Well, I've already given you some of my ideas about the first 30 letters. Now for 31-60. . .
In this section we learn more about the relationship between Shug and Albert (Mr. ___). In letter 50 Shug tells Celie about how much fun she and Albert used to have, and how that all changed when he married Annie Julia (now deceased) instead of her. Shug explains that he didn't marry her because "his daddy told him I'm trash, my mama trash before me. His brother say the same" (122). Albert tried to defend her, but he just wasn't strong enough. However, Shug claims that she "never really wanted Albert for a husband;" she just wanted to be the only woman he desired.
Additionally, Albert's family advised him not to marry her because she already had children and they questioned if they were even Albert's. Hmmm...sound familiar? This is similar to how Albert treats Sofia when Harpo first brings her over to meet him. Albert refers to her pregnancy as her getting herself into "trouble" and asks how Harpo knows undoubtedly that he is the father. How rude. Also, neither of them—father nor son—really stood up for his woman or himself. Well, you know what they say: like father, like son. I believe this can also be an archetype because sons who follow in the steps of their fathers is found often in literature and in life. For instance, in abusive households where the father abuses the mother, it is common for the son to treat women the same way because the example set before him causes him to think that's what he's supposed to do. Or I'm sure you've heard the comment, "You're just like your father," directed towards someone. Even when Harpo was a teenager he asked Celie why his father beats her (letter 13), and then later in letter 19 he decides to hit his wife Sofia (which was a big mistake).
On another note, Celie really begins to open up even more to Shug in this section. In letter 34 Celie tells her that Mr. ___ beats her, which is isn't something that Celie would be quick to tell anyone. She also tells Shug about how she doesn't enjoy having sex with Mr. ___ because it really just feels like he's "doing his business" on top of her. (Aww, that's sad.) Her growing trust for her new friend is emphasized even more when Shug encourages Celie to explore her own body and Celie listens to her. Then, suddenly Celie's trust and dishonesty concerning Shug are juxtaposed in the same letter! She has just told Shug an intimate secret and really looked at her own body, but then she lies and tells Shug that she doesn't care that Shug sleeps with Mr. ___ even though when she hears them together that night she says that "all [she] can do is pull the quilt over [her] head" and be alone with herself (79). Celie's discontentment, I believe, is due to her desire to be with Shug instead of Mr. ___.
One of my favorite letters so far is the 56th one because in this letter Nettie writes to Celie about the lives of the Black people she sees on her journey to Africa. In New York, she is fascinated by all of the Blacks owning fancy cars and living in houses "finer than any white person's house down home" (135). She also tells Celie about how she learns that "All the Ethiopians in the bible were colored" (134). This is evidence that Black people were not taught about the history of their own people, which is just saddening to me.
In letter 57 Nettie expresses how the English are so swift to say that Africa has fallen on "hard times," yet they are so ignorant (or at least act like they're ignorant) to the fact that they helped make the times "harder" via slavery. Prior to that, African civilizations were considered to be more magnificent and superior to the English civilizations. Does the word "Egypt" ring a bell???
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