When Viola Price states, "One thing I do know about men and kids is that they always come back. They always a day late and a dollar short, but that ain't my fault, and it sure ain't gon' be my problem,"(262) she defines this novel using the title concisely. A Day Late and a Dollar Short starts off and ends with the words of the matriarch of the Price family, Viola Price. Viola explains the …showed first 75 words of 1137 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1137 total…Charlotte. Cecil states, "I just hope she can tell by how quiet it is in here that we are all on her side." (442) It is through each family member's personal journey to obtain money, internal and external isolation as well as the death of the family matriarch Viola that they learn they " have found: our history, our lives together as a family...I think we both realize where we came from and who we are."