The Century Quilt Summary

Waniek's "The Century Quilt" expresses a young girl's intimate attachment and the history behind a quilt that she adores. She speaks about the past, present and future of the quilt through her memories and the ones she would like to create with her future family. Through her use of vivid imagery, blank verse style and nostalgic tone, the poet brings forth the true meaning of "The Century Quilt".
The poem "The Century Quilt" is not written in any specific rhyme scheme. This allows for the poem to have a narrative, heartfelt and individual feeling. The line breaks of the poem are strategically placed in order to evoke emotion in the reader and to bring across a specific point. Line breaks can also mean the speaker is stopping to think about what

she just said. For example, the speaker says, "Now I’ve found a quilt I’d like to die under;" This is stated on two separate lines to have a greater impact on the reader since it is a very blunt statement. The poem also contains various uses of imagery, mainly present in her description of the quilt's colors. She speaks about falling asleep under an "army green blanket" which was ordinary and lackluster compared to Meema's Indian blanket that she brought with her when she moved in with the family. She describes this quilt as having "Six Van Dyke brown squares, two white ones, and one square the yellowbrown of Mama’s cheeks." She also goes on to describe her future dreams that she believes she will have describing them to be of her "father’s burnt umber pride, my mother’s ochre gentleness." These color descriptions also tie into the races of her family when she describes Meema "among her yellow sisters" and "their grandfather’s white family". This furthers the quilt's symbolic meaning of love and acceptance in her life.
The author uses tone to describe her feelings about the blanket, then and now. The tone is nostalgic, happy and reflective. She begins by describing her past longing to inherit the memorable and comforting blanket from Meema. She then transitions to speak about her present attachment to it, and how it still feels the same way that it used to when she was a child. She associates the stitched blanket with good memories from her childhood saying that she "giggled and danced" as a young girl. It can be inferred that the speaker connects with her past when wrapped in the blanket, reminisces on how she felt then and connects with her inner child when she is wrapped in its warmth. Her connection to her past is exemplified when she states, "My sister and I were in love with Meema’s Indian blanket. We fell asleep under army green issued to Daddy by Supply." Also, her longing to know her future is exemplified when she says, "Perhaps under this quilt I’d dream of myself, of my childhood of miracles..."
Through theses literary techniques, Waniek is able to speak about the quilt's personal importance. Her use of imagery, tone and structure of the poem allows the reader to infer the quilt's important role in her life and it's true meaning of love, family and happiness.