color purple by Alice Walker Analysis and summary
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The Color Purple is the story of a poor black girl named Celie. It is a remarkable novel because it is written entirely in the form of letters. Each letter gives the reader greater insight into Celie's life, and serves as her way of communicating with the world. Thus the reader can track Celie's growth and maturity through the letters.
Celie's first letter is written when she is fourteen years old. Her mother has just given birth to a child named Lucious, but becomes ill following the pregnancy. A man whom Celie calls Pa gets tired of waiting for sex, and so he starts raping Celie. He soon gets her pregnant and forces her to quit school. Celie is pregnant with a second child by the time her mother dies. After each birth, Pa takes the child away from Celie and does not tell her where they end up...