Maggie is actually much more fortunate than Dee is, despite the fact that she lacks some of Dee’s natural skills and attributes. The battle over the quilt represents the climax of the story, a point where tradition and modernization clash. To Maggie and to the mother, it only makes sense that the quilts should be used for their intended purpose. Dee, however, believes that they are symbols of an old way of life, a way of life that should be honored, but improved upon. The mother’s decision not to allow Dee to take her grandmother’s quilts represents her final acceptance of her daughter’s decision and also her desire to maintain some pride in the traditional way of life to which her and her daughter have grown accustomed. The mother is accused by Dee of not understanding the family’s heritage, but it is in fact Dee who does not understand. She would rather make a mockery of their heritage by putting it on display. This, however, is not what their heritage is based upon. Rather, the family’s heritage is one in which family members have passed down certain skills and belongings through the generations. Uncle Buddy “whittled [the churn] out of a tree” (296) because the family needed a way to make butter, not because they needed a centerpiece for the table. Grandma Dee had pieced together the quilts so her family would have something to keep them warm, not because their walls were bear and needed decoration. In both instances, what was created was created out of necessity, not for aesthetic purposes. This is a concept that Dee fails to grasp. She is quite correct in asserting that the quilts are priceless, but they are priceless because of the labor and the love that had gone into creating them, and not because they are simply antiques. It is my belief that the conflict between modernization and tradition comes to a head when the mother is forced to choose between giving the quil...
