In the short story, “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, the author's life parallels with each family members characteristics. The narrative is about a mother who is self-sufficient. The narrator lives with her youngest daughter, Maggie. The younger sibling is very self-conscious due to her scars from a house fire. When Dee, the oldest daughter, arrives the family is awkwardly reunited. Dee begins to lay claim to various household objects. However, when she tries to claim quilts that were promised Maggie, Mama turns her down. Even though, the storyline is quite simple, the personality of each person makes it far more complex. Mama illustrates the fears of what Walker feels is her future. Dee embodies the ambition and curious nature from her young adult life. Maggie symbolizes the meek and innocent stage of her life. All of the three women combined represent the trials of Alice Walker.
Mama embodies the fear that comes with approaching thirty. In this character, Alice is able to personify the average worries of a women. The narrator of this story is a “large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands” (Walker). It is in the physical description of the speaker that the reader sees the most common fear among women: their figure. By placing the description after the older woman talks about her dreams, the audience sees that her figure is not something she fully enjoys. Additionally, Walker is from an agricultural background just like Mama. She eventually left her life in the country to become a writer and political figure. The author has worked hard to get to where she is. The mother shows the internalized concern that all her work will not be fruitful. Mama is at the point where life has lead her full circle. She has experienced li...
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...e eye with a BB gun. Alice's injury made her shy and self-conscious. This is just like Maggie's coy personality. Another similarity is the agricultural background. Having corresponding backgrounds ties Walker closer to Maggie. In fact, the youngest daughter has the biggest connection to the author out of the whole group. It is the character Maggie that confirms the autobiographical features of the story.
Thus, “Everyday Use” is an autobiography. Each character is a metaphor for important phases of her life. Throughout the story, she uses her past experiences to write a moving story. From start to finish, the story embodies the life of a typical woman reaching a new chapter of her life. She looks into her past and acknowledges the past and the physical, emotional, and educational differences within each piece of her life.
Works Cited
"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
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.
After evaluating the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, I came to the conclusion that the narrator made the right choice of giving her daughter, Maggie, the family quilts. Dee (Wangero), her older sister was qualified for the quilts as well, but in my opinion Maggie is more deserving. Throughout the story, the differences between the narrator’s two daughters are shown in different ways. The older daughter, Dee (Wangero), is educated and outgoing, whereas Maggie is shy and a homebody. I agree with the narrator’s decision because of Maggie’s good intentions for the quilts and her innocent behavior. In my opinion Dee (Wangero) is partially superficial and always gets what she wants.
Everyday Use, a short story about the trials and tribulations of a small African American family located in the South, is an examination of black women’s need to keep their powerful heritage. It speaks on multiple levels, voicing the necessity and strength of being true to one’s roots and past; that heritage is not just something to talk about but to live and enjoy in order for someone to fully understand themselves. A sociological landmine, it was written to awaken the concepts of feminism as well as the civil rights movement, while being able to focus on just three women and their relationship to one another. Everyday Use give its black female characters an identity of their own, each in their own right, and observes the internal conflicts of two sisters who have made two very different life choices, all the while scrutinizing the underlying sibling rivalry between them.
In conclusion, Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” portrays the conflicts and struggles within a family’s culture. The focus is on two characters with completely different personalities and their conflict about a family’s heirloom. Alice Walker shows in her story that one’s culture and values can be affected by the personalities, different lifestyles, and a family’s relationship. The difference between Maggie and Dee’s personalities affect the acceptance of their culture and values. The family relationship and the different lifestyles also contribute to how cultures and values can be affected as well.
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.
Walker communicates through Dee that Maggie “ ‘probably be backward enough to put them [the quilt] to everyday use’ ” (82). This portrays Maggie as a rural character, who owns the minimal and uses all her belongings as an instrument to help in survival. For her, the quilt is a form of cover. Also, that fact that this dialogue is coming from Dee shows that Dee is very inconsiderate of other’s feelings and disrespectful to her sister, and rudely snatches the quilt for the purpose to “ ‘hang them’ ” (82). The reality that Dee wants to hang the quilt shows that Dee would want the quilt for the purpose of decoration. This shows her value of tradition, which she believes should be showcased, rather than lived. It also tells that audience, as stated earlier, that Dee prioritizes fashion and showcasing. Another example of Maggie being a foil is that Maggie is a character that “stand[s] helplessly in the corners, homely, and ashamed” (77). This uncovers the lack of confidence in Maggie, who is still not completely over the trauma of her house burning down. Maggie is a character who is defeated and ashamed of herself, clearly lacking self esteem. Because of this, the audience starts to sympathize for Maggie, who has lost herself somewhere in the fire that burned down their house. This is the exact opposite of Dee herself, who is “determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts” (79). This
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...
In “Everyday Use,” Mama illustrates the relationship between her two daughters. Both Maggie and Dee are like opposite poles, making it seem like their relationship is non-existent. Dee is a well-educated, good-looking young woman; who is so concerned with style, and fashion that she lacks the meaning of family and heritage. Maggie, however, is a simple, scarred young girl who truly understands the meaning behind family, and heritage. In “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker demonstrates through Mama’s eyes, the strain in Maggie and Dee’s relationship through Maggie’s actions towards her estranged sister’s visit, and Dee’s remarks and dominance over her younger sister.
In the short story, “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, is written in manner to inspire the reader to show them how deep some family traditions can go. Walker, in her writings, tend to talk about issues that she had experienced in her life, and being an African American, she has learned the value of certain things in her life that her parents and grandparents had taught her. The quilt is so important to Dee because it is something that tells a story of the previous generation; the quilt actually consists of pieces of material that the family once used. The issue of the quilt also sets the mood for the story. It helps the reader to understand the deep rooted power simple things can have when it comes to family relations. All this helps explains
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.
In her short story Everyday Use, Alice Walker talks about a Mother Mama, and her two daughters Dee and Maggie, their personalities and reactions to preservation of their family heirlooms. She shows that while Dee has been sent to school for further education, Maggie is left at home and brought up in the old ways. Mama often dreams and longs for the day she can be reunited with Dee, like in the TV shows. She knows this may not be possible because Dee would read and shower them with a lot of knowledge that was unnecessary, only to push them away at the right moment, “like dimwits” (313); Mama and Dee have different conceptions of their family heritage. Family heirlooms to Mama means the people created, used
Alice Walker is a well-known African- American writer known for published fiction, poetry, and biography. She received a number of awards for many of her publications. One of Walker's best short stories titled "Everyday Use," tells the story of a mother and her two daughters' conflicting ideas about their heritage. The mother narrates the story of the visit by her daughter, Dee. She is an educated woman who now lives in the city, visiting from college. She starts a conflict with the other daughter, Maggie over the possession of the heirloom quilts. Maggie still lives the lifestyle of her ancestors; she deserves the right of the quilts. This story explores heritage by using symbolism of the daughters' actions, family items, and tradition.
"Everyday Use" is told from momma's point of view which helps to reveal how she feels about herself. Momma feels that she is an uneducated person, she says "I never had an education myself," this creates barriers between her and her oldest daughter Dee who has a college education (94). She describes herself as "big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands" that wears overalls by day and flannel gowns by night (93). From momma's point of view one can tell that she favors her relationship with her daughter Maggie mo...
"Everyday Use" is a short story written by Alice Walker. Walker did a wonderful job illustrating her characters. There are all types of characters in this short story from round to static. Her use of simple symbolism prompts the reader to take a deeper look into the story. Walker’s humble way of conveying the theme makes the reader take a second look at him or herself. Walker did an excellent job in writing this story, so she could warn people of what might happen if they do not live properly.
Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is a short story about an African American family that struggles to make it. Mama tries her best to give Maggie and Dee a better life than what she had. In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use,” Dee is the older sister and Maggie is younger. Dee is described as selfish and self-centered. Maggie is generous, kind, and cares the family’s history together. She would go out of her way to make sure that her older sister, Dee has everything she needs and wants. Maggie is also willing to share what she has with her sister. Maggie is also shy and vulnerable. Mama is the mother of Maggie and Dee. Mama is fair and always keeps her promises to her children. Hakim-a-barber is the boyfriend