Joseph's intuitive knowledge about the Christian religion is strong and intense. Joseph has grasped the central Christian tenet that God is omnipresent and can therefore only be represented symbolically. A cross is no better than a roofleaf. The wood of the cross was sacred to early Christians, just as a roofleaf is sacred to the Olinka people. Joseph also has made the distinction between Jesus Christ and God. He knows that Jesus Christ is the "person" of the Holy Trinity and that God is not only the father, but the creator. God made the roofleaf, and it is therefore part of him.
The origins of modern-day American soul food are also of interest in Nettie's letters. Soul food, we discover, originally came from West Africa, and later, during the era of slavery, the slaves were given the scraps of the butchered pig — that is, the feet, the neck, and the back. Slave owners also gave them overly ripe tomatoes. They added sugar and vinegar to the tomatoes and barbecued the pork. This cooking practice of barbecuing, so familiar in America, is like the open pit roasting and flaming and flavoring that goes on in West African villages. Nettie had probably never thought of any place but the South as being the original source of barbecuing. "Yes," she says, "a barbecue. They remind me of folks at home!"
You might also enjoy noticing something else in this letter that could easily be overlooked. Remember that after the dedication page in the novel, there are the words, "Show me how to do like you, Show me how to do it." This is quoted from musician Stevie Wonder's 1980 album, Hotter than July. The song, "Do I Do," is about a young boy burning with the desire to sing and dance onstage at a talent show. His mother prohibits him, but he goes and does a smashing performance. The message of the song is that performing is learning. Walker has placed the words "Hotter than July" in Letter 61. A few sentences prior, Celie writes, "What they look like, I wonder." Seemingly, Walker is inserting here her appreciation of Stevie Wonder and his music.
