e based on her love and respect for those who came before her. This is clear when she associates pieces of fabric from two quilts with the people whose clothes they had been cut from:
             In both of them were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and more years ago. Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarelll's Paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece, about the size of a penny matchbox, that was from Great Grandpa Ezra 's uniform that he wore in the civil war.
             The quilts have a special meaning to her. When she moves up to touch the quilts, she is reaching out to touch the people whom the quilts represent.
             Wangero on the other hand has a far more superficial idea of heritage. She is portrayed as bright, beautiful, and self-centred. Helga Hoel believes that Walker uses Dee:
             to symbolize the Black Power movement, which was characterized by bright and beautiful blacks who were vocal and aggressive in their demands. Many of them spoke disparagingly about their "Uncle
             ...