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Letter 14
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
Mr. ____ spends the entire long weekend with Shug. When he comes home, without Shug, he is distraught. Celie wants to hear about her—what she wore, how she performed, what their time together was like—but she is afraid to ask Mr. ____. The next day, Celie works in the field and Mr. ____ joins her briefly, before going back inside to sit by himself and think of Shug.
Here, Mr. ____'s behavior with Shug, while married to Celie, exactly mimics his behavior with Shug when he was married to Annie Julia. Mr. ____ appears incapable of remaining a steady presence to his own family. He must follow Shug around wherever she goes.
Themes
