Celie
The main character and protagonist of the novel. She is an African-American
woman who is treated badly, especially by men. In spite of the hardships she endures,
she maintains a beautiful spirit of perseverance and love. Throughout the book,
Celie writes letters to God and to her sister Nettie, revealing all of her struggles
and longings.
Nettie
Celie's sister. She moves with a
missionary couple to Africa, where she eventually marries the minister. Nettie
and Celie write letters to one another during the years of their separation. Celie
truly loves her sister.
Fonso
Celie and Nettie's father,
who turns out to be their stepfather. Shortly after Celie's real father is killed,
Fonso marries her mother. He then sexually abuses Celie, gets her pregnant, steals
her babies, and gives them away. He also steals Celie and Nettie's inheritance.
He marries a variety of very young women.
Shug Avery
A
blues singer who is a lover to both Celie and Albert. She tries to give Celie
self esteem. She also gives the novel its title when she tells Celie that God
gets angry when people do not stop to admire the color purple.
Albert
(usually referred to as Mr. ____)
The small-time, cruel farmer who
Fonso chooses as Celie's husband; he abused Celie and neglected his children.
After years of living alone, he comes to recognize the wrongs of his past attitudes
and actions and becomes a loving and gentle man.
Sofia Butler
The
wife of Harpo. She is a strong, outspoken woman in spite of the hardships she
must endure. She is harassed by the patriarchal mindset of her husband and the
racist white authorities of her town. After spending years in prison for a minor
infraction, she is forced to work for the mayor's wife. Later, she is reunited
with her family.
Celie's mother
An unnamed woman who dies after the first chapter. She goes crazy
when Celie's father is lynched. She soon marries Fonso and is always pregnant
and sick.
Harpo
Sofia's husband, Albert's son, and, for
a time, Mary Agnes's lover. Harpo is forced into playing the role of the dominating
husband by his father. Later, when he is reunited with Sofia, he takes care of
the house and enjoys a more egalitarian relationship with her.
May
Ellen
Fonso's very young second wife whom he marries after Celie's
mother dies.
Daisy
Fonso's last wife. He marries her
after May Ellen deserts him.
Hetty
Daisy and Fonso's
cook.
Lucius
An infant child of Celie's mother.
Miss
Beasley
Celie and Nettie's schoolteacher.
Olivia
Celie's daughter, who is sold by Fonso to the minister in town and
taken to Africa, where she is raised by Nettie. Celie never sees until years later.
Adam
Celie's son who is also taken from her and raised
in Africa. He marries Tashi.
Corrine
The wife of Samuel,
a Christian minister and missionary. She becomes the adoptive mother of Celie's
babies, Olivia and Adam, after her husband buys the children from Fonso.
Reverend
Samuel
A Christian minister and missionary who spends
much of his time in Africa. He is Corrine's husband and the adoptive father of
Olivia and Adam. He marries Nettie after Corrine dies.
Tashi
An
Olinkan African, who is Olivia's friend. She eventually marries Adam. Nettie says
she reminds her of Celie. She goes through the female initiation rites of her
culture, including genital mutilation and scarification of the face.
Catharine
Tashi's mother, who at first goes along with the Olinkan prohibition
on girls' education. Later she becomes friends with Nettie and gives permission
for her daughter to be educated.
Kate and Carrie
Albert's
two sisters. They come to see Albert and Celie when they are first married.
Bub
A young man who drinks excessively, does not work regularly, and
is often in jail.
Swain
A musician. He helps his friend
Harpo build his juke joint.
Mary Agnes
Harpo's lover
during his separation from Sofia. Harpo calls her Squeak and treats her badly.
Unlike Sofia, she submits to his rule until she decides to go on the road with
Shug Avery as a blues singer. She is raped trying to save Sofia from death in
jail.
Old Mr.___
Albert's father. He is a mean old man
who shames his son into abusing and using his wives. He denigrates his son's lover,
Shug, and forbids Albert to marry her.
Tobias
Albert's
brother, who complains that his wife does not work hard enough and who looks at
Shug Avery licentiously.
Odessa
Sofia's sister whom Sofia
lives with after Harpo tries to dominate her. She helps raise Sofia's children
all the years Sofia is in jail. With the help of Shug and Squeak, she finally
gets Sofia out of jail.
Jack
Odessa's husband.
Henrietta
Sofia's youngest daughter, whose father is not Harpo, but who is
nevertheless Harpo's favorite. She has a blood disease and eats yams prepared
in all kinds of ways to combat it.
Jolentha (Suzie
Q)
One of Squeak and Harpo's daughters.
Henry
Broadnax (known as Buster)
A
big, tall man whom Sofia briefly dates and who respects her integrity as an equal.
Bubber Hodges
The warden at the prison
and Squeak's uncle, who rapes her when she tries to get Sofia out of jail.
Grady
Shug's husband. He lives off Shug and then Mary Agnes and who smokes
excessive amounts of marijuana.
The Mayor
An
arrogant, power-hungry white man. He puts Sofia in jail for talking rudely to
his wife and for knocking him down.
Miz Millie
The
mayor's wife. She is a very nervous white woman who forces Sofia to work as her
personal attendant for years after her release from prison. She keeps Sofia from
her family.
Billy
Miz Millie's son who hates Sofia and
grows up to be a troublemaker and a racist.
Eleanor Jane
Miz
Millie's daughter, who loves Sofia like a mother and will not stay away from her
even after she is freed from service to her mother. After a confrontation, Eleanor
Jane begins to work for Sofia, taking care of her daughter, Henrietta.
Stanley
Earl
Eleanor Jane's husband
Reynolds Stanley
Eleanor Jane's child, whom she wants Sofia to love. Sofia says Reynolds
will grow up to become her oppressor.
Althea
Samuel's
aunt, a missionary.
Theodesia
Corrine's aunt, a missionary.
Edward Duboyce
A man who visits Theodesia
and tells her that her award as a missionary is a mark of the exploitation and
de-humanization of colonialism.
Doris Baines (pen
name Jared Hunt)
A writer
who poses as a missionary in Africa to escape compulsory marriage in England.
Nettie and Samuel speak with her and her adopted African grandson, Harold, on
their way back to England from Africa.
Germaine
Shug's
nineteen-year-old lover who eventually goes to Wilberforce; afterwards they become
friends.
James
One of Shug's sons who lives in Arizona
and works as a teacher on a Native American reservation.
Cora Mae
James'
wife.
Davis and Cantrell
James and Cora Mae's children.
Jerene and Darlene
Two women
who sew for Celie's company. Darlene tries unsuccessfully to convince Celie of
the inferiority of her dialect.
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