Many of the female characters in Alice Walker's The Color Purple are prevented from mothering or being mothered by the adverse circumstances of their lives. Let's look at this in more detail.

Celie and Nettie's mother dies when they are young girls, and they are left with their stepfather, who repeatedly rapes Celie. Celie gives birth to two children but is never allowed to be a mother to them because her stepfather takes the children away from her and marries her to an older man.

Celie's husband also abuses her, and while she is supposed to be a mother to his children, they, too, despise her. Again, Celie is not allowed to be a mother. She ends up jealous of her stepdaughter-in-law, who has the courage to take her own children and leave her husband and his abuse. Sofia decides that she is going to be a mother even if this means no longer being a wife.

We learn later that Celie's children have been adopted by Corrine and Samuel. They do have a mother in Corrine, but she dies. Nettie then marries Samuel and takes over the mothering role for her niece and nephew.

When Celie finally reunites with her children, they are grown, but she finally has a chance to learn what it is like to be a mother to them even though they are adults.