Archetype In Everyday Use

In the story, she introduces two sisters with almost opposite personalities and different views on heritage: Maggie and Dee. She uses the contrast between the two sisters to show how one should accept and preserve one's heritage. Beyond the contrast between two sisters there exist the judge figure mom, the narrator and the Dee's irony. The irony on Dee's opinion is the key to understand the story and why the mother let Maggie keep the quilts, which symbolize the heritage.

Because, the quilts had been made by the grandmother’s hands, the work that went into the quilts is the reason for importance of saving or preserving them as a family heirloom. “Maggie”, knows the true value of the quilts, “Dee” seems to view them as any other common blanket. Alice Walker stated in the story that Maggie felt like the world never learned to tell Dee no. That is a direct reference to the mother never standing up to Dee and asserting her rightful place.

Mama had been so excited for Dee’s visit because she hadn’t seen Dee in years, “You’ve no doubt seen those TV shows where the child who has “made it” is confronted, as a surprise, by her own mother and father, tottering in weakly from backstage,” Mama had dreamed of this day to come because she knew she had done something good for her child, something to be proud of. But upon Dee’s arrival both Mama and Maggie had noticed her change as if she was better then them and understood more of African culture because she had an education, “ I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.” Dee had converted not only her name but her clothes and jewelry to make a statement of what “real” heritage is. This quilts led to a controversy between the meanings of their heritage. Ironically for Dee, Mama had offered her the quilts a long time ago but was too interested in appearance rather than the legacy left behind, “ I had offered Dee a quilt when she went away for college. Then she had told they were old- fashioned, out of style.” Then when she comes back, she wants to hang them as décor and doesn’t want Maggie to have them because she’ll ruin them, ““Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!” she said. “ She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.”

She selfishly praised quilts as "priceless" (91) whereas she thought the same piece was old fashioned and out of style when offered to her for college. By carrying the quilts she claims to carry the heritage, however, she shuns the lifestyle of her family, which is of course a part of her heritage.

Together with the beliefs comes heritage which is defined as traditions passed on for years, family items and etc. In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, describes about a poor family who have a different perspective about the word “heritage”. “You just will not understand. The point is these quilts, these quilts”. This quote connects to the title of the story because Dee thinks that Maggie and her mother will use the quilt every day. Dee has a whole different perspective of the quilts. She views the quilts as a small reminder of her heritage, that is dying. For her mother and her sister, the quilts symbolizes a bond to their cultural identity and their connection to the quilts. Because Dee has failed to understand the true meaning to their “ heritage” and she is convinced that Maggie has proven that she understands the value of the quotes symbolize in the true meaning of a person’s heritage.

The theme of this story is the culture, value and family. When Dee/Wangero asked their mama if she can have the quilt. When mama asked her what’s she’s going to do with the quilt, she will hang the quilt and use it as a frame/artwork in their wall. Mama was no happy and she decided to give the quilt to Maggie. Maggie would understand how important the quilt to the family. All of the remembrances from past generations was in the quilt. Dee changed her identity to be the person that she is not. The culture that Dee grow up with was lost and forgotten by not thinking the importance of the quilt to her mama. Maggie and Dee’s family used their hands to build or create something that they need because they don’t have the money to buy things. Maggie

A clash over culture ensues when Dee is not. This conflict is over whether one should live her heritage like Maggie and mother, or use her heritage, like Dee. In fact, the narrator seems to indicate that she feels Dee is just doing what is trendy when she thinks, "I didn't bring up how I had offered Dee {Wangero} a quilt when she went away to college. Then she told me they were old-fashioned, out of style" (89). Adding to the conflict are occupational, social, and age differences among the mother and Dee and Hakim-a-Barber, Dee's acquaintnace. The latter are young socialites who are attending college a ways away. The narrator, on the other hand, is an old, burley farm woman who claims to have "knocked a bull calf strait in the brain between the eyes with a sledge-hammer and had the meat hung up to chill before nightfall" (84). Hakim-a-barber sees things differently. He says, " ... farming and raising cattle is not my style" (88). These differences contribute to the conflict as the young and old do not see eye-to-eye. When these conflicts are resolved, a theme that one should live his culture, rather than using it to personal gain, rises because Maggie gets the quilts. Through the characters' actions, a message is communicated that mother wants her family to live its culture. She comments after making her decision, "[T]he two of us just sat there enjoying... " (90). They enjoyed their culture; they lived it. In this way, the culture plays a heavy role in Alice Walker's

The main conflict of the story was about family quilts. Dee has come back to lay claim to some old blankets that she has a newfound “historic” appreciation for she thinks they would make trendy decor for her apartment. To Dee, these quilts represent the historical significance of an oppressed people. The problem is that Mama has a much more practical use for the quilts and intends to give them to Maggie. Once Dee started discussing with mama about the quilts, Maggie without hesitation said, “She can have them, Mama,” (Walker).

In the 1970s, many African Americans tried to find their roots in order to understand their family’s background. In her short story, “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker chronicles the expectations of the African American tradition through the uneducated narration of Mrs. Johnson, the mother of Dee and Maggie. Dee and Maggie Johnson are sisters who have been raised separately and have distinctly individual appreciations of their heritage. Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” conveys heritage and different points of view about one’s roots through the contrasting sisters, Dee and Maggie; however, Walker most effectively presents the importance of keeping traditional customs to stay true to oneself.

The quilts are made to be used, not put on display. The contradictory elements of this story include the meaning of heritage to the girls. Dee has not allowed herself to see the heritage her family has because she does not want to see it. She wants to stay blind to her real life. She wants to be different from the rest of her family because she believes she is better than them in many ways.

because she valued it more than Dee. Maggie loved and wanted the quilt because the quilt represent the family history, and because her grandmother made the quilts. Maggie had a deep connection with the quilt, and knows the true meaning of the quilts. Dee only wanted the quilt because of what the quilt was worth. The mother saw that Maggie valued their heritage because of her connection with the quilts, and she saw that it will raise her self-esteem. Therefore, this story is one reason why if a person values their family history it will show their true self identity as a person.

‘Everyday Use’ is one of the Walker’s most anthologized short stories. It stresses on the bond of the mother-daughter which is solely on African American woman identity in the context of her family and the kind of relationship she has with the kids. Within the book, the author has used gentle humour to show Dee/Wangeroe’s excess of zeal in trying to calm her heritage, and her overlooking of the truth of African American experience.

Along with the name of Dee, Mama emphasizes heritage through the quilts. “The mother understands that the quilts represent her family heritage because they are composed of pieces of the lives of previous generations” (Andrews 3 of 4). Mama feels the true meaning of the family quilts. The quilts represent tradition. Critic David Cowart reiterates the quote of Barbara Christian which is “heritage . . . must continually be renewed rather than fixed in the past”. Thus for mother heritage is living tradition manifested through homely skills, such as quilt-making, passed on (Cowart 4 of 7). Mama denies Dee of possessing the quilts and “feels like she was touched by the spirit of God in church” (Farrell 4 of 5). She chooses Maggie to have the symbolic quilts over Dee. By selecting Maggie Mrs. Johnson recognizes the quilt connection with her (Piedmont-Marton 9 of 13). Mama realizes that heritage must be kept up because “the art will die if women like Maggie do not keep it up” (Cowart 4 of 7). Values of both daughters become factors during the decision Mama makes. “The mother is assigning proper weight to the virtues of Maggie and to the ancestral importance of the pieced quilts” (Baker Jr. and Pierce-Baker 12 of 13). Thus, emphasizes her concept of heritage, Mama selects the correct daughter.

In the short story, “Everyday Use”, a small African-American family portrays how life is for their race in the 1970’s. The three main characters, Dee, Maggie, and Mama, are from a rural background,

on and don’t want to break it: “I…snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap…” (page 9). The quilts itself used to wear and as a piece of uniforms that Dee’s grandfather wore during the civil war, it could be a symbolizes about Black-American suffering experiences.