Where It All Goes Down
Rural Georgia in the Early 20th Century; Western Africa in a Small Village in the Early 20th Century
The book begins about 30 years before World War II. It covers the first half of the 20th century, as we follow Celie through thirty or forty years of her life. The setting of Celie’s story is unmistakably among poor blacks in rural areas of the South. As a poor black woman in the rural South, Celie’s bad treatment is largely ignored. Having very little exposure to education or the outside world, Celie lives most of her life very isolated and ignorant.
Celie starts to learn more about herself and the world from people who enter into her life from very different settings than her own. Shug Avery comes from the city—Memphis, Tennessee—where she lives a much more liberated life than Celie. Shug owns her own home, has a car, wears fashionable clothing, is outspoken, and thinks life is meant to be enjoyed. When Celie leaves home and joins Shug in Memphis, Celie also becomes more liberated. Whereas before Celie had never even dreamed of wearing pants (to her, they were men’s clothes), she now starts a company making pants for both men and women. She also learns to speak up for herself.
Celie’s world is also dramatically expanded as a result of her sister’s travels in Africa. Living a poor, downtrodden life in the South, Celie had never stopped to consider her African heritage until Nettie sends letters describing the West African village she’s living in. Nettie describes her first experiences in Africa as "magical." For the first time, Celie (via Nettie’s letters) comes to see black people not as downtrodden, but as beautiful, noble, and proud. Celie learns that the first humans in the world were black people, originating in Africa. She also learns that Africans had an extremely rich culture and thriving civilizations far before Europeans did. The Olinkan village where Nettie lives is eventually destroyed by Europeans, but through the African setting, both she and Celie begin to feel that their black heritage is a source of pride rather than a cause for shame. They learn that though black people are currently oppressed, that wasn’t always the case, and therefore it need not be the case in the future.
Eventually, Celie returns back to her home in Georgia from Memphis, taking with her what she has learned from Memphis and Africa. She goes home, but brings a sense of freshness and the lessons she has learned. In addition, she no longer lives in somebody else’s home: not Pa’s home, not Mr.__’s home, and not even Shug’s home. Celie now has her own house, which she inherited from her mother, in which she can live life as she chooses.