Dee's idea of heritage involves things. In contrast, Maggie's and Mama's idea of heritage involves people. Dee wants the quilts and anything else that she thinks she can connect back to her African or early American roots to display or show people. When Mama asks Dee why she wants the quilts, she tells her that she wants to "hang them" and says with disgust:
"Maggie can't appreciate these quilts! . . . She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use. . . . They're priceless! . . . Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they'd be in rags. Less than that!"
For Dee, things such as clothing, name changes, even boyfriend choice represent her heritage--her desire to "go back to Africa." She does not realize that those things have nothing to do with who she was or who she has become.
For Mama and Maggie, their heritage is wrapped up in the people who created it. Maggie wants the quilts because they represent not only the work of her own hands but also time spent with her loved ones--those who had gone on before her. There is sentimental value to their heritage because of its personal connection to humans. Dee's heritage is purely materialistic, and therefore, changeable.
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