Study Questions
1. Who is Lucious?

2. What is Celie’s answer when her mother asks her “Whose child is it”?

3. What does Celie think happened to her second child?

4. How old is Celie’s new mother?

5. How did Mr.____’s previous wife die?

6. Why is Celie beaten by her father after she goes to church?

7. How many children does Mr.____ have?

8. Why does Celie’s father reject Mr.____’s request to marry Nettie?

9. According to Celie’s father, why will Celie be a better wife to Mr.____ than Nettie?

10. How long does it take for Mr.____ to decide to marry Celie?

Answers
1. Lucious is Celie’s newborn brother.

2. Celie says that the child is God’s.

3. Celie thinks that her father killed her first child, but believes that he sold her second child.

4. Celie’s father marries a woman who is as old as Celie.

5. Supposedly, Mr.____’s previous wife was shot by her boyfriend when she left church.

6. Her father hits her because he thinks that she winked at a boy in church.

7. Mr.____ says he has three children, but Celie discovers that he actually has four children.

8. Nettie’s father thinks Nettie is too young for a man like Mr.____. He has heard the rumors about the death of Mr.____’s previous wife and his relationship with Shug Avery. He also has made plans for Nettie to become a schoolteacher.

9. Celie is not as pretty as Nettie, “but she ain’t no stranger to hard work,” according to her father. He also says that “God done fixed her,” meaning that Mr.____ can still do whatever he wants without worrying about interference from Celie.

10. Three months pass before Mr.____ decides to marry Celie.