Mama seems to want peace in her home and within her family. She fantasizes about a talk-show reunion with her estranged daughter, Dee, wishing that she could be lighter-skinned, thinner, more articulate, so that she could make her daughter proud. Initially, Mama seems to rank mending her relationship with Dee above appreciating her relationship with her other daughter, Maggie. Maggie's always around, and so her presence isn't elusive or particularly notable because Mama always has it.
When Dee comes home, Mama does her best to give her the things she wants, including hand-made family items that Mama and Maggie still actually use in their everyday life. However, one sees that it's true that Dee is really never told "no." Mama seems to want to appease Dee, even being willing to call her a different name rather than the family name she already has.
Once Dee insults Maggie, though, demanding the quilts she once rejected and even holding them out of Mama's reach, Mama seems to realize that she has been putting too much stock in earning Dee's approval. She snatches the quilts from her and gives them to Maggie, as Maggie was promised. Dee storms off, leaving Mama and Maggie to sit outside and revel in the tranquility of the house without Dee's presence in it. She has peace at last.
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