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Letter 81
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 addresses another letter to Nettie (it is implied that Celie has replaced her letters to God, which she has been keeping as a journal, with her letters to Nettie. It is also implied that Celie is not actually sending these letters to Nettie). Celie reports that one recent night Daisy called Celie one night to tell her that Alphonso, "Pa," is dead, and that his house and dry-goods store are now Celie's property. At first Celie claims she does not want them, but Shug convinces her to take them over. When they return to the house, she and Shug run through it burning incense, to drive out Alphonso's spirit, and to claim the home as their own.
Another important scene in the novel. Whether or not Shug and Celie truly believe in exorcism or if the "exorcism" is more symbolic, what they are doing is making the home theirs. Celie had previously learned the true history of her past—now she claims her birthright, the house and store that belonged to her true father. That she claims the house together with Shug attests again to their status of family. Notice also how, to Daisy, Pa is Alphonse. He has a real name to her, and is a real person, because he treated her as a real person.
Themes
