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Samuel is an educated Black minister who, along with his wife Corrine, adopts Celie’s children and takes in Nettie as their ward and maid when she is forced to escape from the abuse of Alphonso and Mr. ______. A missionary in the African and American Missionary Society, Samuel is committed to educating and uplifting Black people in the United States and Africa. He and Corrine are the first people to show Nettie that there are members of the Black community who genuinely want Black people to grow, learn, and thrive, rather than be continuously beaten down and made to submit. Samuel stands in stark contrast to most of the other men in The Color Purple. He treats Corrine with love and respect, and he subverts stereotypes by behaving, despite his physical largeness and power, with gentleness and kindness toward those in his circle. He does not use his masculine strength to dominate women, and rather is committed to intellectual and spiritual growth.
Samuel and Corrine bring Nettie, Olivia, and Adam to the west coast of Africa to work as missionaries in the fictional Olinka tribe, a decision that results in both incredible learning and unbelievable hardship. Namely, Samuel’s beloved wife Corrine dies from illness, and for some time, he’s emotionally lost without her. Later, when the family returns to England after Corrine’s death, Samuel and Nettie marry, which brings them both romantic and intellectual fulfillment and serves to heal their grieving family unit. Aside from serving as an example of Black male excellence, Samuel’s character is a manifestation of the confusion and sadness that Black Americans may feel toward Africans. After years of living with the Olinka tribe, Samuel finds that his presence is not as welcomed or venerated as he had hoped. The tribe is uninterested in Western values and doesn’t want to learn from Samuel’s example. Samuel is deeply saddened by his sense that the Olinka have not gained anything from their missionary work, but even more importantly, that there is no love between African Americans and Africans as he had hoped. While Samuel believes that African Americans love and want to return to their homeland and people, Africans regard them with indifference, and feel no remorse for selling them into slavery. This realization is a painful one, and the family eventually decides that Africa is not their permanent home and that they must return to America.
