Everyday Use Compare And Contrast Maggie And Dee

Like in many families, there always seems to be that one child who is more talented and just better at everything. In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, we see the story of a mother and her two very different daughters. The story focus on the different views both daughters have on the use of everyday things. In this short story, Walker seems to perfectly fit the description in relation to the two daughters, Dee and Maggie. Dee seems to be the gifted child whereas Maggie was not so lucky. Walker does an incredible job describing both characters. The purpose of this is to see the different traits, both daughters have through the mother’s thoughts and descriptions.

Throughout the story, Dee seems to be the intelligent and pretty of the Johnson girls. At the beginning of the story, the mother describes Dee as “lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure,” indicating that Dee was prettier than Maggie. On the other hand, when the mother describes Maggie she says “Have you ever seen a lame animal, 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 is the way my Maggie walks. She has been like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle.” This description of Maggie

Unlike Dee, Maggie is shy and lacks confidence because of her burns. The mother states that she was “ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs.” However, Maggie does seem to have a sense of family. Dee, on the other hand, starting from her attitude towards her sister and mother, they are negative. It seems that for Dee her family and home were an embarrassment. The mother states that Dee “used to read to us without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks’ habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice.” Showing how not only she felt embarrassed of her family but, she also wanted to feel