Due to miscegenation, the skin tone of black Americans varies from milk to ebony. Many black people attributed status to being lighter and shunned darker members of the race. The roots of this colorist distinction come from slavery. The lightest people, who were often descendants of white masters and black slaves, were given the easiest jobs, usually housework. The rest of the slaves, the darker ones, were given the field work to do. Carrie's cutting remark about Shug - "She's black too" - means that Shug's skin tone is probably close to ebony. However, all these prejudices refuse to take root in Celie's consciousness; she's more intrigued than ever by the illusive Shug Avery. In fact, now that Shug is the personification of adventure, magic and beauty, Celie associates a shopping trip with the charming Shug. It also seems that Celie knows that purple is associated with royalty; that's why she says "purple" out loud when she and Kate discuss the color of Celie's new dress. Celie is thinking of Shug and simply says the color that is synonymous with Shug: purple. But just as there's no Shug Avery in Celie's life – not yet – there's no color purple in the clothing store. Not yet. For now, Celie has to settle for blue. But Kate expresses one of the central ideas of this novel that becomes part of Celie's soul. She