The colour purple - Analysis of the 1st three letters.

        In this second letter, Celie writes her second letter to God. She begins by explaining that her mother has died and describing the days before her death. Celie was responsible for handling everyone and everything in the household; she had to care for the other children, her sick and dying mother, and her abusive father. Her mother was demanding, yelling and cursing at Celie while the Pa sat beside her bed crying that he did not want to be left alone.
        The reader discovers that months have passed since the first letter.
In the meantime, Celie has given birth to a baby. When her mother asked whose child it was, Celie responded that it was God's child, for she did not know any other man besides her father, who had raped and got her pregnant. One day the mother finally asked Celie what happened to the child; not fully knowing the answer herself, Celie tells her mother that God took the baby and killed it in the woods while she was sleeping. She then tells her mother that she is pregnant again and that God will probably take this second child and kill it as well.
         This second letter emphasizes the sense of Celie's own
powerlessness, as well as her mother's powerlessness to help her.
On her deathbed, Celie's mother makes a weak attempt to find out
who is responsible for Celie's pregnancy. She probably suspects
what is going on, but since she feels helpless to change the situation, she does not ask her daughter many questions. Celie refuses to tell her mother who fathered her child, out of fear of her father's revenge and wanting to spare her mother from the truth. Since Celie does not know any men she can blame for the pregnancy other than Pa, she tells her mother that her child belonged to God.
        This letter also reveals that Celie hasn’t only lost her integrity, but also of the child she was carrying.  She does not know
what has happened to her baby; she only knows that Pa took it
away. Suspecting that the baby is dead, she tells her mother that
God took the baby away and killed it in the woods. Once again
Celie is covering up the truth of her father's brutality. It is obvious that Celie has changed since the first letter. She is no longer a girl; instead, she has been forced to grow up very fast into adulthood, carrying and delivering her father's child at the age of fourteen. Now, at fifteen, she is pregnant again. It is no wonder that Celie has a sense of misery, especially since she has no one to turn to except God. Obviously, she does have religious faith,
but she even questions if God can help her out in her desperate
situation.

        In this third letter to God, Celie writes that Pa is beginning to regard her as if she were evil, accusing her of doing bad things. In reality, it is Pa that is totally evil. Celie has just delivered her second child, a boy. Pa immediately stole the baby and sold him. As the milk runs down Celie, Pa displays disgust towards her about the milk and tells her to dress more decently; unfortunately, the girl has nothing else to wear. She tells God that she hopes Pa will soon find a woman to marry him, for he is beginning to show interest in Nettie, her little sister. She has promised Nettie that she will protect her.

                It is obvious that Celie has no control over her life or her body. Raped repeatedly by her father, she feels helpless to break the cycle. Her lack of control over her fate is also intensely shown through her swollen breasts. The emotional pain of her child being stolen from her could symbolically be echoed in her painful breasts. She is made to feel even more miserable when Pa screams at her about her disgusting appearance.
        Celie's promise to protect Nettie from Pa’s abuse is the first
sign of her taking a stance to prevent the horrors, which are
occurring in her patriarchal existence. Although she totally
devalues herself, Celie cherishes her sister very much.  Her selflessness is very much evident here.