Many critics of the novel have been annoyed and repelled by the content of the book's opening letter to God. The idea of beginning a novel with the fact of a rape is repugnant to them. Walker's answer is straight to the point. "This is the country in which a woman is raped every three minutes," she says, "where one out of three women will be raped during their lifetimes and a quarter of those are children under 12."
There is no delicate, glossy way to introduce the subject of rape. Accordingly, Walker handles it head-on, immediately. After we have accepted the horror of what we read, we can stand back in awe at Celie's continuing courage in the face of what she has to endure, and we can particularly admire her continuing, sustaining love for her sister, Nettie. This book isn't about rape. It is about what happens after rape.
In fact, one of the central focuses of the book is on Celie's mental and emotional rebirth. Hate and violence have almost killed Celie, but then she meets Shug, a woman who is able to kindle feelings of sexual love and self-love within Celie — for the first time. In a similar way, Celie becomes friends with her daughter-in-law, who teaches her by example what courage is.
The strength of these women, and their caring for one another, offer opportunities for all three of them to continue growing — despite the racist, sexist world they live in. During the course of the book, they cry together, laugh together, affirm life together, and share one another's joys. They respect one another. They live together in a world that Celie could never have imagined when she was fourteen; in fact, it is a world that she never could have imagined until, ironically, her husband brought home his ailing mistress. Never did Albert imagine the mental and physical sense of new health that Shug, his mistress, would bring to Celie. Because of Shug and because of Sofia, Celie is able to triumph — and triumph joyfully — over the sexual and racial oppression that smothered many of her female ancestors.
The Color Purple, then, is a story about growth, endurance, loyalty, solidarity, and joy — all nurtured by the strength of love.
