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Mom
GrandMary is Daunis’s grandmother on her Fontaine side. She recently suffered a stroke and now lives in the assisted living facility EverCare. Though Daunis loves GrandMary, she also has complicated feelings about her grandmother and her grandmother’s legacy. GrandMary is from one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in town, and she’s notorious for hating Native Americans. She doesn’t see Daunis as Native, however, and actively tried to keep Daunis from connecting with her Firekeeper side (including refusing to let Mom put Dad on Daunis’s birth certificate, making it much harder for Daunis to enroll in the Tribe). GrandMary also refused to acknowledge that Uncle David was gay and picked on Mom for Mom’s weight, though Mom successfully forbade GrandMary from ever saying anything untoward to Daunis about Daunis’s size. GrandMary ultimately dies while Daunis is unconscious in the hospital at Ann Arbor. Following her death, Daunis is able to make peace with the fact that GrandMary, despite her faults, loved her.
GrandMary Quotes in Firekeeper’s Daughter
The Firekeeper’s Daughter quotes below are all either spoken by GrandMary or refer to GrandMary. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
My Zhaaganaash and Anishinaabe grandmothers could not have been more different. […] Their push and pull on me has been a tug-of-war my entire life.
When I was seven, I spent a weekend at Gramma Pearl’s tar-paper house on Sugar Island. I woke up crying with an earache […]. She had me pee in a cup, and poured it into my ear as I rested my head in her lap. Back home for Sunday dinner at GrandMary and Grandpa Lorenzo’s, I excitedly shared how smart my grandmother was. Gramma Pearl fixed my earache with my pee! GrandMary recoiled and, a heartbeat later, glared at my mother as if this was her fault. Something split inside me when I saw my mother’s embarrassment. I learned there were times when I was expected to be a Fontaine and other times when it was safe to be a Firekeeper.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20
Quotes
Pausing in the doorway, I watch Mom massaging lotion on her mother’s toothpick legs. She exhausts herself looking after GrandMary, who wasn’t always kind to her.
What if it’s a strength to love and care for someone you don’t always like?
Mom was adamant that Uncle David hadn’t relapsed. I know now that he didn’t, but even if he had, she would have continued to love and support him.
What if my mother is actually a strong person disguised as someone fragile?
Chapter 36
Quotes
I am overcome with deep gratitude as I sit here next to Auntie before the fire. Auntie has shown me how to be a strong Nish kwe—full of love, anger, humor, sorrow, and joy. Not as something perfect: She is a woman who is complex and sometimes exhausted, but mostly brave. She loves imperfect people fiercely.
Get the entire Firekeeper’s Daughter LitChart as a printable PDF.
GrandMary Quotes in Firekeeper’s Daughter
The Firekeeper’s Daughter quotes below are all either spoken by GrandMary or refer to GrandMary. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
My Zhaaganaash and Anishinaabe grandmothers could not have been more different. […] Their push and pull on me has been a tug-of-war my entire life.
When I was seven, I spent a weekend at Gramma Pearl’s tar-paper house on Sugar Island. I woke up crying with an earache […]. She had me pee in a cup, and poured it into my ear as I rested my head in her lap. Back home for Sunday dinner at GrandMary and Grandpa Lorenzo’s, I excitedly shared how smart my grandmother was. Gramma Pearl fixed my earache with my pee! GrandMary recoiled and, a heartbeat later, glared at my mother as if this was her fault. Something split inside me when I saw my mother’s embarrassment. I learned there were times when I was expected to be a Fontaine and other times when it was safe to be a Firekeeper.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20
Quotes
Pausing in the doorway, I watch Mom massaging lotion on her mother’s toothpick legs. She exhausts herself looking after GrandMary, who wasn’t always kind to her.
What if it’s a strength to love and care for someone you don’t always like?
Mom was adamant that Uncle David hadn’t relapsed. I know now that he didn’t, but even if he had, she would have continued to love and support him.
What if my mother is actually a strong person disguised as someone fragile?
Chapter 36
Quotes
I am overcome with deep gratitude as I sit here next to Auntie before the fire. Auntie has shown me how to be a strong Nish kwe—full of love, anger, humor, sorrow, and joy. Not as something perfect: She is a woman who is complex and sometimes exhausted, but mostly brave. She loves imperfect people fiercely.
