English Book report Name: Leanarda Niles Class: H3b Title: The color purple Author: Alice Walker

Pages: 229 Setting: The story takes place in the beginning of the 1900s. The book basically describes 40 years of Celies life. Main Characters: Celie: In the beginning of the book Celie is an uneducated, 14 years old black girl. She has two children from her stepfather who raped her and gave the children away. Celie is an obedient woman, due to the positive influence of Shug Avery; she grows into a strong, independent woman who stands up for herself. Nettie: She is the younger sister of Celie. In the middle of the book she lives with Samuel (a reverend) and his family in Africa. She takes care of Celies children. Mr. Albert: Mr.Albert is Celies husband. He is selfish, cruel and disapproving of women. At the end of the book he changes and he became friends with Celie. Their friendship is based on their love for Shug Avery. Shug Avery: She is the hero of the story. She is an attractive, independent woman with her own point of view, based on her experiences in life. She is a famous blues singer. She loves Celie and teaches her how to be her own person and stand up for herself. Summary: The book starts on a farm down in the south of America at the beginning of the 20th century. Celie, a 14 year old girl lives there with her Stepfather and her sister Nettie. She and her sister care a lot about each other. Celie (the oldest of the two sisters) has been raped by her father several times and she has two children from him. Both of the children were taken away from her and she thinks her father killed them. Celie is not allowed to go to school, thats why she is very low educated. In the church theres a man who always looks at Nettie, his name is Mr. Albert, but she calls him Mister. Mr. Albert finally comes to the house of Celie and Nettie, he asks for Netties hand in marriage. Father refuses it, but promises him a cow if he marries Celie. Mister accepts the offer and marries Celie. He doesnt love Celie, but his wife died and he wants a woman to keep the house for him and look after his four children. Mister had this sort of the pattern of sexual and physical abuse, which Celie also had to deal with when she lived with her father. Nettie ran away from home and came to see Celie. She stayed with Celie and her family, but Celies husband tried to seduce her, so Nettie left, promising that she will write till her death. To Mister she says she is glad to go, but actually she hates to leave Celie. Celie never received a letter from her sister and she doesnt know if Nettie is alive or not. Therefore she goes on writing

her lonely letters to God. Mister was always talking and fantasizing about a woman called Shug Avery. He loves her very much. Shug also means a lot to Celie, although she only knows her from a picture, she becomes an obsession for her. A little later Shug came to visit Mister. Celie was very excited that she will meet her, but when Shug arrives she is horrible because she is drunk. After a while Shug became very ill and Celie had to take care of her. This event is very important, because during this period Celie and Shug become very good friends. They discussed many things together. They talked about the sex with Mister (Celie knows by this time his name is Albert) Celie hates the sex, but Shug likes it. Celie also says, He just do his business, get off, go to sleep. When Shug is in the house, Mister doesnt beat or abuse Celie, Shug forbids him to do that. Even when she left he obeyed her. Shug and Celie really love each other, although theyre both married. Celie learns a lot of Shug and gets more confidence. After a while Shug goes away, Celie wants to say that she wants to come with her but she cant. Shug always wrote letters to Mister. One day she said that she was coming back. When she came back she came with her husband, Grady. Mister and Grady were always drunk. In that time Celie tells Shug about her family, that her mother has died and that her sister had ran away. She says to Shug that almost nobody ever loved her. Shug says to her: I love you, and kisses Celie. Celie kisses Shug back and at the end they have sex. Shug then discovers that Mister has been hiding all the letters from Nettie to Celie. Celie starts reading the letters and reads about Netties life. Nettie lives with a woman (Corrine) her husband (Samuel a reverend) and their two children, Olivia and Adam. These two children turn out to be Celies children. Corrine hears from Nettie on her deathbed that Adam and Olivia are actually Celies children and Samuel tells Nettie that her father isnt her real father. Their real father was killed in an execution when they were very young. When Celie reads her father isnt her real father she decides to go back with Shug to Shugs house in Memphis. In Memphis Celie started to make pants for a hobby and finally she started running a pants shop. During this time Shug fell in love, with a 19 year old boy and went with him, promising Celie that she will return. Celie does not believe her, but decides to live her own life. She is going to live in her old house, because her stepfather died. The house used to belong to her real father and he left it to his children. Mister realized that he has treated Celie very wrong and he and Celie became friends. Their relationship is based on their love for Shug. Finally Shug returns to Celie and Mister, Celie and Shug are reunited. One day Nettie, Samuel, Olivia, Adam and his wife return. Celie is totally surprised and she was very happy to see them. At the end of the book Celie is full of confidence and love for life, others and herself. Message: It basically sends the message about the abuse of women by men, black people by white and the African culture by the western culture, it teaches you to always be strong no matter what happens in life just have hope. It gives an example of the freedom of women and men from their own traditional rules, but within their own cultural back round. It also describes the love that Mister and Celie had for Shug Avery.

My opinion: The Color Purple, a fascinating, interesting book. When I started reading this book I didnt realize, what terrible things happened in South America in the beginning of the 1900s. I realized that there was a lot of racial discrimination and in that time people found that woman were worth nothing. I have also watched the movie, it is very moving and it says a lot about how things were back then in the 1900s. I honestly love the book and the movie.