Everyday Use By Alice Walker: Literary Analysis

In the story “Everyday Use”, by Alice Walker, the story is told from the perspective of the Mama and the story involves two daughters.The oldest daughter changes her name and doesn't appreciate her culture, Dee and Maggie both want the family quilt. Dee wants the quilt, but the mom doesn't want to give the quilt to her, she wants to give the quilt to Maggie. Maggie wants to hold on to her heritage and Dee doesn't understand her heritage, her mom knows that Dee won't hold on to the family heritage.In the poem “My Mother Pieced Quilts” memories revolve around the poem.The poem is mainly about the mother's talent of weaving and how she weaves memories out of old fabric she finds that doesn't work anymore.In both of these stories,

Jacques Derrida had once said that culture is something in which "everything is arranged so that it is this way." I believe that culture is the opposite as it creates the way in which you perceive external forces rather then it being the external forces arranged in a specific way. Culture therefore allows one to become informed about foreign cultures to which one is then to perceive the culture a specific way. Culture is the multitude of many factors in which it consistently informs one 's perception of the world surrounding them as well as the individuals.

While the two sisters perspectives on heritage contrast each other, Walker employs a case of dramatic irony to prove that Dee's perspective is wrong, which automatically proves that Maggie is right, considering their opposite characteristics. Dee

In the short story "Everyday Use", by Alice Walker, tension between characters is evident. When Dee arrives home to visit Mama and Maggie, readers can see the differences in personality between the three characters. Dee has changed her name to "Wangero" to get closer to her so-called “culture” and is collecting many objects of her past that she did not want before. On her mother’s savings for her, Dee is able to go to college and therefore is more educated. However, she uses this new knowledge to look down on Maggie and Mama. One of the many objects of her past that Dee asks for is a quilt passed down to the females of the next generation. Instead, Mama wants Maggie to have

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

Throughout the short story “Everyday Use” author Alice Walker demonstrates how cultural experiences have shaped Mama’s perspective on the world.

Maggie lost her confidence and what made her who she is, is the terrifying memories she had when the house got on fire and had left scars on her, which made her feel “ugly”. Though that Maggie seems to be the opposite from her sister, but she values life more than Dee. She is proud of where she is from and she is not willing to change her life although she is uneducated and didn’t go discover life like Dee did. Maggie is proud of her heritage unlike her

Within Walker’s work Everyday Use, she utilizes symbolism to display how culture runs deep. The work uses the quilts as both an important and prominent symbol, and the symbol eventually becomes a variation of a character. The quilts

Analyzing “Everyday Use” Alice Walker has written award winning stories, some of which were made into movies. One of her stories is Everyday Use is a great book which actually makes the reader think that they are actually in the story. The tittle of the story plays a big role in the story because the moral of the story is that the quilts should be given to someone who will be using them and not just keep them. To better perceive Everyday Use, it will be helpful to look at the point of view, the setting and the symbols.

Firstly, when contrasting the two sisters, you can see just how different in attitude and appearance they are. “Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and fuller figure” (Walker, pars. 8).

Dee’s ashamedness towards her family’s lifestyle never fully allowed her to create a proper or healthy relationship with her culture or family members. It was Dee’s sense of having the “upper hand” that hindered the forming of healthy relationships between she, her mother and sister. Mama stated, “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will stand hopelessly in the corners and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe” (315). Throughout the story, it was evident that Maggie feared Dee because she knew she had always been seen as inferior in the eyes of her sister, and Maggie was afraid of Dee’s disdain for her. On top of Dee’s establishing herself superior, she also seemed to always get what she wanted, which made Maggie even more distant from her

Mama has promised to Maggie when she gets engaged, she can receive the family quilt. The quilt is highly symbolic, representing Mama past traditions and cultural heritage. Grandma Dee created the quilt and past down to Big Dee, both characters in the family history who took charge in teaching their culture and heritage to their children. This family item is very significant in the sense that it has history behind it. In addition, it comes with uniforms that Dee great grandpa wore during the Civil War. The war symbolizes the value in African American history. Walker Furthermore, the family quilt also builds on to the idea of activities women did during the time to pass down

In the story “Everyday Use” written by Alice Walker, the story is written from a mother’s viewpoint as she talks about her two daughters, Maggie and Dee, and how different they are. The comparison of characters is something that Alice Walker allows us to see while reading the story. She does this by describing to us the characters appearance, personality, lifestyle, and any other unique qualities that might help demonstrate someone. “Everyday Use” describes to us how a mother rejects the values of her older, successful daughter in favor of the practical values of her younger, less fortunate daughter. Alice Walker is exploring the concept of heritage as it applies to African-Americans by bringing the quilt into the story. Maggie is a character that truly understands culture and family, which is why Mama truly felt that is why she deserved the quilt. Mama' giving the quilt to Maggie show the readers that Maggie has more pride than Dee.

Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is a short story included in her collection In Love and Trouble published in 1973. The story’s setting takes place in the Deep South during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s as many “blacks” were struggling to define their cultural identities (White). Traditions and culture in “Everyday Use” is portrayed contrastingly between Ms. Johnson and Maggie, who still follow rural black cultural of the south and Dee who has newly adopted a “native African” culture. An encounter over the use of quilts simplifies into two different interpretations of culture. Walker uses symbolism and contrasting characters to portray these interpretations and implies that culture and heritage are a part of everyday life.

Alice Walker is a story about the bonding of her family. Family bonding is a huge when it comes to family, because that’s what keeps families strong. Walker informs mothers and daughters that bonding between family members is important, by her tone, the symbol of the quilt, and relationship between mothers and daughters. The narrator in the story will show examples of the way family bonding can keep a family strong.