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 76
Synopsis of Letter 76
Celie describes Shug’s house in Memphis, which is large and decorated with statues of turtles and elephants. Shug and Celie have separate bedrooms and there is ample space for Grady and Mary Agnes, who make up the rest of the household.
Shug and Nettie spend time together cooking, reading the newspaper and listening to music before Shug goes back to work, touring with her band for weeks at a time. She declines Celie’s offer to take care of her on the road, wanting her to rest.
While Mary Agnes starts to establish her own singing career as a singer, accompanied by Grady, Celie concentrates on making more and more pairs of trousers until she arrives at the perfect pair for Shug, who is delighted. Mary Agnes chooses a pair and Celie makes some for Odessa’s husband Jack as a thank you for the Army trousers he gave Celie initially. By word-of-mouth, orders begin to come in and Shug encourages Celie to start a home business, giving her use of the dining room as a factory and suggesting that Celie sticks to the design of the trousers, employing a few local women to take care of the manufacture.
Celie designs cool trousers for Nettie as an act of love and signs off with the name of her new business, ‘Folkspants Unlimited’.
Commentary on Letter 76
On moving to Memphis to live with Shug, Celie’s life changes dramatically. The description of Shug’s house, with its elephant and turtle statues in the house and grounds, gives an impression of a childlike environment. The two women enjoy a brief time of innocent pleasure, cooking, working in the garden and reading newspapers before Shug goes back on the road.
Note the oblique reference to conditions faced by black entertainers of the time, who were not permitted to stay in white hotels and often could not find suitable accommodation when they were on tour. This is the reason why Celie offers to accompany Shug, to wash and iron her clothes when she is on the road. Note also Shug’s reason for refusing to let Celie travel with her, saying that she would find it difficult not to show how bored she was, if Celie were in the audience.
Living in an atmosphere which is free from oppression and cruelty brings out Celie’s creativity. The trousers that she makes are original and attractive. The fact that they are not conventional clothing for women symbolises Celie’s subconscious wish for equality with men. It is also significant that many of the first pairs that she makes are given to women, with Odessa’s husband Jack being a notable exception, probably because he is one of the few men so far in the narrative who have been consistently dependable, sympathetic and kind.
The tone of this letter is optimistic and different from all of Celie’s correspondence so far. Living in a predominantly female household with a woman she both admires and loves, as well as developing a career which will make her financially independent, signals a watershed moment in Celie’s life. From this point in the narrative, she begins to assert herself and take control of her own life.
Investigating Letter 76
- What do you think is the significance of the turtle and elephant statues in Shug Avery’s house?
- Why do you think Walker has Shug imagine a house which is round and made of mud?
- What could the reaction to this design symbolise?
- Why does Celie choose ducks as her own contribution to the decorations?
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