The setting of
"" is rural Georgia in the early 1970s when the Black Nationalist Movement
emerged.
Many African Americans struggled for cultural and political identity
as they sought to bring into the American consciousness the contributions of their race. In
reaction to their history of repression, "white" names were discarded by leaders such
as Malcolm X, who excoriated those who retained the surnames of former slave owners. Following
the example of the movement of Malcolm X, Dee adopts another name, Wangero, and her boyfriend,
who has renamed himself Hakim-a-barber, seems to represent the militant groups. These names are
mocked by Dee's mother, for she feels that one's past, whether positive or not, is part of a
person's history and development.
Mama also recognizes the hypocrisy of her daughter
and boyfriend, as they wish to take family heirlooms and put them on display like a museum piece
rather than use them the way they were intended to be.
When Dee attempts to
take the quilts sewn from pieces of family history and put them on display, her subservient
daughter Maggie tells the mother that her sister may have these quilts. Mama suddenly has an
epiphany:
When I looked at her like that something hit me
in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet. . . I did something I never had done
before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss
Wangero's hand and dumped them into Maggie's lap.
The
mother's actions are a recognition of the lives of African Americans. Whether for better or
worse, the quilts represent the historical travails, love, and authenticity of her family, a
heritage that she recognizes all the more when it is threatened. She wishes to protect the quilt
from Wangero, who would pervert this history by displaying the quilt as an artifact.
After Dee and her boyfriend depart, Mama and Maggie sit in the yard and watch as the
Georgia dust settles behind the car.
No comments:
Post a Comment