Literary Devices in Marilyn Nelson Waniek’s The Century Quilt

In the poem, “The Century Quilt,” by Marilyn Nelson Waniek, Waniek outlines the significance of her quilt utilizing symbolism, tone, and structure. The descriptions in each of the squares of the quilt shares the bonds between families and friends. She can pass on the pride she takes in her rich legacy utilizing the imagery behind it. 

Through a use of many colors, Waniek makes a clear picture of her blanket. 'Six Van-Dyke dark colored squares, two white, and one square the yellow darker of mother's cheeks.” These hues are portraying the blanket as well as the shades of her experience. The blanket is utilized all through the poem as an all-encompassing illustration to suggest the great measure of pride she takes in her diverse family. She then proceeds to show what she would dream of while resting under it. She specifies her father's “singed umber pride,” her mom’s “ochre gentleness,” and her grandfather’s white family. This displays the variety in the author’s past and how they wanted to come together out of love for each other. 

Waniek's diction strikes a comforting and nostalgic tone as she thinks back on her Meema's blanket, enveloping herself by it and playing a princess. “I recollected how I arranged to acquire that sweeping.” The past tense recollections she includes toward the start of her sonnet underscores the nostalgic estimation of the indian cover. She at that point compares it saying that she has now discovered a blanket that she would ”like to die under.” She shows the reader her past through her point of view. 

The reader can see the bliss she encountered while under the century quilt and the hugeness those encounters have to her. From her memories to her fantasies about the future, she is envisioning the satisfaction her blanket brings her. She dreams of things to come, such as passing the blanket down to her unconceived kid whom she says she may meet while dreaming under the blanket. The structure of the poem is ordered and free-refrain. In the first part, the creator lets us know about her past with Meema's blanket. In the next stanza, she portrays her present and what she is currently encountering with her very own blanket. In the third part, she mentions to us what she wishes to get from her blanket in the future. The use of structure encourages us further get her solace and feelings towards her blanket and how she has developed to adore and appreciate what her identity is. It is portrayed up together to symbolize her family bonds and the variety within. 

Towards the end, she speaks of the future and the “pattern of leaves” by which she names the blanket, which will keep on continuing developing as she goes down her pride to the following years to come. 

Through symbolism, tone, and structure Waniek can stress the solid family bonds and profound self-pride that she connects to her Century Quilt. From her beloved recollections to her legacy there is an incredible importance that the blanket has for her. Beside its glow and comfort, it brings her nostalgic delight.