Celie's trip into town with Mr. _______ is exciting and stimulating for her because, as a country woman, she has a chance to observe these seemingly sophisticated townspeople: "I never seen so many even at church. Some be dress too."
The townspeople, however, are not sophisticated. They drive into town in wagons, and we don't see them buying readymade clothes; they buy material and thread. And their attitudes are certainly not educated ones. Likewise, the whites in town are not sophisticated either. Specifically, the clerk's demeaning treatment of Olivia's mother and Celie reflects his contradictory and self-defeating behavior: he needs their business, but he clearly hates blacks, for his words to them are rude and pushy: "You want that cloth or not? We got other customers sides you."
Although little Olivia's mother is a woman, the clerk calls her a "girl," and he calls Celie a "gal." His forcing the woman to purchase unneeded thread is linked to his treating her like a child. To him, the woman has no judgment. "You can't sew thout thread."
One of the most telling sentences in this letter is Celie's saying, "I don't have nothing to offer and I feels poor." Ironically, Celie offers the woman a great deal. She offers her friendship and a kind word, and she generously offers them to this woman who is holding Olivia, the baby who Celie feels is her own baby. In addition, Celie offers the woman a seat in Mr._________'s wagon when the woman can't see the Reverend's wagon. In turn, Olivia's mother offers Celie a joke about Celie's "horsepitality." Celie's joy soars. She laughs until her face feels ready to split, "laughing like a fool," Mr. ________ calls it. She laughs because she feels almost certain that she has found her baby.
