The Color Purple Letter Seven Summary

  • Pa’s new wife is sick (pregnant?) and Celie preemptively offers herself to Pa so he’ll stay away from Nettie. She lures him away from her little sister by dressing up in nice clothes.
  • Both Nettie and Pa’s new wife now finally realize that Pa has been molesting Celie. Both are sick and scared, so Celie takes care of them.
  • Mr.__ comes to ask for Nettie’s hand formally. Pa says he can’t have Nettie but he can have Celie if he wants her.
  • Pa says that Celie is ugly, and isn’t a virgin. But, he tries to convince Mr.__ to take Celie by saying things like "She ain’t no stranger to hard work. And she clean." Pa also mentions that Celie can’t have children anymore, which is a selling point so that Mr.__ can sleep with Celie as much as he wants and not have to pay to support more children.
  • Pa really wants to get rid of Celie. He even offers to send Celie to Mr.__ with a cow and some linens.
  • Pa also says that Celie is dumb and she lies. Guess he’s trying to protect himself.