Negro idiom is used within the text because it creates an effect of realism and makes the reader believe the setting and the characters in the text are real. An example of Negro idiom throughout this text is the characters habitual use of shortened forms of expression like "you is" instead of "you are". Celie's odd grammar when she remembers "how much I was surprised" by the rape, shows how her dialect helps to make her real in our imagination.
The effect Alice Walker creates using first person narrative is one of seeing the story through Celie's eyes. This style of writing helps create a closer bond between the reader and the material written. It allows the reader to feel as though they are taken into the minds and confidences of the letter writers, particularly Celie. "I tell Nettie the next morning instead of being mad, she glad to go". Our impression of crudity on first reading the 1st letter is dispelled as soon as we sense the limits of the Celie's vocabulary and understanding. The blunt description conveys her exact emotions. .
Celie writes in a highly informal, intimate way, revealing her uncensored thoughts and attitudes both to her sister Netttie, and God. The effect of having Celie write this way is again the effect of realism that it creates, it also helps build the gap between the reader and the writer. Celie has never been in a formal situation, she also doesn't care what people think about her language. She illustrates this when Kate tries to tell Celie that people will laugh at her use of language but Celie simply replies "I don't care".
When white people in "The Color Purple" illustrate their use of formal language the reader starts to feel empathy for Celie. We know that she is unable to ever speak this way, this is because of her lack of education and the way that she has been brought up. This is another result that Walker has inlaid on our conscience.
The level of language slowly becomes more sophisticated throughout the novel.