Previous
Chutes&Ladders / Clayton Wilkie
Mami Ginny is Elliot’s aunt and Odessa’s sister, though she raises Elliot as her own son and Elliot thus considers her to be his real mom. Mami Ginny never appears onstage, dying of cancer before Scene Three, but is constantly referenced throughout. To Elliot, Mami Ginny is a model mother—a foil for Odessa’s failure to take care of him. To Yaz, Mami Ginny is the elder of their extended family, the figure who holds everyone together, and an anchor of their Puerto Rican community. Mami Ginny thus represents the responsibility and embrace of ethnic heritage that Yaz left behind in pursuit of her “normal” life, and which she ultimately chooses to return to, replacing Mami Ginny as the new elder.
Mami Ginny Quotes in Water by the Spoonful
The Water by the Spoonful quotes below are all either spoken by Mami Ginny or refer to Mami Ginny. 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:
).
Scene Five
Quotes
ELLIOT: All those have carnations. I don’t want a carnation within a block of the church.
YAZ: You told me to eliminate seven. I eliminated seven. Close your eyes and point.
ELLIOT: Am I a particularly demanding person?
YAZ: Yes. What’s so wrong with a carnation?
ELLIOT: You know what a carnation says to the world? That they were out of roses at the 7-Eleven.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene Fourteen
Quotes
YAZ: […] I wrote a list [of achievements] on a piece of paper and dug a hole in Fairmount Park and put it in the ground and said, “When I turn thirty, I’ll dig it up and cross it all off.” And I promise you I’ll never have the courage to go to that spot with a shovel and face my list full of crumbs, decoys, and bandaids.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene Fifteen
Quotes
YAZ: I’m the elder now. I stay home. I hold down the fort.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Water by the Spoonful LitChart as a printable PDF.
Mami Ginny Quotes in Water by the Spoonful
The Water by the Spoonful quotes below are all either spoken by Mami Ginny or refer to Mami Ginny. 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:
).
Scene Five
Quotes
ELLIOT: All those have carnations. I don’t want a carnation within a block of the church.
YAZ: You told me to eliminate seven. I eliminated seven. Close your eyes and point.
ELLIOT: Am I a particularly demanding person?
YAZ: Yes. What’s so wrong with a carnation?
ELLIOT: You know what a carnation says to the world? That they were out of roses at the 7-Eleven.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene Fourteen
Quotes
YAZ: […] I wrote a list [of achievements] on a piece of paper and dug a hole in Fairmount Park and put it in the ground and said, “When I turn thirty, I’ll dig it up and cross it all off.” And I promise you I’ll never have the courage to go to that spot with a shovel and face my list full of crumbs, decoys, and bandaids.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene Fifteen
Quotes
YAZ: I’m the elder now. I stay home. I hold down the fort.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
