Everyday Use By Alice Walker Analysis

Because, the quilts had been made by the grandmother’s hands, the work that went into the quilts is the reason for importance of saving or preserving them as a family heirloom. “Maggie”, knows the true value of the quilts, “Dee” seems to view them as any other common blanket. Alice Walker stated in the story that Maggie felt like the world never learned to tell Dee no. That is a direct reference to the mother never standing up to Dee and asserting her rightful place.

Dee realizes the worth of the quilts when she states, “These are all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear” (477). She also states when Mama tells her that she was planning on giving Dee the quilts, “But they’re priceless! Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts! She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use” (477). Then when her mother asked, well what would you do with them, she responds, hang them (477).

Their actions and words show that both characters love their mother, though Dee is also judgmental of her. Both of the daughters want their mother's quilts, but for totally different reasons. Dee wants them for superficial reasons, as she plans to use them for decoration. Maggie plans to use them for everyday use.

Dee chooses to change her name because she feels that she no longer wants to be named after her oppressors, when in fact the legacy of her name is attributed to four generations of Dees in the family. If she doesn't even understand the significance of her own name and decides to change it without inquiring, Mama must feel that she can't possibly understand the significance of quilts that have pieces of clothes that were either worn or owned by possibly a century of their ancestors. The quilts held stories and documented generations within the family, Dee's intent to preserve it as art would do the quilts no justice as she could not tell the story of the patches they contain, whereas, Maggie has probably heard every one of these stories being

Now all of a sudden she has Black Muslim family and wants to impress them so she returns to grab things that are part of her family’s heritage. That are only interested in what they stand for and not for whom they stand for.  Then as soon as she pays a visit to her home, she picks up and walks out again.  It is obvious, to her heritage is for show not for living. The situational irony is present as well. Selfish Dee expects to be able to just walk into Mama’s house and take what she wants. Instead, Mama finally realizes that Maggie deserves the quilts because she understands her heritage. Mama actually understands what Dee is becoming and decides to give the quilts to Maggie.

Along with that, she collects other household items as well, but doesn’t consider the fact that her mother and sister still need them. She selfishly focuses on her desire to display in her house. When she asks for the quilt, her mother doesn’t want to give it, because she already promised it to her sister. She complained how her sister wouldn’t know how to care for it and that she deserved it instead. Dee only looked at it from a materialistic point of view, but to Maggie she saw it as a symbol of her family's heritage and tradition.

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.

After reading the short story, I found it said that, as a reader, I noticed that the mother favor or likes Maggie better than her other daughter, Dee. I was confused on why Mama believed that Dee hated Maggie, until Mama and the community raised enough money to send Dee to school in Augusta. Mama resented the intimidating world of ideas and education that Dee forced on her family on her trips home. Dee has come back to lay claim to some old blankets that she has a newfound “historic” appreciation for: she thinks they would make trendy décor for her apartment. To Dee, the quilts represent the historical significance of an oppressed people. The problem is that Mama has a much more practical use for the quilts; Mama intends to give them to Dee’s

Mama decided to keep her word and give the quilts to Maggie because she understood what these quilts meant, “ You will not understand. The point is these quilts, these quilts!” The representation of the quilts is the symbol of the family and Dee couldn’t understand it, even with her education. Mama had more life experience and understanding of her culture then Dee would ever learn in a

When the climactic scene occurs and Dee asks “Can I have these quilts?” (145), Maggie’s first implied reaction is one of surprise and anger; “I heard something fall in the kitchen, and a minute later the kitchen door slammed” (145). But as someone “never used to winning anything, or having anything reserved for her” (146), Maggie succumbs and offers to let Dee have them. Although “Maggie knows how to quilt” (146), she is able to comprehend the deeper personal value of the quilts, and states that she “can ‘member Grandma Dee without the quilts”(146). Despite their value as an item of everyday use, the quilts are meaningful to Maggie, much in the way they are to her mother who remembers having quilted them with Big Dee. The scraps, the bits and pieces and “one teeny faded blue piece, about the size of a penny matchbox, that was from Great Grandpa Ezra’s uniform that he wore in the Civil War.” (145) hold deep significance to Maggie.

Compared to Dee, Maggie obviously understands more about the meaning of the grandmother’s quilt. Due to old people’s experience and knowledge they could have a better understanding to their culture and would like to hand down their tradition generation by generation. Walker says “I did something I never done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero's hands and dumped them into Maggie's lap.” in this quote, Walker shows that mom gives the grandmother’s quilt to Dee instead of Maggie. Mom thinks this would never happens because Dee is her favorite daughter.

As the two sisters have different appearance and personalities, they have different perspectives on heritage that contrast each other. Walker uses quilts to symbolize the heritage and describes the two girls' view on quilts to show their perspectives on heritage. Maggie thinks of heritage as an attachment to her ancestors. She believes the everyday use of the inherited materials, how much ever value they may retain, will keep her connected to her ancestors. She values the attachment to the ancestors more than the inherited material itself. When she gives up the quilts to Dee, she states, "I can 'member Grandma Dee with the quilts." Dee, on the other hand, thinks of heritage as something that has an extrinsic value, for example its aesthetic value as an antique. She believes that the proper way to accept and preserve her heritage is to not put it into her everyday use but to cherish it only as an accessory. Such an idea is revealed when Dee says, "Maggie can't appreciate these quilts! She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use." When the mother asks Dee what she would do with the quilts, she says, "Hang them" (1177), which shows that Dee thinks of the quilts only as tangible antiques.

Dee states she wishes to preserve and care for the quilts but Mama knows this does not come from a place of understanding or true compassion. Knowing the hardships that Maggie has gone through, and what Mama herself has

In the story, a dispute comes about, which was who should receive the grandma’s quilts even though they were already promised to Maggie. Dee argued her sister wouldn’t appreciate the quilts; she would put them to everyday use rather than hang them. Mama explained that was the purpose of the quilts to be used; it held no sentimental value because it was a materialistic thing. At this part of the story, Mama conformed to Maggie’s needs by giving her the quilts instead of obeying Dee’s (Wangero’s) demands as usual.

Because Dee may seem like a responsible person; people may say she deserves to have the quilts. Some might even say that Maggie is not as responsible as Dee. Dee knows the real value as she says, "These are all pieces of dresses grandma used to wear. She did I all this stitching by hand. Imagine!", this statement made by Dee tells us what the quilts were made of. However, while it is true that Dee seems more caring and responsible; it doesn't take away the fact that Maggie deserves the quilts. Maggie never gets anything that she really desires. Dee has changed, and her change had affected both Mama and