2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Congratulations on finishing this book!

Don't forget to post your review here when you're finished.

Just a few questions!

Did you enjoy the style of writing?

Did not knowing Albert's last name annoy or intrigue you?

Celie's husband is the villain in this story - why do you think he hid Nettie's letters to Celie intead of destroying them?

Which characters (if any!) do you find likeable and why?

Do you think Mr __________ deserves to be forgiven?

Do you think society has changed in the way it addresses violence towards women and children? How do you think Alphonso and Albert would have fared in the modern day court?

What do you think determines whether someone is considered beautiful today? Why do you think so few people refused to see the beauty in Celie?

What facts about American history are captured in this book?

What generalisations does Alice Walker make about males and females?

Why do you think the book was called "The Color Purple"? What does the colour purple mean to you?

Does the book end the way you wanted? If not, how would you have ended it?

What is your most memorable quote from the book?

Who would you recommend this book to and why?

The version I'm reading doesn't have numbered chapters, so I hope I'm posting in the right thread! I haven't finished yet, but I'm at the part where Celie says she's going to stop writing to God and start writing to Nettie, which is page 205, or about 2/3 of my way through. I have to say, I have really enjoyed this book, but I could give this chapter a five star rating all on its own. I love this transformation in Celie now that she knows Nettie is alive. She's much less submissive and she is not afraid to tell her husband or anyone else what she wants.

I think the book was called the color purple because this is what Shug says God wants from you. He (or "It", if you've read the part about what God looks like yet) gave you the color purple and all he asks is that you stop to notice it, that's all He/It wants in return for giving you beautiful things. God loves what you love. I also think this ties in to the idea that Celie is ugly except to a select few characters. It implies that Celie is someone to be admired, and to admire her would please God. I don't think it's a coincidence that those who fail to see her beauty are also guilty of other sins.

Anyway, that's what I've got so far. Hopefully I'll finish today or tomorrow and post my final review.

Kathryn wrote: "Just a few questions!

Did you enjoy the style of writing?

Did not knowing Albert's last name annoy or intrigue you?

Celie's husband is the villain in this story - why do you think he hid Nettie'..."

I enjoyed the writing. I also enjoyed watching Celie's writing evolve. I really did feel as though Walker's choice of words for Celie acted like a subliminal message of "don't feel sorry for her".

At first not knowing Mr._____'s name was annoying, enough for me to REALLY wonder why it had been done. But now that I've finished the book, I see that it was likely Celie herself who took his name out, as he had become a different person to her at that point. It was poignant and completely made sense once I got to the end.

Perhaps Mr._________ hid the letters out of guilt or perhaps he did it to have further arsenal against Celie.

I liked Celie and Nettie, Sofia, Corrine and Mary Agnes. I did not care much for Shug though. I found it fitting that Celie fell in love with someone so selfish, it made sense, but I think Celie deserved someone better. By the end of the book I was ready to invite Celie over to make some quilt blocks and smoke a pipe with me.

My favorite quote was "Man corrupt everything, say Shug. He on your box of grits, in your head, and all over the radio. He try to make you think he everywhere. Soon as you think he everywhere, you think he God. But he ain't."

Chelsea wrote: "The version I'm reading doesn't have numbered chapters, so I hope I'm posting in the right thread! I haven't finished yet, but I'm at the part where Celie says she's going to stop writing to God an..."

Great points, Chelsea! I think it's interesting that Celie doesn't even really believe in God (especially in the beginning) but writes to God because she doesn't have anybody else to reach out to. And when she's at her worst, I think this quote sums it up (p. 187) "All my life I never care what people thought bout nothing I did, I say. But deep in my heart I care about God. What he going to think. And come to find out, he don't think. Just sit up there glorying in being deef, I reckon. But it ain't easy, trying to do without God. Even if you know he ain't there, trying to do without him is a strain."

But in the end, she is able to appreciate the world and all the good things in her life, which many other people aren't, and she believes that that's all God would want anyway (like you said). I think this is a great departure from other literature set in same time period with characters who preached that people who suffered most (e.g. slaves) would have the greatest reward in Heaven, so they should just deal with it.

Her evolution is so rewarding to watch...I hope you like the ending!

Sara wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "Just a few questions!

Did you enjoy the style of writing?

Did not knowing Albert's last name annoy or intrigue you?

Celie's husband is the villain in this story - why do you thin..."

Haha yeah Celie would probably be fun to have over, though I'd probably look like an idiot with a pipe. Great quote too!

I liked Shug. She was selfish, but I think she was broken in her own way. I don't think Celie liked her because she was selfish (because she didn't like the other people who had treated her poorly) but first because she was a novelty. And of course their relationship deepened and evolved from there.

At first, it was difficult to adapt to the writing syle, but I feel that it added a measure of authenticity to the narrative and was important to the story.

Not knowing Albert's last name was not important to me as he was a jerk and maybe his punishment was to live in anonymity in the story.

I think he hid Nettie's letters because he was afraid of losing his punching bag and the one person he could make feel worse then himself. I think he did not destroy the letters because he was not 100% evil, just 99.9%.

I liked the person that Celie became the most, because she discovered herself and survived and forgave in a way that is remarkable.

I think everyone deserves to be forgiven, but it takes a truly special person to forgive someone as awful as him.

I think society has changed but not enough to actually eradicate the evil that still occurs today. Little girls are still raped by the men in their lives, women are still enslaved by poverty and ignorance, and Amercan women are still routinely paid less than their male counterparts. I think Alphonso and Albert would have been vilified in the American courts but the jurors would never have looked deep inside themselves to determine if there was anything they could have done to stop Alphonso and Albert.

I think people refused to see Celie's beauty because she didn't realize it existed. Beauty is mostly due to confidence and realization of personal worth and until the end of the novel, Celie lacked that.

I definitely would recommend this book. I found it mentally and morally challenging, and everyone can use a bit of that in their lives.

Did you enjoy the style of writing?

It was so important. I don't believe it would be a classic had she used any other style. It made it so much more relatable and candid.

Which characters (if any!) do you find likeable and why?

For the most part I loved all the women of the book. I liked Celie because her life was a transition. She discovered herself and found confidence and self-worthiness. I liked the growth of her story. Although Sug was in many ways selfish and pressumed to be easy what, for me, made her character redeeming is her sense of freedom. She lived her life free outside of any box that society tried to place women into. I loved her confidence. Sophia represented Strength and I love strong women (though she may have over done it at times.) And also Nettie was one of my favs because she represented happiness. She could see "the color purple in a field" at all times.

Do you think Mr __________ deserves to be forgiven?

I have learned that forgiveness isn't about deserving it. It's about freeing yourself from bitterness and anger. The forgiven person may not deserve it but the forgiver needs to forgive to feel free.

Why do you think the book was called "The Color Purple"? What does the colour purple mean to you?

"I think it pisses God of when you walk by the color purple in a field and don't notice it"

To me that means that God wants you to admire the beauty and good things he sets before you, even when your life is so ugly at least notice His attempts. In other words don't complain about the dull green and browns in the field, instead notice the purple flower that stands out amongst it all. I believe she wants us to focus on the positive instead of negative in life. Notice beauty instead of the mundane. Even in an ugly world you can make your own happiness and stop to admire. Purple symbolizes happiness, it's also the color of imagination and spirituality.

What is your most memorable quote from the book?

"Man corrupt everything, say Shug. He on your box of grits, in your head, and all over the radio. He try to make you think he everywhere. Soon as you think he everywhere, you think he God. But he ain't."

Sorry it's so long, but this is my favorite book and movie. I could go on and on about this book!

Sara wrote: "I did not care much for Shug though. I found it fitting that Celie fell in love with someone so selfish, it made sense, but I think Celie deserved someone better."

I think Celie fell in love with Sug because she represented everything that Celie wanted in herself. For instance Sug being a free spirit was something Celie didn't know how to capture. Sug sparked a curiousity in Celie. But more important what was so redeeming about Sug's flaws is that Sug is the only person besides Nettie who loved Celie for who she is and she taught Celie to love herself. Even though you'd think she'd hate her considering she was sleeping with her husband, the fact that Celie didn't look at Mr___ as a husband would explain how she could overlook that huge flaw. Sug taught her to smile and laugh. She made her feel beautiful and special and like a woman. No one else had given her that in years since her sister left.

kisha wrote: "Sara wrote: "I did not care much for Shug though. I found it fitting that Celie fell in love with someone so selfish, it made sense, but I think Celie deserved someone better."

I think Celie fell ..."


"Sug's flaws is that Sug is the only person besides Nettie who loved Celie for who she is and she taught Celie to love herself"

Do you think that Shug really loved Celie for who Celie was or do you think Shug loved Celie because Celie was in love with (taken by) Shug? I tend to think the latter. Shug seemed to only love those who acknowledged her as the center of the universe. I completely agree that Celie saw in Shug what she wanted for herself, and I think Celie was better off for having her in her life, but it nagged at me that Shug had just left her children and continued to live a selfish life well into adulthood. I probably identify more with Shug's selfishness than I do Celie's strength so perhaps this is why I didn't care for her nearly as much as the other female characters.

Megan wrote: "At first, it was difficult to adapt to the writing syle, but I feel that it added a measure of authenticity to the narrative and was important to the story.

Not knowing Albert's last name was no..."

I agree about Albert hiding the letters because he wanted to keep he punching bag. I don't think he kept them at all out of goodness though; he probably thought they could be used as leverage later on.

I think you're right that society has gotten better at recognizing violence but sucks at preventing it. I think all the gun violence lately in the US (another shooting in Wilmington, Delaware this morning) is evidence of how poor our mental health care is. Most of these people have known problems but aren't treated properly. That's a problem with our criminal justice system as well.

As far as women, there is still a stigma among some folks about rape and molestation that has no place in the 21st century.

Sara;
I see your point of view but i think it was sincerity. In the beginning Sug was very rude and disrespectful to her. But once she got to know Celie she seen she was a good person and their relationship gree intensely.