Plot+and+Summary

The Color Purple is told in the form of diary entries and letters. The main character,Celie, is a poor, uneducated, young black woman in 1930s. She lives in Georgia. Celie who, at age fourteen, is raped and impregnated twice by a man she calls Pa. Her children both disappear; Celie assumes their father has murdered them, until she meets a small girl in town to whom she bears a strong resemblance. Celie is forced into a marriage against her will, to Mr.,__ a man who originally approaches her father to ask permission to marry her younger sister, Nettie. Shortly after moving into her new home, she is joined by Nettie, who is also seeking to escape the unpleasant conditions at home. After Celie's husband tries to seduce her and fails he forces Nettie to leave and, following Celie's advice, she goes to the home of a local pastor, promising to write to Celie. As time passes, no letters arrive and so Celie assumes that Nettie is dead.

__Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) in the movie.

When Celie was younger she fell in love with a picture of a woman named Shug Avery. Shug is also Mr. 's long lost love, with whom he was going to marry but his father had told him she was trash because she wears skimpy clothes and is a singer. But when Shug gets sick she goes to live with Mr. _ and Celie. Slowly, her and Celie develope a relationship, in which they are lesbian lovers. Yet, Shug still marries a man named Grady, but that doesn't stop them from being together. After Shug stays there for a while, she finds out that Mr.__ beats Celie, so Shug wants to take Celie away to live with her up north.

Shug Avery (Margret Avery) in the movie.

Celie also finds strength in Sofia, who marries Albert's son Harpo. Sofia has also suffered abuse from the men in her family, but unlike Celie, she refuses to tolerate it. When Harpo tries to hit her, they go into an all out brawl. Sofia tries to help Celie become more confident, but Celie is so used to having no feelins or say in anything that nothing changes. This high-spiritedness proves to be her downfall, however, as a rude remark to the town mayor's wife and a punch to the mayor himself ends with Sofia in jail.



Nettie, meanwhile, has been living with missionaries in Africa and writing to Celie often. Unbeknownst to Celie, Albert confiscates Nettie's letters, telling Celie that she will never hear from her sister again. During a visit from Shug and her new husband, Grady, Celie and Shug discover many years' worth of Nettie's correspondence. Reconnecting with her sister and the assurance that she is still alive helps give Celie the strength to stand up to Albert. She almost slits his throat while giving him a shave, and is only to be stopped by Shug. During a family dinner Sofia is shown to be prematurely aged and permanently disfigured due to the severe beatings that she received in jail. During this dinner, Celie finally asserts herself, excoriating Albert and his father. Shug informs Albert that they are leaving, and that Celie is coming with them, despite Albert's attempts to verbally abuse Celie into staying, Celie stands up to Albert and leaves permanently.

Squeak in the movie.