Squeak agrees to go to her white uncle and plead for Sofia, the woman whose children she has been a stepmother to during Sofia's term in prison. Squeak's role as a mediator demands unusual strength, but Celie recognizes the fierce spirit that is alive and strong within the tiny-voiced, diminutive Squeak. "She carry on," says Celie, "Hair a little stringy, slip show, but she carry on." The power of racism is strong enough to unite (1) Squeak and Sofia, these two women whom we saw fighting between themselves not long ago, as well as unite (2) the dramatically dissimilar Celie and Shug and Odessa.
Letter 40 describes the women's plan: they intend to dress up Squeak like a white woman, which in itself shows us how far the women are willing to go in order to try and manipulate the dominating white power structure. They know that the odds aren't good, but they have hope.
Squeak is wearing a dress, and although it is patched, it is starched and ironed. In addition, Squeak has on high heels and a hat and carries a quilt-design purse and a Bible — a bizarre combination, certainly, almost crazy-quiltlike, but remember that the image of a quilt is one of the metaphorical devices that unifies the fabric of this novel.
The grease that the women wash out of Squeak's hair in order to make her look more persuasive is a petroleum jelly-based moisturizer used to keep Squeak's hair soft. It is applied to soften her hair, but it is shampooed out when she is about to pay her visit to jail because of its smell. It becomes rancid when left in too long. Squeak must appear to be a proper, humble black woman, but one with enough "style" to dress like a white woman. The smell of hair grease wouldn't help her in her charade.
