Perhaps her desire so intense had made me think” (Gibbons 68). While Mavis, who works for Ellen's grandmother, said that Ellen looks just like her mother. One day Mavis says to Ellen, “One day she said outright that you look just like your mother. Lord Chile, you have that same black hair on your back” (Gibbons 65). Ellen shared similarities with both of her parents because she was the descendant of the two combined. To Ellen's grandmother, Ellen resembles her father because she despises her father and blames him and Ellen for her daughter's death, so she is unwilling to see her daughter in Ellen. Ellen's grandmother thinks that Ellen and her father played a role in killing Ellen's mother. He tells Ellen, “A big clown smile looking at me telling me you better take care of me better than you did your mama” (Gibbons 73). She feels that Ellen didn't try to help her mother, which is why she also blames Ellen. Mavis thinks Ellen looks just like her mother. Ellen shares similar traits