Maggie and her mother are waiting for her sister/daughter, Dee, to arrive at the house. They haven't seen her since she left for boarding school. The mom talks about how in tv shows the mother/daughter always hug and cry, but it's not like that in real life. She describes herself as a manly build, and not what her daughter wants. The whole family is black. Maggie acts like a lame animal, and shuffles when she walks. She was burned in a house fire when she was very small, 10-12 years ago. When the fire happened, Dee was happy because she had hated that old house. When Dee arrives Maggie tries to run into the house but the mom stops her. Dee has on a full length dress and is very stylish when she arrives. Dee photographs them sitting in front of the house. She has changed her name to Wangero and is dating a man called Asalamalakim. She says she changed her name, because Dee was oppressing her. Dee starts complimenting handmade stuff and takes the churn top and the dasher to make a centerpiece in her house. After dinner Dee started digging through a trunk and wants the quilts that her grandmother and mom had made. She asks for the quilts and won't give them back. The mom says that she had promised them to Maggie and to take others. Dee refuses so after a minute the mom takes them back and tell Dee to take the other. Dee storms out of the house saying that her mother didn't understand their heritage.
This story portrays a transition period in history. The mother was raised without a lot of money and has learned to appreciate the small things in life. She sees no need for fashion or a beautiful house when she can sit on her porch and enjoy life with one of her daughters. Dee on the other hand, has gone of to boarding school and now knows a new life. She sees the beauty in owning expensive and stylish items. She has more school than her mother, and wants to use her heritage to get ahead in life. She wants the quilts, because no one else will have them, not because they are meaningful to her. Dee is trying to use her mother to show her history and where she came from. She takes pictures of her mom and Maggie sitting in front of the house, to show that her family still lives like this. She wants to show others her "struggle" to emerge and be who she is today.
You can also look at this story from a gender/feminist perspective. Dee is vain. She needs to be fashionable and have nice things to be comfortable with life. She wants to detach herself from her former life, unless it's going to help her get ahead. She has left her family behind because she needs to feel comfortable in the current times. Her mother grew up in a different situation. She couldn't be a typical female. She wouldn't have been able to raise her family if she had worn dresses and been stylish. She sees no need to be fashionable. She has more of a male mentality. She just wants to sit back and enjoy life.
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