Answer:
a) “Darn Mr. Ellis’s coat! And darn his money! You think I want white folks’ leavings?"
Step-by-step explanation:
In "Marigolds" by Eugenia W. Collier, the narrator and her family are a poor black family who had to rely on working for rich white people for their livelihood. Mother was working as a domestic help for the Ellis family and the father had been looking for a job too.
But one day, when the parents were having a late night discussion, she overheard them talking about their condition. The father was feeling sorry for being unable to get any work and depending on his wife's income for everything. And his wife assures him that it is okay and that he had done his share in the past and how everyone has nothing these days. She also told him that Mrs. Ellis had even planned on giving him her husband's old coat for the winter. At this, he got enraged and told her that he needed nothing from the white folks. This shows that he has respect for himself, pride and also a sense of uselessness in his inabilty to get work to feed his family.