Heirlooms!

Alice Walker right about a heirloom that is in her family and very special to her grandmother. It is important to Dee that the quilt goes to her because she believes that she will take care of it better than Maggie. The quilt is made up of pieces of fabric from the great grandmother of the family of clothes that she wore and things that were special to her. The quilt was handmade without a sewing machine. Everything was stitched by hand and had its own way it looked of how it had been loved. Many family members had cuddled with it, and used it for warmth. Dee assumed that Maggie would just toss it on a bed and not treat it with the correct respect it should get. This caused an argument. Alice wanted to two quilts to go to Maggie, because she had always planned that, that is who was going to get it when she married John Thomas. This upset Dee.

I think it is very interesting to see how family members are protective of an heirloom but it is a special item with many memories. All families have that item or two that has stories, memories, and love that is expressed through it to all generations to come. All family members know who they think should get it, but it is up to the one who either first had it or it was passed to, to decide who is going to carry it through generations until they then pass it on again.

I think it is important that readers see how this quilt was handled and given to Maggie. It had already been decided that she was going to get it, and that it was going to be her that had it in her house and grew with her and her family. I think Alice is trying to show that even simple things like a handmade quilt is much more special than a quilt that has been made with a sewing machine. Fabric does not matter most of the time, what is special is how much work and time was put into creating such a special thing.

This family deals with some greediness and not wanting someone else to get the quilt and making bad remarks about that person. I understand that Dee wanted to quilt and did not want Maggie to get it, but I do not think it was right for Dee to make bad remarks about Maggie and how she was going to treat the quilt. Gladly in the end Maggie got the quilt handed to her, to someone who deserved it. The grandmother had always planned that she was going to get it, and it would have disappointed the grandmother and broken her heart it Dee ended up by taking it just because she did not want Maggie to have it.