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Letter 67
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Color Purple, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
God and Spirituality
Race and Racism
Men, Women, and Gender Roles
Violence and Suffering
Self-Discovery
Summary
Analysis
Celie writes a brief letter to God, in response to Nettie's information, saying she cannot believe that her children were not born of incest, and that her biological father is in fact dead. She adds that Shug says she is going to take Celie to Tennessee with her—that she loves her and wants to live with her. Celie does not know how to process all the new information she has learned about her family.
And, of course, the revelation about Pa also eliminates Celie's shame about incest with Pa and how that might affect her children. It is noteworthy that just as Celie learns about the truth of her background—that she was born out of love, to a loving, successful father—that Shug declares her own love for Celie in preference to Mr. _____ and develops a plan for Celie to escape her limited life in Mr. _____'s house. Celie is still financially dependent—now on Shug, rather than Mr. _____—but her emotional life will be full of love rather than restricted by efforts by men to control her.
Themes
