We realize anew that there is no justice for blacks in the white system of "law and justice," and yet, despite those odds, Squeak, Shug, Celie, and Odessa (Sofia's sister) make plans to try and defy "the system." By using cunning and deviousness, they hope to keep Sofia from serving twelve years in a prison that is already making her a broken and helpless emotional and psychological cripple.
Just as Albert and Celie earlier befriended Shug from the town gossips, now Shug, Celie, Squeak, and Odessa mean to defend Sofia. These women have witnessed and suffered great pain through years of degrading injustice in their own lives, but they have been able, somehow, to cope with it, and now they realize that Sofia can no longer cope by herself. Celie says, "When I see Sofia, I don't know why she still alive." Sofia's spirit has been broken by the whites. It is almost miracle-like that she manages to stay alive. Touchingly, and yet humorously, Sofia tells Celie that the only way that she survives is by acting "like I'm you. I jump right up and do just what they say." Sofia endures — but just barely. She has become a non-entity in order to survive.
It is totally unexpected that Squeak — Little Miss Mouse — is chosen to be the strongest link in the sisterhood of strength and defiance. Squeak is chosen to be the mediator between the black woman Sofia and the white man who represents Prison. For that reason, perhaps, Walker chooses to have Squeak described as "yellowish." Squeak is half-white and half-black, meaning that she has milky skin. Moreover, Squeak admits reluctantly that she is related to the white prison warden. Racially, Squeak is a link between the two races. Now, that "link" between the two races will be used, hopefully, to free Sofia from her prison sentence.
