54 pages 1 hour read

Alice Walker

The Color Purple

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1982

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.

Pages 162-206

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 162-206 Summary

Five years pass before Nettie resumes her correspondence with a Christmas letter. Changes are coming. A rubber corporation begins work on a tarmac road that they are cutting through the jungle near the Olinka. Tashi’s father dies. Olivia and Adam are learning much of the life of the Olinka since neither Samuel nor Corine have decided to send them home for their education as missionaries usually do. Nettie learns more about the importance of friendship between women, especially co-wives, who support each other as they deal with the power their husbands have over them. The friendship between Nettie and Corrine has deteriorated, however, after Corrine tells Nettie not to visit alone with Samuel for fear the villagers will assume the two are having an affair.

Nettie’s next letter comes a year later. The Olinka are devastated when the roadbuilders inform them that the path of the tarmac road cuts right through their village. The village is destroyed. The chief goes to the coast for more information. When he returns, he tells them all of the Olinka land now belongs to an English rubber corporation. To stay on their ancestral land, the Olinka will be required to pay rent and a water use tax.

Related Titles

By Alice Walker

Plot Summary

logo

By the Light of My Father's Smile

Alice Walker

By the Light of My Father's Smile

Alice Walker

Study Guide

logo

Everyday Use

Alice Walker

Everyday Use

Alice Walker

Plot Summary

logo

Possessing the Secret of Joy

Alice Walker

Possessing the Secret of Joy

Alice Walker

Plot Summary

logo

Strong Horse Tea

Alice Walker

Strong Horse Tea

Alice Walker

Study Guide

logo

The Flowers

Alice Walker

The Flowers

Alice Walker

Study Guide

logo

The Temple of My Familiar

Alice Walker

The Temple of My Familiar

Alice Walker

Plot Summary

logo

The Third Life of Grange Copeland

Alice Walker

The Third Life of Grange Copeland

Alice Walker

Plot Summary

logo

The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart

Alice Walker

The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart

Alice Walker

Study Guide

logo

To Hell with Dying

Alice Walker

To Hell with Dying

Alice Walker