Acceptance and Denial in Alice Walker's Everyday Use Essay

“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, is a story of a black family composed of a mother and her two daughters: Maggie and Dee. Walker does an excellent job illustrating her characters. There are all types of characters in this short story from round to static. Dee is a flat character, yet Walker uses Dee’s character to warn people of what might happen if they do not live properly. Walker describes Dee’s character as arrogant and selfish, and through Dee’s character one is allowed to perceive the wicked effect of an egotistical world.

Here the tone shifted from prideful to authoritative. Dee demanded to own the two quilts. Mama said the quilts had been made by her ancestors and she “hung up on them on the quilt frames on the front porch and made them (762).” The quilt frames symbolize the object which helps organize and keep the family's generations alive, and the front porch symbolizes the connection of the family with the world. Mama knew the quilts were what kept the generations together, regardless of what the people around thought or did.The quilts needed to be used in order to keep the family traditions alive. Soon after, the protagonist came up with an excuse and said the “lavender [pieces], [came] from old clothes” which had been “handed down (762).” The lavender symbolizes love and devotion. The old clothes symbolize the legacy of the family's heritage. Although Dee only wanted to the quilts, Mama felt her past family's love and devotion through the quilts. Dee wanted the quilts because to preserve them, not because of an emotional connection to them. In addition, the young woman continued to offend her mother to the point where Mama told her the quilts were for Maggie, the youngest sister, and Dee exclaimed how her sister could never “appreciate the quilts.” She continued and said “She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use (762).” Everyday use represents the “everyday use” of customs and true purpose of the quilts. Although Dee thinks her sister will destroy the blankets through sex and daily use, Mama wanted her to understand how everything she wanted had a special purpose in their

Momma's point of view defines how she feels about her daughters and the degrees of separation that exist between the two girls. Momma describes Maggie as a partially educated child who does not look as appealing as her older sister. Maggie was burned in a house fire that left her scared all over her body. She does not wear revealing clothes, nor does she attract men as Dee does. Dee, on the other hand, is described as an educated young woman who is ready to take on any and every adventure. Momma says that Dee used to read to her and Maggie without pity (94). She describes Dee as the stylish child; she always prepared dresses out of momma's old suits and is always up on the current style. Momma likes the different qualities Dee possesses, but she is slightly threatened because they are unfamiliar to her. From the description that momma gives of her daughters the reader can feel the differences that exist in her thoughts about her daughters.

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.

The character of Mama in the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker endures through intense times and takes advantage of what she has. She is a lady that tells things how they are, only plain truth. She can be entertaining now and again and intense at others. She is self-portrayed as “a large, huge boned, women with rough, man-working

Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is a short story about the family relationship between a mother and her spoiled daughter. The mother, who is affectionately called “Mama” throughout the story, lives with her younger daughter, Maggie. The older child is Dee, who has not lived at home since she was sent to Augusta to school. She is preoccupied with advancing her social status and acquiring nice things. “Dee wanted nice things. A yellow Organdy dress to wear to her graduation from high school; black pumps to match a green suit…” (Walker,492). The story revolves around Dee’s visit to see Mama and Maggie, an event which obviously does not happen often. Dee only seems to visit the family in order to claim items that Mama has not yet given to her children. As usual, Mama allows Dee to come inside the home and take whatever she wants. Yet, the relationship between Mama and Dee is a complicated one. Others may say that their relationship is strained because Dee burned their first house down. However, there is no direct proof that Dee is responsible for the fire. Their relationship is contentious and uneasy because Dee is very selfish, she wants to advance her life without considering others, mainly Maggie, and she resents that Mama is satisfied with a simple life.

When we are first introduced to Dee, we learn that she no longer wants to be called by her given name but instead she would want to be called ‘Wangero’. Dee comments, “I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppressed me” (Walker 62). Although Dee may have only known that she was named after Grandma Dee, Mama could have “carried back beyond the Civil War” (Walker 62) the name of her daughter. This offended Mama because it was the beginning of how Dee began to reject her heritage. In addition, Mama also realizes how Maggie acts around Dee because of the way she treats her. When Maggie gives into Dee’s wanting of the blankets, Mama sees that Maggie is hurting and Dee couldnt care less. Mama comments that Maggie answered Dee “like somebody used to never winning anything or having anything reserved for her” (Walker 65). These conflicts lead mama to take a stand against her daughter as well as drawing her closer to Maggie. This showed Dee that she could not just barge into the house and take things she did not even truly know the meaning of. Therefore the reader understands that Dee’s actions led Mama to act differently with both of her children, all for the sake of honoring her heritage and

Niwar Obaid said that “When mama takes the dasher handle in her hands, she symbolically touching and appreciation for her heritage distinguishes her two daughters, and represents the complex, historical importance of the African-American culture.”

Mama has insecurities about herself that give her a negative outlook on the world around her. Mama describes herself as being a “large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands” (p.315). She thinks her daughters will appreciate her more if she was “a hundred pounds lighter, skin like an uncooked barley pancake, and hair that glistens in hot bright lights” (p.315). She has

Through humorous comments, the mother paints a picture of what she is thinking, and allows the audience to see her as she is, and not as the world and those around her perceive her to be. Specifically the mother describes the characters appearance, and actions, as well as offers analogies, such as mothers on T.V. To support her view of reality, or how things really were, in her opinion. As the story progressed, she reveals cultural differences between Mama, Maggie and Dee. Walker also points out the importance of respecting your immediate heritage such as parents, and other family, and truly knowing and internalizing the real meaning of racial

Mama could be defined as a round character in the story because of the change she undergoes at the end. Mama?s goes through a dramatic change in the story when she gets up the nerve to tell her aggressive, non-hesitant daughter ?No?, and gives her other daughter Maggie, who has often been on the bad end of things, the household items for her marriage.

It is shown in the text that Wangero is envied by her younger sister Maggie. Mama describes Wangero being "lighter with nicer hair and a fuller figure."(The Norton

So in the quilts case I would want somebody to use it to get warm or a source of comfort. So I think there mom wants to give it to Maggie for one reason is because, she is going to use the quilts. She isn’t just going to hang it up on the wall for show. So I would have to agree with Mama because, I would want somebody to use it also, just the way I used it. I know that Mama wants them to be used because the short story states, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!

She was burned in a fire at a young age and is ashamed of her appearance. She is often intimidated by her older sister which is confirmed when Dee arrives to visit and Maggie attempts to run into the house. The intimidation is a result of Maggie's belief that Dee gets whatever she wants and is not accustomed to the word no. Maggie's main value is her heritage. She appreciates things made by her ancestors. She also has knowledge about her ancestry. An example of this knowledge is when Dee asks to have a dasher. When asked if Uncle Buddy whittled the dasher Maggie is quick to respond "Aunt Dee's first husband whittled the dash; his name was Henry but they called him Stash." Showing that Maggie knows who did what and appreciates the accomplishments of her relatives. Dee, on the other hand, is very different from Maggie and her mother. She has been put through college and is well educated as a result. Dee returns to visit her mother and asks for several objects within the house. Her value of heritage seems to serve more as a memory of where she came from, rather than an appreciation of her family's achievements. She asks for household

Mama describes herself as a bigger woman, who wears overalls, has calloused hands, and is not afraid to get them dirty. Mama is hardy and unwavering, she is the very essence of a hard worker. Mama takes pride in the fact that she can work just as hard as any man and still managed to raise two daughters. Mama even brags about her masculine strengths and accomplishments when she disclosed, “I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing; I can eat pork liver cooked over the open fire minutes after it comes steaming from the hog. One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain between the eyes with a sledge hammer and had the meat hung up to chill before nightfall” (Walker). Mama has the physical attributes even a man would be envious of.