Summary
Shug Avery is sick, likely due to a sexually transmitted
disease, and no one in the town will take her in. Both her mother
and father say that Shug’s promiscuity has gotten her what she deserves. Mr. ______
leaves home unannounced and returns with the feeble Shug in his
wagon. Though weak, feverish, and malnourished, Shug still has a
razor-sharp tongue. Her first words to Celie upon meeting her are,
“You sure is ugly.” Despite Shug’s nasty demeanor, Celie grows increasingly
mesmerized by the sexy singer, whose stylish dresses, makeup, and
slender figure are unlike anything Celie has ever seen. When Celie
sees Shug unclothed for the first time, she confesses that she feels
a sexual attraction.
Shug’s condition improves due to Celie’s care, and the
two become friends. Shug’s improved disposition does not change
the disdainful way she treats Mr. ______, whose first name, we learn from
Shug, is Albert. Shug constantly teases Mr. ______ and calls him
weak for not standing up to his own father, but he nonetheless remains
love-struck. Harpo has been eating like a horse and has gained such
a potbelly that the others laugh and ask when his baby is due. Harpo
later confesses to Celie that he has been eating so much in an attempt
to get as big as Sofia so that he can finally beat her into submission.
This time, Celie advises against beating Sofia, telling Harpo that
his relationship with his wife is one of genuine mutual love and
should not be compared to the callous, loveless marriage between
Celie and Mr. ______.
Mr. ______’s father and his brother, Tobias, come to
visit. Both men disapprove of Shug staying at the house. Celie overhears Mr. ______’s
father criticizing Shug’s promiscuity, so she secretly spits in
his drinking water. When Mr. ______’s father reprimands his son
for his lifestyle, Celie and Mr. ______ share a moment of eye contact
that Celie describes as “the closest us ever felt.”
Sofia confesses to Celie that she is sad because, ever
since Harpo has been eating and brooding, the two have lost the
sexual vitality that was once a central part of their marriage.
Sofia is angry with Harpo for his insistence on trying to take away
her independence and assertiveness. Eventually, Sofia decides to
move in with her sister, taking her children with her. Harpo tries
to hide his feelings when Sofia leaves, but Celie sees him wipe
away a tear with his baby’s cloth diaper.
Once Sofia has been gone for six months, Harpo and a
friend open a juke joint on their land. By hiring Shug to sing there,
they draw a crowd to the place. Shug persuades Mr. ______ to allow Celie
to go watch her sing. Celie sits with Mr. ______ and admires Shug
onstage. She feels confused, sad, and alone when she notices the
special eye contact that goes on between Mr. ______ and Shug. Celie’s
spirits lift when she hears Shug call out her name and dedicate
a song to her, as this is the first time anyone has ever named anything
after Celie. Celie knows that it is right for Mr. ______ and Shug to
love each other, but she is confused over the pangs in her own heart
and her increasing lovesickness for Shug.
Analysis
Here, as in the previous section, Celie cannot match what
she feels with what she says. When Shug arrives and needs care,
Celie feels ecstatic, but she says nothing because she does not
know anything and because she feels it is not her place to speak.
Celie has been silenced for so long that she has become accustomed
to having no voice. Her natural reaction is to say nothing.
