More handpicked essays just for you.
Alice walker critical artical essay about her
Short note on selfishness
Alice walker critical artical essay about her
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
“Everyday Use” is a short story written by Alice Walker that tells of two sisters and their heritage. Walker describes the two sisters as different throughout the story. Dee is the older sister who has always gotten what she wanted and has changed her name to Wangero to honor her heritage; conversely, Maggie is the younger sister who has always given up what was hers to keep Dee happy. Though these characters are sisters, Walker quickly lets the reader know that they are nothing alike. Dee’s feelings and interactions demonstrate her selfishness, while Maggie’s actions and interactions prove how selfless she is. Walker uses these traits to highlight the differences between the sisters throughout the story. Dee’s selfishness is evident throughout …show more content…
the short story, proven by her feelings and interactions. To begin, the old house that Dee and Maggie lived in has burnt to the ground, but Dee is too selfish to care. The mother is watching Dee’s reaction to the house burning and she says, “Why don’t you do a dance around the ashes? I’d wanted to ask her. She had hated the house that much” (line 60). Unlike an unselfish person who would be upset over the loss of her belongings, Dee is glad to watch the house burn. If she were not so selfish, she would care about what the family had lost and about the things that they would have to replace. However, Dee is so self-centered that all she can think about is how happy she is to leave that house. Later in the story, her selfishness is proven by her stinginess towards quilts that are being reserved for Maggie. The passage states, “Dee (Wangero) looked at me with hatred. ‘You just will not understand. The point is these quilts! These quilts!’” (line 248). Here Dee’s greed is proven by the fact that these quilts she wants so badly are reserved for someone else and she refuses to accept any other quilts. If she were not so selfish, she would take some other quilts and go, but instead she wants to be so stingy that she will leave her younger sister with nothing. Dee’s lack of consideration for her family, shown through her feelings and interactions, prove how selfish she is as she takes everything from her family. In contrast to Dee’s selfishness, Maggie is shown to be very selfless through her actions and interactions in the short story.
The first instance of Maggie’s helpfulness occurs early in the story when she is reading to her mother. The mother cannot read, but Maggie tries her best to read to her mother even though she cannot read that well. Unlike her sister, Maggie cares about her family and always tries to help. The mother does not always ask for help, but Maggie acts selflessly anyways to make her mother happy. This is something that the selfish Dee could never do. Furthermore, Maggie acts altruistically when her sister wants the quilts. As Dee selfishly insists on taking the quilts, Maggie says, “She can have them, Mama… I can ‘member Grandma Dee without the quilts.” (line 255). Even though the quilts came from her grandmother, Maggie is so generous that she is willing to give them to her stingier sister to keep her happy. If Maggie were any less charitable, she would refuse to give the quilts to her sister, but she cares so much about keeping other people happy that their happiness comes before her own. This interaction is just one of many that shows how selfless Maggie is. Unlike her sister, Maggie’s actions and interactions show how magnanimous she actually
is. Throughout the story Walker shows how selfish Dee is compared to how selfless Maggie is through her use of the character’s feelings, interactions, and actions. Walker is particularly effective in showing just how selfish Dee really is through her feelings towards her family. The way Dee feels about her family and what they own show that she is a selfish brat that only cares about herself. In contrast, Walker is more effective in using Maggie's actions to demonstrate just how selfless she undoubtedly is. The way Maggie acts around her family shows just how much cares about her family.
In “Everyday Use”, the line between worth and value may tear two sisters apart. First, each character symbolizes something they are going through. Second, Dee does not understand the purpose of items passed down. Lastly, an argument breaks out about the quilts. Dee makes a visit to Mama and Maggie for many reasons.
Maggie relationship with Dee is full of jealousy and envy. Maggie thinks that her sister is better, prettier, and smarter than she will ever be. Because of that, Maggie is shy and intimidated when her sister and her boyfriend come home to visit for the first time in years. Dee on the other hand does not make it any better, because of her jealousy and judgmental ways make Maggie feel unloved and unappreciated. When Maggie is burn in the house fire Dee shows no concern if her sister lives or die. Even their mother knows that their relationship is nonexistent. Dee’s mother said “I used to think she hated Maggie” (Walker 154). Even as adults Dee and Maggie love for one another is arm distance away. Dee feels that her mother and sister are not claiming their heritage and are close minded country
As you can see, I strongly agree with the narrator of the story and her choice in giving Maggie the quilts. Dee (Wangero) has been given enough in her life. She has beauty, confidence and her education. Maggie has wonderful qualities too, but has been through hardships. All which make her more deserving of the family quilts.
When Maggie finally smiles ‘a real smile’ at the end of the story as she and her mother watch Dee’s car disappear in a cloud of dust, it is because she knows her ‘mother holy recognition of the scarred daughter’s sacred status as quilter is the best gift if a hard-pressed womankind to the fragmented goddess of the present.’ (Piedmont-Marton)
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)
Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," explores Dee and Maggie's opposing views about their heritage by conveying symbolism through their actions. Maggie is reminded of her heritage throughout everyday life. Her daily chores consist of churning milk, helping mama skin hogs on the bench which is the same table her ancestors built, and working in the pasture. On the other hand, Dee moved to the city where she attends college. It is obvious throughout the story; Dee does not appreciate her heritage. When Dee comes back to visit Mama and Maggie she announces that she has changed her name to Wangero. Dee states "I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me" (89). Her stopping the tradition of the name Dee, which goes back as far as mama can remember, tells the reader that Dee does not value her heritage. Another symbolism of her lack of appreciation for her heritage demonstrated through her actions is when Dee asks Mama if she can have the churn top to use it as a ce...
The characters in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker serve as a comparison between how family heritage and traditions are viewed. Walker illustrates that heritage is represented not by the possession of items or how they look, but buy how they are used, how one’s attitude is, and how they go about a daily lifestyle. Every memory or tradition in “Everyday Use” strengthens the separation in the relationship between Dee and her mother, the narrator, which involves different views on their family heritage.
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...
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...
Family and traditions are very important part of our life, it describes who we are along with helping us to have a better perspective of our life. Family traditions are carry on and passed down from generations to generations everywhere all over the world. In "Everyday Use", by Alice Walker, Dee is the daughter of the narrator (Mrs. Johnson) and the sister of Maggie. The character Dee is known as the more fortunate sister, who 's all about looking fashionable and being cool. She’s also the smarter one. Dee views her heritage as something of the past only. Therefore, she recreated a new heritage for herself and rejected her real one. Being the more fortunate sister Dee had the opportunity to go away from
“Everyday Use” is a story based in the era of racial separation between communities of diverse ethnicity. “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker merely scratches the surface of racial heritage and the elimination of previous ways of living. This discontinuation of poverty driven physical labor shines through Dee as she grows to know more of her heritage throughout her years in school. An example of this is when Dee changes her name; this is an indication of Dee/Wangero wanting to change her lifestyle after the harsh truth she is hit with while going to school. Dee learns about the struggles of African Americans during this time, which changes her view on the unforgiving reality of her family’s lifestyle. In “Everyday Use”, the author opens the mind
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
Culture is strongly demonstrated in “Everyday Use,” a short story by Alice Walker. The representation of African –American culture, heritage, and struggles powerfully takes over the story. “Everyday Use” was published in 1973. The story is focusing about a mother and her two daughters. The author shows their different identities and their ideas about heritage. In the story, Mama who is also the narrator shows how tradition and education in her family causes conflicts between both her daughters, Dee and Maggie. The Johnson family, experiences some stress when Dee, the daughter who does not live with the family comes back home for a visit. Dee is the only member of the family who has received a proper college education. Maggie, the younger daughter
Dee may have meant well by this gesture, but Maggie felt that Dee hated her because Dee did not show any pity when her younger sister Maggie was unable to read. The only reason Dee even was provided an education because the church raised enough money for Dee to attend school. It was unfair to Maggie that her sister got an education and she did not. No wonder Maggie felt like she could never be anything like her sister.