An Analysis of Alice Walker's "everyday Use" Essay

The story 'Everyday Use', written by Alice Walker, is a story of heritage, pride, and learning what kind of person you really are. In the exposition, the story opens with background information about Dee and Maggie's life, which is being told by Mama. The reader learns that Dee was the type of child that had received everything that she wanted, while Maggie was the complete opposite. The crisis, which occurs later in the story, happens when Dee all of a sudden comes home a different person than she was when she left. During the Climax, Mama realizes that she has often neglected her other child, Maggie, by always giving Dee what she wants. Therefore, in the resolution, Mama defends Maggie by telling Dee that she cannot have the

Mother was a proud woman because she had done everything for herself. She can work all day long and can do everything a man can do. She was always proud of where she came from and who she was. Dee, however, seemed to always want to either argue about it or just try and make Mother feel bad. Sometimes I don't know if she knew she was doing it, but her mother thought it was intentional most of the time. Mother built the house that they lived in, but she thought "…No doubt when Dee sees it [the house] she will want to tear it down" (414).

In Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" Mama is the narrator. She speaks of her family of two daughters Maggie and Dee. Through the eyes of two daughters, Dee and Maggie, who have chosen to live their lives in very different manners, the reader can choose which character to identify most with by judging what is really important in one’s life. Throughout the story three themes consistently show. These themes show that the family is separated by shame, knowledge, and pride.

“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, is a story of a black family composed of a mother and her two daughters: Maggie and Dee. Walker does an excellent job illustrating her characters. There are all types of characters in this short story from round to static. Dee is a flat character, yet Walker uses Dee’s character to warn people of what might happen if they do not live properly. Walker describes Dee’s character as arrogant and selfish, and through Dee’s character one is allowed to perceive the wicked effect of an egotistical world.

In the beginning of the story, Mama felt criticized by her daughter Dee, who came back to visit her mom after experiencing a different life beyond her poverty stricken home. For example, when describing herself, Mama is proud of her life as a “big boned woman with rough, man-working hands” (70). She takes pride in the painstaking life that she has as a single mother who has supported and fed both her daughters in the absence of a working man in a time period in which men’s role as the provider and head of the household was prominent. Mama’s self pride is further seen as she brags that she can “clean a hog as merciless as a man” (70). Despite Mama’s positive image of herself, she lets Dee’s image of her mom taint her self image. Mama views herself through the eyes of her daughter as she describes

Alice Walker wrote ‘The Color Purple’ in order to capture and highlight the hardship and bitterness African-American women experienced in the early 1900s. She demonstrates the emotional, physical and spiritual revolution of an abused black girl into an independent, strong woman. The novel largely focuses on the role of male domination and its resulting frustrations and black women’s struggle for independence. The protagonist, Celie’s, gain of an independent identity, away from her family, friends, work, and love life, forms the plot of the novel.

Throughout the short story “Everyday Use” author Alice Walker demonstrates how cultural experiences have shaped Mama’s perspective on the world.

In the short story Everyday Use, by Alice Walker, the short story is narrated by a black woman in the South who is faced with the decision to give away two quilts to one of her two daughters. Dee, her oldest daughter who is visiting from college, perceives the quilts as popular fashion and believes they should undoubtedly be given to her. Maggie, her youngest daughter, who still lives at home and understands the family heritage, has been promised the quilts. Dee is insistent to possess these heirlooms of family heritage, while Maggie is forbearing in allowing Mama to make her own decision as to who should receive the quilts. Dee shows a lack of appreciation, disrespect, and a distancing behavior towards her mother and sister. Mama

However, the one thing both sisters have in common are the family quilts. These quilts are described by Mama as being made from family members who have passed, which enhance their value. Maggie values the quilts because she learned to quilt from her grandmother and aunt. She hints that she sees the quilt as a reminder of them when she mentions, “I can’t ‘member Grandma Dee without the quilts” (360). Dee,

In “Everyday Use”, Dee wanted to use the quilts as an exhibit piece to show-off her heritage while Maggie wanted to use the quilts as a sentimental item to remember her grandmother and aunt. For Dee, she thinks that she is discovering her heritage through her education and environment which led her to fall in love with the idea of having the quilts and other objects related to African heritage. Dee is worried about what the items symbolizes more than the important usefulness and value it brought from previous generations. Maggie helped make the quilts with her mother, grandmother, and aunt. Maggie will appreciate the quilts different from Dee because she had personal experience of making the quilts with her family. Maggie knows to the story behind the quilts. Even Dee and Maggie are sisters, Walker shows how each sister have their own life experience and ideology on

In "Everyday Use," Alice Walker stresses the importance of heritage. She employs various ways to reveal many aspects of heritage that are otherwise hard to be noticed.

The narrator described herself as large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands. She said she can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man, and her fat keeps her hot in zero weather (444). She seemed to be a hard working woman, who differently from Dee is proud of her heritage and where she came from. It is understood she knew she may not have had the best life possible, but made the best of it. She knew Dee was the successful, popular child, but once Dee returned home with a changed name she saw her in a different light. She realized Dee’s doings were from throwing out the cultural heritage she belonged to into the new, hip black movement. She seemed to appreciate Maggie more after Dee tried to remove things from their house to show off. When Dee argued with her about giving the quilts to her instead of Maggie who was used to never winning, or having anything reserved for her the mother grabbed the quilts from Dee and handed them to Maggie. The mother is very grateful for her children, but is not going to let Dee, the daughter who has “made it”, take over the quilts meant for Maggie once she married.

This short story "Everyday use" speaks about the life of two young ladies and their mother. They are a poor family that lived in old-fashioned life but Dee the bigger sister don'y like that life.

Dee?s character in the story is a direct relation to any number of people in society that do not know or are confused about their heritage. She is struggling to create an identity for herself, and is confused as to what it encompasses. She grasps at African tradition and culture, yet fails to acknowledge her own African American culture. This happened all over America, particularly in the North, in the 1960?s, following the civil rights movement. Dee is misconstruing her heritage as material goods, as opposed to her ancestor?s habits and way of life. This may be due in part to her leaving her hometown and becoming an educated, sophisticated young woman. Dee?s direct heritage is that of African Americans.

The story commenced with off with Dee, the eldest of two daughters, arrived at her mom's house with with modern attire, which truly shocked Mama. Soon enough, dinner begun and the protagonist continued to watch Dee take pleasure over the “benches her daddy made for the table when” they couldn't afford one (760).” Walker