Color Purple Scene

English 11 Summer Reading Book Report on The Color Purple I chose to create a new scene from the book and explain its significance.

A letter came for me today. But I didn't know that at the time. The mailman cames to my house as usual today and said he has a letter for a "Mrs. Johnson". It had my address on it. I didn't know no "Mrs. Johnson", but the mailman insisted I take the letter. All right I said.

I looked at that letter all morning. I wondered what was inside of it, but I didn't want to open it because it wasn't mine.

Later that day I was in town and I decided to ask everyone I knew for a Mrs. Johnson. First, I tried the man at the store. He was mean to me as usaly but said he didn't know no Mrs. Johnson anyway. I asked I want up to Sophie and asked her. She said she don't know any Mrs. Johnson. Harpo said he doesn't know either. The other people in the town say they don't know either.

So I go home and talk to Shug. She says, "why it's you!" You're Mrs. Johnson. But I don't know no Mrs. Johnson I said. Shug says that Mister is Mr. Johnson and I am his wife. So it turns out that the letter was addressed for me.

I opened it up after that. The letter was all fancy and white, and clean. I tried to read it.

"Mrs. Johnson", it started, "we are clothing retailers in New York. We are interested in making a deal to sell your jeans in our store." I was overjoyed! I just opened my little shop two weeks ago and I had more custmores then I knew what to do with.

But I liked the idea of seeing New York. Me a girl from the south going to see the big city!

How it Changes the Book

There are two aspects of how this additional day would have expanded the book The Color Purple. First of all, it reveals "Mister's" name. Second of all it further expands Celie's knowledge of the world by letting her travel to New York.

In The Color Purple, Mister's name is not given. Celie's husband is referred to as "Mr. _____". This is a purposeful action by the author to attempt to dehumanize her husband. Mister is very mean to her throughout most of her life. He makes her get everything for him, he doesn't clean anything, and makes her care for his children which she is not allowed to hurt. She is treated like a slave in her own home.

Calling her husband Mister seems like more then a coincidence because slaves called their overseers "mister" too.

The last name of Johnson is given in the movie version of The Color Purple. It is on the mailbox which is prominently shown several times during the film. A last name would most likely been given to make the mailbox look authentic. In addition, the movie is shown from a 3rd person point of view, while the book is written in letters mostly by Celie. The 3rd person would have known the family's last name and would have used it.

Having Celie expand her store to selling products to other merchants, while also offering her a chance to go to New York is a big step for her character. Her life is the story of expanding horizons. She starts out not knowing anything about the world around her, but slowly gains a larger perspective through traveling with Shug and reading Nettie's letters.

This is in contrast to the other major character in the book who do not seem to grow throughout the book. Mister refuses to consider anything outside his small little world. The exception to this, of course, is the characters in Africa where the world comes to them via the new road.

Although not earth-shattering, Celie would have been greatly affected by seeing New York for 2 reasons. First it was in the North, which was very different from the south at this period in time. In addition, Celie would have never seen such a large population before. Lastly, she would have enjoyed the music scene of New York during that time period.