Previous
Letter 50
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
Shug and Celie realize that Mr. ____ keeps the letters from Nettie in a trunk in his bedroom. Shug and Celie plan to slip the letters out of the trunk when Mr. ____ and Grady are out, steam them open, and read them, one by one. They start with the first letter from Nettie, which is the next letter printed in the novel.
Mr. ____ has not gone to great lengths to hide the letters. This is an indication of the fear he strikes in Celie's heart—never once has Celie had the boldness to ask her husband what he keeps in a chest in their own bedroom.
Themes
