The story takes place in the first half of the 20th century. When Celie starts telling her story she's 14 and at the end she's about 55 and the Second World War has just begun. Celie lives on a farm near a small town in the south of the U.S.A., an area with a lot of discrimination. Nettie spends part of her life in the village of the Olinka in the African jungle. The story is a novel.



In short, the story went like this:

Celie is 14 years old and has two children, after having sex with her stepfather, whose wife doesn't want to have sex with him anymore. The children are taken away from her. Celie can't go to school and is not very educated. She also has a sister called Nettie, who's the only one she really cares for. Then a guy wants to get marry with Nettie, but he marries with Celie. Later in the story Nettie is going to live with them, but she leaves them after a while. Then Shug comes and she becomes a good friend of Celie. Celie writes al ot of letters to god, but later she writes to Nettie because she doesn’t believe in god anymore. (because he is a man)

Later in the story Shug is leaving because she found a new lover and Celie miss her a lot. Then the guy, who married Celie, has regret of all the things he did wrong. Then at the end of the story Nettie and Celie see each other again and they have a reunion every year on the 4th of July.



Main characters:

Celie. An uneducated, ugly, 14-year-old black girl. She wants to learn, but she is the eldest daughter and she has to stay away from school to look after the children.

Celie is sexually abused by her stepfather - whom she thinks to be her real father - and by her husband. At first she has no one she can trust. Therefore she writes letters to God.



Nettie. Celie's younger sister. Nettie is nearly married off to Mr. She is educated by Samuel and Corrine, the missionary couple. She is happy to be able to look after Celie's children.



Mr (Albert). A good-looking widower who wants to marry Nettie. He accepts Celie for his wife. Mr is inconsiderate and cruel, especially to Celie.

He is Albert for Shug Avery, whom he has always loved, although his father would not allow him to marry her. Only when Mr has changed and become a real friend to Celie, does she call him Albert.



Shug Avery. A very attractive woman, something of a femme fatale. She is a famous blues singer. Shug has built up her philosophy of life from her own practical experience in life. She has learned to make her own decisions, to lead her own life.

Shug is bisexual, but in the end she chooses for Celie.



The title:

The title is well chosen, because Celie loves the color purple. She wants a purple dress and her room is purple. The story was very hard to read. There were a lot of people coming and going. When I finally thought someone was for example in the house by Celie, she or him was somewhere else and I didn’t know that sometimes and then is it very difficult to understand. I didn’t read another story that I can compare with this one. This was a very exceptional story. I don’t want to recommend this book to anyone, because it’s to confusing.

• Purple