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The Color Purple Timeline

Tessa Perry

#4: Nettie

#6: Celie

#2: Celie

#10: Celie

Nettie goes to Africa with the English missionaries.

#8: Celie

Celie is married to Mr. ____

Celie and Mr. ___ repair their relationship.

Celie and Shug run away to Memphis.

Celie and Shug discuss God and religion.

Mr. ___ originally comes by Celie's house because he is interested in Nettie, but Celie and Nettie's (step)father decides to marry off Celie first. This was one of the many reasons for their dysfunctional marriage; Mr. ___ preferred Celie's sister over her. Their marriage was significant in Celie's story because it began the central part of her life, in which she met most of the people who would be her closest friends through the rest of the book, including Shug, the woman she would come to love. It is because of this unhappy marriage to Mr. ___ that Celie's life unfolds the way it does.

In one of the earlier letters from Nettie that Celie reads, Nettie tells the story of how she went to England and eventually got swept along to Africa with a group of missionaries. This event is extremely important in Nettie's life because it begins the most important part of her life. The reader can tell through Nettie's letters to Celie that Nettie truly develops as a character while in Africa. She figures out how to fight for herself and her beliefs. There are also experiences there that influence the rest of the book. For example, it is in Africa that the full story about Nettie and Celie's Pa and Celie's children is revealed. Also, Nettie meets her future husband in Africa, which sets her up to return to the U.S. and to Celie.

Stemming from Celie's anger at Mr. ___ over the letters, Shug makes the announcement at dinner that she, Grady, and Celie are moving to Memphis. When Mr. ___ reacts negatively, Celie finally snaps and says all the things she has wanted to say to him. She yells at him about how he has abused her for years. This drastic change shows how much she has changed since finding Nettie's letters; she finally stands up for herself. This period in Memphis is also important because it is the only time when Celie truly experiences happiness. Her life with Shug and her business making and selling pants provides her with the only time in the book where she is content.

After Celie has returned from Memphis (Shug has left her for one last fling with a young man), she and Mr. ___ start talking again. Mr. ___ has changed since Celie left; he has become much more respectful and kind. Celie is surprised by this change and appreciates the possibility for friendship in this once-cold relationship. The two talk about life and love, and even discuss their own marriage and why it had never worked. Celie walks away from these interactions with new appreciation for Mr. ___. It is not quite a friendly relationship, but it finally begins to heal after years of pain and stress. This event is important to the book and the characters because it teaches both the reader and Celie about how people can change to something better than they are. The audience can gain some peace and closure as the book reaches an end as some of the pain in Celie's life eases.

Celie confesses to Shug that she has stopped writing to God and instead has been writing to Nettie. This prompts a discussion between Shug and Celie about their views of God. Celie has a more negative, calloused view of God as the typical bearded man looking to smite her. Shug has a different view, seeing God as an "it" instead. She sees God as something to discover in the world around you. This moment is important because it reveals a lot about Shug and Celie's worldviews and somewhat changes Celie's . Celie begins to adopt some of Shug's views and sees God as more personal and reachable.

#1: Celie

Celie is raped by her stepfather

#7: Nettie

#3: Celie

When Corrine dies, the whole story about Pa and Celie's children is revealed.

Shug and Celie find Nettie's letters.

#5: Nettie

#9: Nettie

In the first letter of the book, Celie shares with the reader how she was raped by her stepfather (whom she then believed to be her father). This event shaped the rest of her life because it made her despise and fear men. For example, for the rest of the book, she doesn't give names to the men in her life. She refers to her husband as "Mr. ___" and doesn't name other men until she has established a safe relationship with them.

Builders build the road through the Olinka village.

Nettie and Samuel fall in love and move back to the U.S. with Olivia, Adam, and Tashi.

When Celie is married to Mr. ___, Nettie promises to write to her everyday. However, Celie never receives any letters. After several years, once Shug has come to the house, Celie and Shug come to the conclusion that Mr. ___ has been hiding them from Celie. So, they search the house and find them. This event is a major turning point for Celie for two reasons: first, it reconnects her to Nettie and thus begins a section of her life when she is in touch with her sister, and second, it changes her as a person. Before this discovery, Celie had always been a quiet, submissive wife who did not fight back against Mr. ___'s abuses. However, after they find the letters, Celie finally finds a voice and stands up for herself against Mr. ___. Her anger at her husband finally makes her a strong person with a voice.

While Nettie is in Africa, she and the other missionaries are stationed with a group of Africans called the Olinka. A while into their trip to Africa, the missionaries and the Olinka notice a road being built near them. The Olinka extend their welcome to the builders. One day, however, the road is extended straight through their village. This disturbs village life and upsets the Olinka. They are uprooted away from their land and into new, unfamiliar terrain. This great stress to the tribe is important to Nettie because she, too, is affected by it; by now, they are fully integrated into the village, and the destruction of it deeply troubles Nettie. This event is important because it marks a turning point from the missionaries' happy lives in the Olinka village to the period of more tragedy and sadness. The building of the road is the first blow that begins the downward spiral of the missionaries' experience in Africa. The events that follow lead to Nettie leaving Africa.

Corrine was one of the missionaries in Africa with Nettie. While she still lived in the U.S., Corrine had adopted two children who were in fact the children Celie had after her Pa raped her. She didn't tell anyone that she had adopted them, though. While they are in Africa, Corrine begins to distrust Nettie because the children look so much like her (since she's Celie's sister). Corrine thinks that Nettie is the mother of the children. Corrine is deathly ill as this struggle unfolds. It takes a while for Nettie and Samuel to convince her that the children belong to Nettie's sister. Corrine finally accepts it just before she dies. This moment is important to the book because it explains to Nettie, Celie, and most importantly the reader a significant part of the story that was not previously explained. It also makes more real the earlier pain of Pa raping Celie; the reader now sees Olivia and Adam as associated with it. This revelation really drives home the pain and trauma Celie endured.

After Corrine dies, Nettie and Samuel begin to fall in love. Soon, they leave Africa with the children and Tashi, an Olinka girl. They finally return to America, and Nettie and Celie are reunited. This scene marks the beginning of the end of the book. The reader has been waiting for this moment throughout all of Nettie and Celie's letters. Finally, they are reunited and the story begins to conclude.

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