The Color Purple Contents
- The Color Purple: Social and political context
- The Color Purple: Religious and philosophical context
- The Color Purple: Literary context
- Textual help
- Letter 1
- Letter 2
- Letter 3
- Letter 4
- Letter 5
- Letter 6
- Letter 7
- Letter 8
- Letter 9
- Letter 10
- Letter 11
- Letter 12
- Letter 13
- Letter 14
- Letter 15
- Letter 16
- Letter 17
- Letter 18
- Letter 19
- Letter 20
- Letter 21
- Letter 22
- Letter 23
- Letter 24
- Letter 25
- Letter 26
- Letter 27
- Letter 28
- Letter 29
- Letter 30
- Letter 31
- Letter 32
- Letter 33
- Letter 34
- Letter 35
- Letter 36
- Letter 37
- Letter 38
- Letter 39
- Letter 40
- Letter 41
- Letter 42
- Letter 43
- Letter 44
- Letter 45
- Letter 46
- Letter 47
- Letter 48
- Letter 49
- Letter 50
- Letter 51
- Letter 52
- Letter 53
- Letter 54
- Letter 55
- Letter 56
- Letter 57
- Letter 58
- Letter 59
- Letter 60
- Letter 61
- Letter 62
- Letter 63
- Letter 64
- Letter 65
- Letter 66
- Letter 67
- Letter 68
- Letter 69
- Letter 70
- Letter 71
- Letter 72
- Letter 73
- Letter 74
- Letter 75
- Letter 76
- Letter 77
- Letter 78
- Letter 79
- Letter 80
- Letter 81
- Letter 82
- Letter 83
- Letter 84
- Letter 85
- Letter 86
- Letter 87
- Letter 88
- Letter 89
- Letter 90
Letter 18
Synopsis of Letter 18
Sofia’s baby is born before she and Harpo are married in her sister’s house. There has been no reconciliation between Sofia and her father, but her brother-in-law and two of her sisters attend the wedding. Sofia feeds her child in the middle of the ceremony, showing both her independence and her devotion to the child.
Harpo finds the courage to defy Mr_ and refuses to work on the farm until his father agrees to pay him a wage and to let Harpo have a small shed to fix up as a home for Sofia and the baby.
Sofia is confident and strong and seems to take naturally to being in charge of her home, although Mr_ has some misgivings about exactly who is head of the house.
Commentary on Letter 18
There is frequently an element of comedy in the relationship between Harpo and Sofia and something of a role reversal, with Sofia displaying masculine character traits in comparison to Harpo’s gentler behaviour. Physically they are also different, with Sofia having a more masculine build than her husband and a much more forceful personality. However, initially the couple seem to be happy and well matched.
Investigating Letter 18
- How does Alice Walker portray strong female characters in the novel?
- Start a two-column list with Sofia, then her sisters, in the left hand column with a matching characteristic in the right hand column.
- Add other strong women characters as they appear in the story.
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