Analysis Of The Century Quilt Poem By Marilyn Nelson

In her poem “The Century Quilt,” Marilyn Nelson relays her experiences as a child to show that coexistence between races is both possible and enlightening. Making its point primarily through the use of imagery and structure, her poem uses cultural objects of childhood fancy to sweet remembrances of a treasured childhood.

In Stanza 1, Waniek juxtaposes Meema’s “indian blanket” with her father’s “army green.” All this next to the statement that Meema moved in to live with “Daddy,” who, being in the army likely fought against native Americans in his time, engenders in the reader a sense of renewed trust and peace between both parties, despite having been forced to clash in their pasts. This peace with one another allowed for the caring of Meema, who is growing old, and the children, who are entertained by Meema’s possessions, and who have their entire lives ahead of them. …show more content…
Following this, the narrator notes that these colors exist together peacefully and amplify the nature of the surrounding colored patches of the quilt. In the blanket, this results in an aesthetically pleasing form, but applying this to society, Nelson relays the idea of unity to the more global issue of tolerance and racism, firmly implying that harmony between races will bring out the best nature in humans like the tiles do to one