Analysis Of My Mother Pieced Quilts

How can two people in the same room look at the same thing and see it differently? The diversity of our culture gives us these different perspectives. The works, “My Mother Pieced Quilts”, “Everyday Use”, and “By Any Other Name” demonstrate this concept of our culture influencing our perspective. In “My Mother Pieced Quilts”, Teresa Palomo Acosta shares memories of her mother making quilts. As she is remembering she talks of,” lounging” on her mother’s arm while her mother sews,” somber black silk,” from her,” grandmother’s funeral” (73 Acosta). While this memory at first brings an air of sadness and the reminder of death, it also provides a glimpse into how Teresa has been shaped by this memory that within sadness there is also comfort.

Dee asks,” Can I have these old quilts?” and her mom says she was going,” to give them quilts to Maggie,” (81-82 Walker). Dee is horrified and explains that Maggie, her sister, would,” put them to everyday use,” which is exactly what Alice,” hopes,” (82 Walker). Alice decides to give the quilts to Maggie because it is important to Alice that the quilts be loved and used, they have sat in a box for too long. Events such as a fire, years earlier, have taught Alice to be cautious by not taking possessions for granted and cherishing them while they are there. In passing the quilts on to Maggie, Alice is also passing on this lesson and displaying part of her culture. Alice determined that the quilts should be used and loved by Maggie based on Alice’s own culture of loving and using what a person

Santha and the other school children are outside playing a version of tag. Santha let a,” small English boy,” catch her and was,” rather puzzled when the other children did not return the courtesy,” (46 Rau). At home she is used to being allowed to win because she is the youngest. It is part of her culture and thus it shapes her perspective so she is confused by the idea that other people will not just let her win. Later that week, when there was a test for Premilla, Santha’s older sister, Premilla runs into frustration and anger. As Premilla explains it to her mother later, she explains about the test being that day and how the Indians had to sit,” with a desk between each one,” of them because Premilla’s teacher believed that,” Indians cheat,” (48 Rau). Since Premilla was raised in an Indian home with an Indian culture she has been taught not to cheat. Being accused of cheating before even starting the test makes her frustrated because her culture influences her perception and her perception based on that culture says that cheating is bad so she should not do it. The teacher is British and so assumes otherwise based on the only what her culture has given her. Her limited cultural background gives her a limited perspective on Indians that affects her reactions and how she deals with the Indian children. Premilla sees what