SignifiCant Quotations
(p.1) “You better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy.”
This is the first sentence in the book, Celie’s dad telling her not to ever speak of the awful things he did to her. When Celie was only 14, he raped her, and this went on happening many more times until she got married to Mr.--- and left the house. This affects the rest of her life, leaving her associating sex with the rapes, with Albert's additional abuse only adding to her psychological scarring. However, it also begins the novel, as Celie take his advice literally and starts talking to god about it. The quote also foreshadows the death of her mother, her finding out about her father's acts sent her into spiraling depression and literally aided in killing her.
(p.47) “Ain’t nothing wrong with Shug Avery. She just sick. Sicker than my mama was when she die. But she more evil than my mama and that keep her alive.
This is Celie’s thoughts about Shug as she first moves in to her and Mr.---‘s house. When she arrives, it is obvious that shug isn't well; she is not eating and has most likely reached a low-point in her life. Celie idolized shug from the moment she saw her picture, but the first words she said to Celie were "You sure ARE ugly". This reflects Shug's bitterness at her for marrying Albert, her old love. When Celie writes this, sje may be referring to the fact that Shug is actually sick in a different way, full of pain or bitterness, or some other type of mental illness similar but worse than the kind that plagued her mom.
(p.59) “He love that part of housekeeping a heap more than me.”
This is a remark made by Sophia about Harpo in regards to their everyday life and chores. She likes to work in the fields and patch up the house, and Harpo prefers to cook and do the housework. This displays the reverse in gender roles in their house, with Sofia being the more “masculine” and Harpo being the more “Feminine” gender role. This unfortunately causes a lot of conflict in their marriage because it doesn't follow the stereotype, eventually causing them to divorce after Sofia gets fed up with Harpo always tring to come out on top.
(p.63) “Do Shug Avery mind Mr.---? She the woman he wanted to marry.”
This is a remark from Celie to Harpo when he complains about Sofia not minding him “like women are supposed to”. She is basically bringing up that his dad has no more control over the woman he loves than him, and brings up the issue that you can’t beat down the one you really love.
(p.81) “That’s when I notice Shug sometimes talk and act like a man.”
This is the realization that strikes Celie when Shug says to Sofia “Girl, you look like a good time”. She recognizes that Shug isn’t like a typical woman, she acts confidently, does whatever she wants, and puts herself at an equal level to Mr.--- and all other men. Shug identifies as a woman, but certain aspects of her personality could be described as "masculine" qualities such as her flirtiness, her fearlessness, and her involvement in several relationships throughout her life, something almost unheard of for women at the time.
(p.191) "There is so much we don't understand, and so much unhappiness comes because of that."
Nettie writes this in response to the issues she has between Corrine and Samuel. Corrine thinks that Adam and Olivia are Nettie's children, but they are actually Celie's. By the time the truth was sorted out, Corrine had died, and they were baffled as to why. This quote rings true for a lot of things though, and may have been used as a motif. Sometimes we as humans fail to understand others, or issues, or points of view foreign to our own, and it only perpetuates further suffering for our fellow human beings.
(p.192) "The god I've been praying and writing to is a man, and act just like all the other mens i know. Trifling, forgetful, and lowdown."
Celie says this to Shug one day, when Shug asks why she decides to write to Nettie instead of god. Celie, at this point, has given up hope in god, and claims that he is just like all the other men in her life that have ignored and neglected her. This is a benchmark for Celie in her faith, being that it is her low-point. Later, she is convinced to see god in a different way than a white man instead of deciding he was this way and not believing in him.
(p.225) "you know meanness kill."
Shug says this to Celie as they observe Albert trying to turn his life around. After Celie cursed him, he lived in a bad enviroment all by himself for awhile, and that really encouraged him to finally try to work hard and be a better person. As he pays respects to Sofia's mom and gives Celie another one of Nettie's letters, he is turning over a new leaf and becoming a character the reader can actually tolerate. When posing the question 'why?' the most logical answer is actually to save himself, because meanness do kill, like it almost killed Shug herself.
(p.257) "Most people think [God] has to look like something or someone, but we don't. and not being tied to what god looks like, frees us."
This is something Nettie writes in one of her letters to Celie, after reflecting on her beliefs and on the beliefs of the Olinka and other african tribes. She discovers what many people discover about religion and spirituality everyday, and it is that a belief in god doesn't have to be as strict as some religions make it seem, it can even be liberating. This also serves to compare Nettie and Celie, one can't help but marvel at how similar their beliefs turned out to be, even though their circumstances were very different and they never discussed it together.
(p.283) "The more i wonder, the more i love."
Albert says this to Celie after his transformation. To readers who got to know Albert as the selfish, lazy, shallow abuser, it is amazing how much he changed after Celie finally stood up to him and left. Albert has obviously done a lot of thinking and has changed his point of view, and this is made very evident to the readers in a shift i found quite surprising. The more he began to look inward and contemplate on the big questions of life, the more he too learned how to love and cherish people and the good things in his life.
This is the first sentence in the book, Celie’s dad telling her not to ever speak of the awful things he did to her. When Celie was only 14, he raped her, and this went on happening many more times until she got married to Mr.--- and left the house. This affects the rest of her life, leaving her associating sex with the rapes, with Albert's additional abuse only adding to her psychological scarring. However, it also begins the novel, as Celie take his advice literally and starts talking to god about it. The quote also foreshadows the death of her mother, her finding out about her father's acts sent her into spiraling depression and literally aided in killing her.
(p.47) “Ain’t nothing wrong with Shug Avery. She just sick. Sicker than my mama was when she die. But she more evil than my mama and that keep her alive.
This is Celie’s thoughts about Shug as she first moves in to her and Mr.---‘s house. When she arrives, it is obvious that shug isn't well; she is not eating and has most likely reached a low-point in her life. Celie idolized shug from the moment she saw her picture, but the first words she said to Celie were "You sure ARE ugly". This reflects Shug's bitterness at her for marrying Albert, her old love. When Celie writes this, sje may be referring to the fact that Shug is actually sick in a different way, full of pain or bitterness, or some other type of mental illness similar but worse than the kind that plagued her mom.
(p.59) “He love that part of housekeeping a heap more than me.”
This is a remark made by Sophia about Harpo in regards to their everyday life and chores. She likes to work in the fields and patch up the house, and Harpo prefers to cook and do the housework. This displays the reverse in gender roles in their house, with Sofia being the more “masculine” and Harpo being the more “Feminine” gender role. This unfortunately causes a lot of conflict in their marriage because it doesn't follow the stereotype, eventually causing them to divorce after Sofia gets fed up with Harpo always tring to come out on top.
(p.63) “Do Shug Avery mind Mr.---? She the woman he wanted to marry.”
This is a remark from Celie to Harpo when he complains about Sofia not minding him “like women are supposed to”. She is basically bringing up that his dad has no more control over the woman he loves than him, and brings up the issue that you can’t beat down the one you really love.
(p.81) “That’s when I notice Shug sometimes talk and act like a man.”
This is the realization that strikes Celie when Shug says to Sofia “Girl, you look like a good time”. She recognizes that Shug isn’t like a typical woman, she acts confidently, does whatever she wants, and puts herself at an equal level to Mr.--- and all other men. Shug identifies as a woman, but certain aspects of her personality could be described as "masculine" qualities such as her flirtiness, her fearlessness, and her involvement in several relationships throughout her life, something almost unheard of for women at the time.
(p.191) "There is so much we don't understand, and so much unhappiness comes because of that."
Nettie writes this in response to the issues she has between Corrine and Samuel. Corrine thinks that Adam and Olivia are Nettie's children, but they are actually Celie's. By the time the truth was sorted out, Corrine had died, and they were baffled as to why. This quote rings true for a lot of things though, and may have been used as a motif. Sometimes we as humans fail to understand others, or issues, or points of view foreign to our own, and it only perpetuates further suffering for our fellow human beings.
(p.192) "The god I've been praying and writing to is a man, and act just like all the other mens i know. Trifling, forgetful, and lowdown."
Celie says this to Shug one day, when Shug asks why she decides to write to Nettie instead of god. Celie, at this point, has given up hope in god, and claims that he is just like all the other men in her life that have ignored and neglected her. This is a benchmark for Celie in her faith, being that it is her low-point. Later, she is convinced to see god in a different way than a white man instead of deciding he was this way and not believing in him.
(p.225) "you know meanness kill."
Shug says this to Celie as they observe Albert trying to turn his life around. After Celie cursed him, he lived in a bad enviroment all by himself for awhile, and that really encouraged him to finally try to work hard and be a better person. As he pays respects to Sofia's mom and gives Celie another one of Nettie's letters, he is turning over a new leaf and becoming a character the reader can actually tolerate. When posing the question 'why?' the most logical answer is actually to save himself, because meanness do kill, like it almost killed Shug herself.
(p.257) "Most people think [God] has to look like something or someone, but we don't. and not being tied to what god looks like, frees us."
This is something Nettie writes in one of her letters to Celie, after reflecting on her beliefs and on the beliefs of the Olinka and other african tribes. She discovers what many people discover about religion and spirituality everyday, and it is that a belief in god doesn't have to be as strict as some religions make it seem, it can even be liberating. This also serves to compare Nettie and Celie, one can't help but marvel at how similar their beliefs turned out to be, even though their circumstances were very different and they never discussed it together.
(p.283) "The more i wonder, the more i love."
Albert says this to Celie after his transformation. To readers who got to know Albert as the selfish, lazy, shallow abuser, it is amazing how much he changed after Celie finally stood up to him and left. Albert has obviously done a lot of thinking and has changed his point of view, and this is made very evident to the readers in a shift i found quite surprising. The more he began to look inward and contemplate on the big questions of life, the more he too learned how to love and cherish people and the good things in his life.