Symbolically, what's interesting about Hughes' description of Mrs. Jones' purse in the story Thank You, Ma'am by Langston Hughes?

The way the purse is described in Langston Hughes' "Thank you Ma'am" is interesting for several reasons. 

The first would be that the purse is described as "large," which is the same adjective used to describe the woman herself. The sentence reads: "She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but hammer and nails." Right away, we can connect the large woman and the large purse as being similar, and the purse is a metaphor for the woman herself. A metaphor is a symbol, meaning that the metaphor of the purse represents the woman, or an idea of the woman. 

If the purse is a metaphor for the woman, it's also interesting when Hughes describes that the purse "had everything in it but hammer and nails." These are not usual items that would be described as being in a purse. Purses are usually dainty things, carrying items like makeup and other toiletries. This woman's purse is not one of those purses. It carries much more than little things like makeup. It's carrying her whole life, it seems, with as much in it as she can fit. 

This idea is interesting because it relates back to who the woman is, as the purse is a metaphor for her. Based on the description of the purse, we can say something about her character. She's tough and strong, no-nonsense. She's practical. Perhaps she works a lot, or travels around a lot. She's down-to-Earth. In this way, as the story progresses, the purse tells us more about who she is. This is why the purse is interesting.