As much as I love the movie, I had never read the book. That had to change. I bought a copy of The Color Purple earlier this summer and finally read it. Wow! This book moved me in ways that the film did not. And the film is one of my FAV films of all time (I’m going to write about that next week).
The format of the book intrigued me. There were no chapters. Just letters to God until Celie was told Nettie had been writing letters. Then we read the letters between the sisters. In the letters were a deep yearning primarily from Celie for closeness to anyone, to be loved deeply, to be safe from abuse and to be able to live beyond the reality forced upon her. What I love about reading the book is that it now makes watching the film much richer.
The book fills gaps in the movie I didn’t know existed. Which makes all the characters come to life even stronger. Being able to fill in the backstory of most of the characters with parts of the book that didn’t make the film gave me a better appreciation of the nuances surrounding how they had to navigate their life’s choices.
There were a few parts of the book that left me reflecting because of how God was being described or viewed.
This was after Shug showed Celie letters Nettie had been writing to her but she never received them.
“How I’m gon keep from killing him, I say.
Don’t kill, she say. Nettie be coming home before long. Don’t make her have to look at you like us look at Sofia.
But it so hard, I say, while Shug empty her suitcase and put the letters inside.
Hard to be Christ too, say Shug. But he manage. Remember that. Thou Shalt Not Kill, He said. And probably wanted to add on that, Starting with me. He knowed the fools he was dealing with.”
“Starting with me. He knowed the fools he was dealing with.” That line literally had me laughing out loud because I felt that.
This is part of a letter Celie is writing to Nettie about her conversation with Shug.
“I is a sinner, say Shug. Cause I was born. I don’t deny it. But once you find out what’s out there waiting for us, what else can you be?
Sinners have more good times, I say.
You know what? She ast.
Cause you ain’t all the time worrying bout God, I say.
Naw, that ain’t it, she say. Us worry bout God a lot. But once us feel loved by God, us do the best us can to please him with what us like.
You telling me God love you, and you ain’t never done nothing for him? I mean, not go to church, sing in the choir, feed the preacher and all like that.
But if God love me, Celie, I don’t have to do all that. Unless I want to. There’s a lot of other things I can do that I speck God likes”
Now Shug is right that you don’t have to perform for God by doing “works”. But once you feel God’s love you will want to show God love in return by being obedient to His word.
This is how Shug describes God.
“Here’s the thing, say Shug. The thing I believe. God is inside you and inside everybody else. You come into the world with God. But only them that search for it inside find it. And sometimes it just manifest itself even if you not looking, or don’t know what you looking for. Trouble do it for most folks, I think. Sorrow, lord. Feeling like sh*t.”
I can attest that even though, like Shug, I grew up in church I don’t think I ever truly began to search for God until I was around 34. That’s when I just couldn’t take all that was happening to me anymore and unfortunately as a last resort I turned to God. I say unfortunately because God was not my first, second, third, etc place to seek solace. I kept trying to take control of things. And if I began searching and I do mean truly searching for God sooner, who knows where my life could be. I don’t have to think about that now because God is showing up and out in my life even though I waited until trouble weighed me down to search for Him.
This is Nettie describing God to Celie (via a letter).
“God is different to us now, after all these years in Africa. More spirit than ever before, and more internal. Most people think he has to look like something or someone-a roofleaf or Christ-but we don’t. And not being tied to what God looks like, frees us.
When we return to America we must have long talks about this Celie. And perhaps Samuel and I will found a new church in our community that has no idols in it whatsoever, in which each person’s spirit is encouraged to seek God directly, his belief that this is possible strengthened by us as people who also believe.”
This is the type of view on God I would like to have. To be so in touch spiritually with God that I only see Him that way. That how the media, Hollywood or even some churches have depicted Jesus is no longer an image I even remember. I pray to remove all idols both visible and invisible that I have in my life whether knowingly or unknowingly.
Reading The Color Purple was a cathartic experience for me. It challenged how I see God. It challenged my own relationship with God. It opened my eyes to the simplistic love that I as a Believer can have and yet still have the most incredible experience with God.
This book may have been about the struggle of Black life in the early 1900s but the story, the struggle, the inner conflict are ever-present today. No matter one’s personal belief on these types of stories being shared in the Black community, we need them. We need them to reconcile with our past. To reconcile with family trauma that’s been passed down through generations. We need them to give us a blueprint to break curses.
The Color Purple will be one of those books I put into my reading rotation that I have to re-read again and again and again. Reading this book has me beyond excited for the musical coming out later this year. I love musicals. Like absolutely love them. And for one of my FAV films to be turned into one and reimagined for the big screen, my excitement can’t be contained.
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