In Celie's first letter to God, she referred to herself as a girl, in the sense that she was chronologically a girl, and, moreover, she emphasized that she was a "good girl." Other children who are Celie's age may still be literally and chronologically "girls," but we realize here that Celie is a woman. At fifteen, she is pregnant and she is carrying her father’s child. Moreover, Celie's current pregnancy is not even Celie's first pregnancy.
Celie has already had another baby--a year ago, when she was fourteen. What happened to it? Celie's mother asks this question on her deathbed, and Celie answers that "God took it." She loves her mother so much that she wants her to think that the baby was stillborn.
This explanation to her mother is not what Celie believes in her heart, however. She believes that her father--the baby's father, Fonso--killed the baby, but because Celie's mother dies such a painful, loud death, with Fonso moaning and sitting beside the bed, and with Celie nursing and caring for the other children, what else can Celie do but lie? She doesn't want to hurt her mother, and, in addition, we see that Celie fears that Fonso will kill this second baby, just as he did the first one. She doesn't want to burden her mother, as she is dying, with this terrible knowledge.
Celie's compassion for her mother is clearly not that of a "girl"; she has the understanding and compassion of a woman. Celie's childbearing and her witnessing the agonizing death of her mother have forced her to become a woman long before her time.
Celie's mother dies, screaming at Celie and cursing her, and yet Celie never tells her that Fonso is the father of both babies.
Unfortunately, with her mother gone, Celie has no protection from her father's sexual attacks. And since we, the readers, realize this, Fonso's pleas to his wife of "don't leave me, don't go" seem fraudulent. How could a man "cherish" his wife and sexually abuse their daughter--and then slay his own child? Perhaps he wants to conceal his incestuous relationship with his daughter. Perhaps he wants to decrease the number of mouths he has to feed. At present, his motivations are unclear. But at this point, we are not deeply concerned with Fonso's motivations. We are far more concerned with Celie's plight: living with a father who rapes her, expecting another baby, and living with the almost certainty that her father killed their first child.
These first two letters to God are some of the most powerful letters in American literature, and certainly no other major American novel has begun with such unexpected narrative dynamite.
Letter 3
In this letter, Walker focuses on two key ideas: first, Celie tells God that she thinks that Fonso took his and Celie's second child, a boy, and sold it to a childless couple. Note here that Celie is relieved that her baby has been sold. Again we are stunned; theoretically, selling black children went out with the abolition of slavery. But we hear this young woman confess to happiness that this extraordinary, inhuman act of "salvation" has, in fact, happened to her baby. This is Walker's way of emphasizing the fact that life with Fonso is a deadly nightmare. Celie is grateful that her baby is far away from Fonso's vicious temper. We realize also that Fonso still has not told Celie precisely what he did with their first baby. At this point in the novel, Fonso seems little more than a one-dimensional, evil and wicked villain.
Celie's happiness because of her new baby's safety is short-lived because she herself is left with unneeded milk in her breasts, and she has no decent clothes to wear. As a result, Fonso becomes hateful and acts "like he can't stand me no more." Accordingly, Fonso's sexual lust turns from Celie to her younger sister Nettie.
Celie's adult-like concern for her younger sister Nettie is the second focus in this letter to God. Celie doesn't want Nettie to be sexually brutalized as she herself has been. She hopes that her father will find a new wife soon because she senses that with a new "mother" around, they will all be happier. Interestingly, Celie's having to act like a mother to Nettie at this time is ironic because of the fact that both girls are so close in age--and yet Celie has already had two children, but both babies have been taken from her; she has never had a chance to be a "real," loving, nurturing mother--except to Nettie.
We see from this letter that Celie still has an incredibly strong faith in God, and selfless as ever, Celie vows to use his help to protect not herself, but to protect Nettie. Celie's selflessness and her lack of lasting bitterness are proof that she is, and will remain, a strong Christian woman. In summary, note again that Celie is not sad about the fate of her second child; as Walker emphasizes, Celie feels glad that her baby is far away from the evil Fonso. Now Celie has only Nettie to worry about. Not herself, but Nettie. And Celie promises Nettie in this letter to God that she will "take care of you . . . with God help."
