There is nothing like a huge gap in families, they show how cultures and people have changed over time. The characters of the story Mama, Dee and Maggie are widely different. The author of “Everyday Use” Alice Walker shows this. The differences and the 3 different personalities in each character are shown. The generation gap between Mama, Maggie and Dee is very noticeable. Mama feels that she has to be where she is and stay there. She has been doing things the same since the beginning of her time. Dee is very different from both her sister and mother. She is ambitious and believes that you can do anything and venture out. You can go to college and be successful. Dee is open to figuring out who she is and not keeping herself in box. She’s slightly careless about things that her mother and sister care about but not in a disrespectful manner. Mama is still stuck in the old ways of the world she grew up in. She seems to be loving and caring mother but not much of a supporting one. Mama is also very judgmental and not accepting. Though it may not be in a harmful way it is still there! She’s a hard worker, prideful and very tough. Which are all great traits in a woman …show more content…
She seems to not have any interest in getting out into the world and see what it has to offer. Maggie’s insecurities about her burns from the house fire at a young age could cause low self-esteem and be reason to why she’s not interested in getting out into the world. Mama is so overprotective of her she shelters and suffocates Maggie. It isn’t for harm but it may be because Mama knows how the world will view her because of her burns. She doesn’t seem to be a huge fan of her sister Dee which is shown when Mama forced her to be outside when she arrived. It isn’t intimidation like Mama but it may be out of jealousy. Maggie feels like Dee had a better life because she had a better education, didn’t get burned by the fire and was able to go to
...sents some discrepancies in how people value their family history. To some, family does not mean much at all but others are very much aware of their ancestors and the traits that they share in common. Some people use this self-awareness to better themselves while others find ways of exploiting it to satisfy their superficial needs. Dee is the type of individual that misuses her heritage. She is using it to fit in and attract the new religious group with which she has begun to associate. Maggie just seems oblivious, although the story does not allow the reader to know what she is thinking. The truth is that Maggie and her mother are living their heritage. This is the lesson that Dee's mother is trying to teach her; to accept and embrace who she is rather than continuously search for something she is not. She could search for her entire life and never be fulfilled.
An Author’s Words of Wisdom An analysis of Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” Authors often name their written and perfected texts by using the main gist of the story, a specific line, or, often, the message, which is cleverly enveloped in the title. An example of an author who used a certain line to name their book was Steinbeck, in his story about the Great Depression, “The Grapes of Wrath.” An example of a story in which the author uses the message of the story to portray and derive a title was with Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” Further, authors come up with titles, and often, readers do not understand or care to understand the idea of the title.
When two children are brought up by the same parent in the same environment, one might logically conclude that these children will be very similar, or at least have comparable qualities. In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," however, this is not the case. The only thing Maggie and Dee share in common is the fact that they were both raised by the same woman in the same home. They differ in appearance, personality, and ideas that concern the family artifacts.
When we meet our narrator, the mother of Maggie and Dee, she is waiting in the yard with Maggie for Dee to visit. The mother takes simple pleasure in such a pleasant place where, "anyone can come back and look up at the elm tree and wait for the breezes that never come inside the house." (Walker 383) This is her basic attitude, the simple everyday pleasures that have nothing to do with great ideas, cultural heritage or family or racial histories. She later reveals to us that she is even more the rough rural woman since she, "can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man." (Walker 383) Hardly a woman one would expect to have much patience with hanging historical quilts on a wall. Daughter Maggie is very much the opposite of her older sister, Dee. Maggie is portrayed as knowing "she is not bright." (Walker 384)
Heritage is something that people see in various ways. When many people think of heritage they think of past generation and where their family comes from. Other people place their heritage on the value of things, such as old quits that are made from something sentimental. In Everyday Use this is exactly how Maggie thinks of heritage. She wants the quits that were handmade out of her grandma’s dresses because to her that is a sign of her heritage. Alice Walker’s story is based on heritage. The narrator of the story has two daughters who could not be more different. One daughter, Dee, is beautiful and cares a lot about finding her place in the world, and about fashion. Maggie on the other hand is very practical. She does not see any reason for fashion and is okay with her placement in this world. This is because she is like her mother. Her mother is someone who has had to work very hard to provide for her daughters. She prefers the hard work and takes pride in what she is able to do. When Maggie comes back to visit she brings her abnormal husband with her. She has changed her name and all of a sudden cares a lot about her heritage. She keeps asking to take things that she knows have been in the family for a while. Her mom is okay with this until she tries to take the quilts that she has already offered to Maggie as a wedding present. This is the last straw for her mom and she tells Dee no, which causes Dee to get angry because she knows that Maggie will actually use the blankets and they will fall apart in a few years. Dee leaves angry and then Maggie and her mom move on with their lives. This is a very effective story because they story shows two very different views, creates entertaining characters, and contains a powerful message...
Maggie is one of the daughters in the story. She is described as being like a lame animal, she walks with her "chin on chest, eyes on ground, and feet in shuffle" (Walker 87). Her mother gives the impression that Maggie is ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs that the fire left her with. Maggie is the younger of the two daughters. It seems as though she is still very naive and gullible. Maggie is uneducated like her mother and her lack of education has a lot to do with her character. Mama is able to persuade and control Maggie because she does not know any better. Maggie is seen as being a sweet, well behaved young lady. Possibly that is just Mama's favoritism between the girls showing through. Maybe Maggie really is that way, but we only know what we can perceive from Mama's story.
Right off the bat, Maggie’s actions start to illustrate her feelings towards Dee’s visit. Mama sees Maggie is nervous as she awaits Dee’s arrival. Mama knows that through out her eldest daughters visit; Maggie will “stand in corners homely and ashamed” (Walker 315). It is very clear by the way that Maggie attempts to run back inside the house when Dee pulls up; that she wasn’t looking forward to this visit. Her fleeing
The mother describes her younger daughter, Maggie, as ."..not bright. Like good looks and money, quickness passed her by," and ."..perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him...That's the way my Maggie walks." The reader already feels the older daughter Dee, although ."..stylish...with nicer hair and a fuller figure...and full of knowledge" is more like the careless person rich enough to own a car. Although Maggie and her mother make attempts to improve the appearance of themselves and their home for Dee's arrival and seem eager to see her, having no relation to Dee the reader is given no reason to like her. Already Walker is placing value on "slow, self-conscious," Maggie, who plans on marrying and staying close to home, and casting, Dee, who is attractive and cosmopolitan, and could conceivably bring greater resources to her sister and mother, in a negative light.
When Dee finds out that her mama promise to give the quilts to her sister, Dee gets very angry and says that she deserves the quilts more than Maggie because Maggie would not take care of them like she would. Dee feels that she can value and treasure heritage more than her sister Maggie. Dee does what she wants, whenever she wants and she will not accept the word no for any answer. “She thinks her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand, that "no" is a word the world never learned to say to her.” Maggie is used to never getting anything. Throughout the entire story, it says that Maggie gives up many things so Dee can have what she needs or
In the story "Everyday Use" the narrator is telling a story about her life and two daughters, who are named Dee and Maggie. The narrator is very strong willed, honest, compassionate and very concerned with the lives of her two daughters. Her daughter Dee is not content with her lifestyle and makes it hard on Maggie and the narrator. The narrator is trying to provide for her family the best way she can. The narrator is alone in raising the two daughters and later sends her daughter Dee to college. The longer the story goes on the more the narrator shows how intelligent and how much she loves her two daughters.
The protagonist, Mama, shows two distinct traits throughout the story. She possesses a hard working demeanor and rugged features, leading to her insecurities shown throughout the story. She raised two children without the assistance of a man in her life, forcing her to take on both roles, and further transforming her into a coarse, tough, and burly woman. Mama portrays this through her own account of herself, saying “[i]n real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands. In the winter I wear flannel nightgowns to bed and overalls during the day. I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man”(Walker 1312). It is very difficult for Mama to raise her kids on her own, but she does whatever
Maggie is ignorant. Mama and Dee compare Maggie to animals throughout the story stressing the idea of how uneducated she is mentally and or physically. For an example, “Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some .
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 household items that she wants just to show others, instead of putting them to use like Maggie.
Author Alice Walker, displays the importance of personal identity and the significance of one’s heritage. These subjects are being addressed through the characterization of each character. In the story “Everyday Use”, the mother shows how their daughters are in completely two different worlds. One of her daughter, Maggie, is shy and jealous of her sister Dee and thought her sister had it easy with her life. She is the type that would stay around with her mother and be excluded from the outside world. Dee on the other hand, grew to be more outgoing and exposed to the real, modern world. The story shows how the two girls from different views of life co-exist and have a relationship with each other in the family. Maggie had always felt that Mama, her mother, showed more love and care to Dee over her. It is until the end of the story where we find out Mama cares more about Maggie through the quilt her mother gave to her. Showing that even though Dee is successful and have a more modern life, Maggie herself is just as successful in her own way through her love for her traditions and old w...
The human mind is divided into three parts that make up the mind as a whole. These parts are necessary to have a complete mind, just as the members of a family are needed to make up the entire family. The use of components to equal a whole is often exercised in literature. Alice Walker's short story, "Everyday Use," contains the idea of family and of the mind, therefore her work can be evaluated through psychological methods. Through their actions, the characters symbolize the three different parts of the mind: the id, the ego, and the superego.