In the corn field, Sophia confronts Celie, "You told Harpo to beat me!" She then goes on to say, "You want a dead son-in-law, Miss Celie? Then you keep on advisin' Harpo like you doin'." Harpo was Celie's step-son not son-in-law.
During that time it was not uncommon to refer to family members acquired by marriage as "in-law", including children. "Step-" was not used, especially in legal documents until later.
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