tries to beat her. His attempts at beating her are no good because she beats him worse than he beats her.
Shug Avery had come to town and fell ill. It isn't long before Mr. _ goes out to find Shug and brings her back to his house to stay while she recovers. The first impression the reader gets of Shug is not a good one. Shug seems to be just as rude to Celie as all the men in her life have been. Celie takes care of Shug and does everything for her. Even though Celie does so much for Shug, Shug continues to treat Celie poorly. Once Shug begins to feel better and she realizes how much Celie has done for her, she talks to Celie as a human being rather than an animal. Shug begins to develop a womanly relationship with Shug. Harpo begins to frustrate Sophia so badly by beating her that she moves out. Although this is bad for Harpo and Sophia's marriage and family, it is good for Shug and her career. By the time Shug feels completely well again, Sophia has left and Harpo has opened a place for people to come and spend their evenings. Shug spends many evenings entertaining people with her singing. Celie and Shug continue to grow closer because Shug finds that Mr. _ beats Celie. Shug and Celie form a close connection to one another and are able to talk to one another about anything. Unfortunately, Shug has to eventually leave so she can continue her singing career on the road.
Sofia returns only to find that her home has been turned into a place of entertainment. She also finds that her Harpo has a new girlfriend, Squeak. Sofia does not hesitate to start fighting with Squeak as soon as she gets there. Later, Sofia is in town and runs into the mayor and his wife. The mayor's wife asked Sofia to come live with them and be their maid. This made Sofia mad so she immediately responded by telling her 'hell no.' The mayor then slaps Sofia in the face for speaking this way to his wife, and Sofia responds by hitting the mayor so hard that he falls down. This act of Sofia puts her in jail. Through efforts of Squeak, Sofia was able to leave jail and work as the mayor's maid for twelve years.
Shug returns to see Celie and Mr. _. Except this visit, Shug shows up with a new husband. Shug's new husbands name is Grady. Celie and Shug pick up their frienship where they left off. When the two were talking, Shug asked Celie about her sister, Nettie. Celie tells Shug that she believes Nettie to be dead because she had not heard from her. When Grady and Mr. _ are not at home, Shug digs through Mr. _'s trunk with important things to him. Shug had seen some mail come in and she knew how to get into Mr. _'s trunk. As Celie and Shug went through the trunk, they came across many letters that Nettie had sent to Celie over the years. These letters reveal that Nettie is in fact alive and is doing very well. She had become good friends with a missionary couple, Corrine and Samuel, that had adopted two children, Adam and Olivia. The missionaries took Nettie to Africa to help them with missionary work. Nettie tells Celie of her travels to Africa and what the life is like over there and tells how interesting it is to her that she learn of the history of Africa. The letters also reveal that Adam and Olivia are really Celie's children by her Pa. Nettie writes telling of her niece and nephew and how she is able to help raise them and see them grow up and mature in many ways. Nettie goes on to tell that Corrine falls ill and dies while they are in Africa. After Corrine's death, Nettie and Samuel marry. She also tells Celie that Alphonso is not their real Pa. The only reason he tried to convince Celie and Nettie that he was their real Pa was so he could inherit everything that their mother owned when she died.
The mayor and his wife allow Sofia to leave their home. Celie is finally able to stand up for herself. She is able to finally say things to Mr. _ she has never been able to say before. Celie lets all of her angry emotions out on Mr. _. After this, Shug, Celie, and Squeak leave for Tennessee. Moving to Tennessee allowed Celie to get out on her own. Celie started the hobby of making pants. Celie continued to make different pants that would well suit each of her friend's personalities. Soon, making pants became Celie's career and not just a hobby. Eventually, Celie finds it would be nice to make a trip back to Georgia and visit Mr. _'s home. Celie finds that, while she was in Tennessee, Mr. _ had reevaluated himself and changed his attitude in life. While there, she is able to civily talk with Mr. _. Mr. _ asks Celie for her hand in marriage. He assures her that he has changed and he will no longer treat her as an animal, but she rejects his offer. Instead, Celie goes back to the home that belonged to her mother where she continues her life. Soon, Nettie, Samuel, Olivia, Adam, and Tashi, Adam's wife, return to Georgia from Africa. Celie and Nettie are finally reunited and Celie is the happiest she has ever been. According to Celie, it is the youngest she and her sister have felt, as well.