She is eager to see her sister.

She misses the old house.

She’s been unsure of herself for years.

She will soon sell the quilts.

the differences in their styles of clothes

which quilt is worth the most money

where their mother should live

who will get the family’s quilts

Dee

Maggie

Unidentified

the mother

Dee

Dee's friend

Aunt Dee

Maggie

Mama takes the quilts from Maggie and gives them to Dee

The quilt rips and falls to the ground

Dee steals the quilts and drives off

Mama takes the quilts from Dee and gives them to Maggie

Dee resorts to name calling and says Maggie won't appreciate the quilts the way she would but Mama disagrees with Dee

Maggie resorts to name calling and say Dee won't appreciate the quilts the way she would but Mama disagrees with Maggie

Dee's friend takes the quilts and insist that Mama lets Dee keep them

“Everything delighted [Dee]. Even the fact that we still used the benches her daddy made for the table when we couldn’t afford to buy chairs.”

“[T]hat was before we raised the money, the church and me, to send her to Augusta to school.”

“[T]hen the two of us sat there just enjoying, until it was time to go in the house and go to bed.” 

“There are no real windows, just some holes cut in the sides, like the portholes in a ship, but not round and not square, with rawhide holding the shutters up on the outside.”

This action characterizes Maggie as being adventurous and curious of the world around her. 

This action characterizes Maggie as being conscientious and mindful of the earth. 

This action characterizes Maggie as being physical and energetic. 

This action characterizes Maggie as being weak, non-confrontational, or afraid of Dee. 

Takes photos

Hugs Maggie

Introduces her friend to the narrator

Asks for the quilts

the cultural and personal struggle between Maggie and her mom vs. Dee

the inner conflict between Dee vs. herself on whether she should claim what is rightfully hers

the political and racial struggle of Maggie, her mom, and Dee vs. white society

the socioeconomic clash between the poor and the rich

cruel

tough

self-conscious

fragile

she believed it represented injustice.

she didn’t like it.

it didn’t reflect her true heritage.

she didn’t like her aunt.

Sometimes adopting a new heritage can result in the rejection of a person’s true heritage and family history.

A person must understand their family history before they can truly understand themselves.

The modern world often demands that people change, whether they want to or not.

Physical objects can often offer people a connection to their family history and family members who have passed

“Pressed us to her with the serious ways she read, to shove us away at just the moment, like dimwits, we seemed about to understand.” ( Paragraph 10)

“You didn’t even have to look close to see where hands pushing the dasher up and down to make butter had left a kind of sink in the wood.” ( Paragraph 54)

“‘These are all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear. She did all this stitching by hand. Imagine!’” ( Paragraph 62)

“I didn’t want to bring up how I had offered Dee... a quilt when she went away to college. Then she had told me they were old-fashioned, out of style.” ( Paragraph 69)