In an extension of its literal meaning, we realize that all three of the women, and all of the other children as well, need. They need material things. But especially the women need more than material things. They need respect and understanding and love. There are no black men to give these women the respect and the understanding and, most of all, the love that they need. Only God offers them love, and in Celie and Nettie's case, they offer love to one another.
Finally, note that Celie deliberately chooses not to tell God the name of her new stepmother, nor does she tell him the name of Nettie's suitor. This namelessness is indicative of the universality of these people, as well as a lack of any real, personal, mature identity. Celie doubtlessly knows what her new stepmother and Nettie's suitor represent: pain and suffering in their own lives, as well as pain and suffering in the lives they interact with.
