With her new-found strength, Celie confronts her father, whom she has just learned is her stepfather and not a blood relative, and this brings great relief to Celie, who now know that her children are not her brother and sister. She also confronts Albert, leaves him, and moves to Memphis to live with Shug, a move that stuns and pains Albert. In Memphis, Celie, who started wearing pants when she gained her strength and self-confidence, opens a business as a pantsmaker. Later, after Shug has taken on a male lover, Celie visits Albert, and they develop a new bond that eventually grows into love and respect.
Nettie, still living in Africa, marries the now-widowed man who had adopted her sister's children, thus becoming a mother to her niece and nephew. Later, when Celie's father dies, she and Nettie inherit his home, creating financial freedom for the two women. At the novel's end, the two sisters are reunited, while Albert and Harpo have learned to take on new roles in the household and in their relationships.
Note that the novel's title is alluded to in Letter 12, when Celie associates the color purple with royalty and longs for a purple dress. But the title undoubtedly comes from a passage near the end of the novel, in which Shug says that she believes that it "pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it."
