An interesting tale this was, for not only was it prevalent to present-day society, but it withheld prevalence within my own life, as well as many others, I am sure. Although the plot may be perceived to have little gusto, the ideas behind such plots were what made this written work sufficiently metaphorically moving. This story of which I speak of, dealt with an African American family, consisting of a mother and two daughters, Dee and Maggie. Exemplified by a fire in which all three of them endured, Dee's persona and personality greatly overshadowed Maggie's, for Dee was more of an extrovert, while Maggie was the introvert of the two, which was seen by the fact that Dee's harm from the past house fire was minimal where as Maggie underwent sufficient physical harm - showing her fragility as both a mental and physical person. Being a strong woman herself, the mother of these two seemed to have a much greater preference towards Dee, for Dee most likely represented the "perfect daughter", strong overall just like her mother.
Although this is only the beginning of this story, I, personally, felt a connection to Maggie, for it can be seen that she experienced "inferior sibling syndrome", which I have some experience with, as well. Being the youngest of my family, there have been a few instances where my older sister has been the one of privilege, whether it be the choice of dinner for that night, or the winning of an ongoing quarrel between us. Even though Maggie may have felt much more of the wrath of this syndrome, I can partially relate to her situation, which is most likely the same for many others.
Fortunately, Maggie's experience with such a syndrome lessened in effect of Dee's endeavor to college. However, upon her return, Maggie's bereft life returned from its long departure, but not for long. In the midst of such a visit from Wangero, formerly known as Dee, and her new boyfriend, the topic of ancestry antiques became a source of discussion. Feeling as though her scholarly ways greatened her rank among others, Wangero, or Dee, expressed much want and desire towards a particular family heir loom, a quilt in which her ancestors created with much love and care. Although the mother never denied Wangero of any of her wants, this particular wish of Wangero's pushed her mother over the edge, for the mother felt that Maggie was the rightful owner of such a quilt - having the ability to put it to "everyday use". An object to be awed by others was not the mother's plan for this quilt, even though Wangero persistently pleaded to put the quilt to such use. Dropping her original preference for Wangero, the mother stood her ground, unwilling to budge, so that Wangero could put this quilt on useless display, which caused a smile to spread across Maggie's face of fragility, feeling as though she were loved. 
The snootiness of the new Dee was most likely the turn off for the mother, feeling as though she were better than both her mother and Maggie combined. Through such behavior, it is possible that the mother saw her beloved Dee as a "white intruder", attempting to take something away from her heritage, disregarding its original purpose. Such racist thoughts most likely came into play, for the basis of such a tale came from a recent era descending from racism. Ironically, Wangero, attempting to strengthen her African heritage, came off as trying to weaken such a past, thus causing her mother to lose favoritism towards her, and causing her to lose the quilt she so desired.
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