Everyday Use by Alice Walker

An African American single mother raises two daughters that have different meanings of life and heritage. Maggie is the youngest daughter, the girl who is shy who is not attractive and is pleased with her culture and life. Then there is Dee the girl who is attractive, sophisticated and knows what she wants in life and wants to be something more than her family. Even though Dee is sophisticated she does not know the true importance of heritage. This is what starts struggle between mother and Dee, because Dee desires the quilt for decoration which her mother would not give it to her for that reason. The mother believes the quilt is not for ornamenting it is more meaningful and signifies the heritage of her family. Only Maggie can transmit

Cultural assimilation undoubtedly plays an extreme role in society as a whole, but more specifically in the African American Community. Alice Walker gives slight insight into  what being forced  to assimilate is like. She says in her short story "Everyday Use": "She will stand hopelessly in corners homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe." Statements such as these are a regular occurrence in her works. Walker often speaks on the ever so disheartening topic of cultural assimilation and the hegemony in societal beauty standards in her many works of literature. In "Everyday Use” Walker addresses longing to regain one 's true culture after centuries of being forced to

Alice Walker is a writer of many powerful short stories, novels, essays and poetry. She used her work to bring black women’s lives to the main focus, such as the rich and important in the US American Literature. In the short story “Everyday Use” written by Alice walker, she showed the conflicts and struggle throughout the African- American culture. “Everyday Use” addresses the dilemma with African Americans, trying to escape prejudice and poverty. The short story “Everyday Use” focuses on the encounter between a mother and her daughters. The setting of the story takes place in the driveway of the mother’s house. The mother and her youngest daughter Maggie wait for her oldest daughter Dee and her male friend to visit from school. Alice

In her short story “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker summarizes the representation of the beauty, the conflicts and struggles within African-American culture. “Everyday Use” focuses mainly between members of the Johnson family, consisting of a mother and her two daughters. One of the daughters Maggie, who was injured in a house fire and has living a shy life clinging to her mother for security. Her older sister is Dee, who grew up with a grace and natural beauty. “Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure… (716) She also grew up determined to have a better life than her mother and sister. This takes place when Dee (the only family member to receive a formal education) returns to visit Dee’s mother and younger sister Maggie. Again this portrays a slight issue between two different views of the African-American culture. Alice uses symbolism to empathize the difference between these interpretations, showing that culture and heritage are parts of daily life. The title of the story, Everyday Use, symbolizes the living heritage of the Johnson family, a heritage that is still in “everyday use”.

In “everyday Use,” Alice Walker tells a narrative of a mother’s frustrating relationship together with her two daughters. At this facet, “,Everyday Use”, tells that how a mom little by little refuses the cursory values of her older, successful daughter at the aspect of the useful values of her younger, much less lucky daughter. On a deeper outlook, Alice Walker takes on the theme of heritage and its norms as it applies to African-Americans.

How does the difference between the way Dee (Wangero) and Maggie would use the quilts represent their two different ways of defining and treating their family’s heritage? Does the narrative give approval to Dee’s way or Maggie ’s?

This upsets the Narrator, Mama, she makes reference to Maggie being able to put them to everyday use, and she can always quilt more; while Dee adamantly protests. Mama makes a move to recover the quilts and Dee pulls them away and Mama thinks to herself “They already belonged to her” (Walker 456). In Mama’s perspective, the point of the quilts was the tradition of quilting, not the quilts themselves. She views Dee as someone to wants to act out the movements of appreciation of their culture, instead of passing it on. In the act of retrieving the quilts from Dee’s grip, and returning them to Maggie, Mama reveals herself as an unknowing, round character that can re-act differently than what is expected of her. Mama stands up for the true traditions in the face of her daughter, although her daughter believes herself to be the all knowing one.

One of the quilts has a tiny piece of blue cloth from Great Grandpa Ezra's Civil War uniform. Mother offers Dee two other quilts instead because the ones Dee wants are promised to Maggie for when Maggie marries, but Dee won't settle for those since the other quilts are not as old and are not entirely hand made. Maggie even volunteers to give up her claim on the quilts, but Mother refuses to allow that.

Mama even has a fantasy about being reunited with her eldest daughter on the Johnny Ross Show, as they embrace and weep in each other’s arms because Dee is a girl who has finally “made it” (Walker par 3). Through-out the beginning of the story, Mama sings her daughters praises, speaking of her education and her beauty. She compares Dee against her younger sister Maggie, “Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure” (Walker par 10), but her praises remain only on superficial good qualities that Dee possesses. Although Mama speaks highly of her daughter, the tone that Walker writes Mama’s attitude gives the reader an understanding that Mama was slightly resentful toward her daughter, and had hard feelings for Dee’s materialistic love for the finer things in life. “Dee wanted nice things… Often I fought off the temptation to shake her” (Walker par 12). Mama also mentions Dee’s hatefulness toward the family home, and even had her suspicions of Dee’s hatred for Maggie (Walker par 11), which hints to the readers that Dee’s deeper character flaws do not go unnoticed by Mama.

This shows that Dee does care much about her family culture or the way that they have lived since she's been growing

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

In the story, “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, there is an underlying conflict between three main characters; Mama, and her two daughters Maggie and Dee. Mama has been one to keep her traditions and her heritage close to her and has attempted to educate the significance of the families heritage to her two daughters. Dee, the oldest daughter, is one of the most diverse ones in the house due to her educational background, which has caused some issues with her family. Maggie is the younger sister who had been burned severely when she was younger in a house fire and now remains at home with her mother.

When Dee comes back to visit Mama and Maggie, she wants the quilts to hang as a decoration, which still does not signify their meaning. When someone receives an item from their families’ history, they should think of the big picture, like Maggie

When Dee is about to leave, she tells her mother, 'you just don't understand... your heritage' (Walker 79). This statement suggests a summation of how Dee feels, that she is almost better than her family and better than her true heritage. 'You ought to try and make something of yourself, too, Maggie. Its really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live you'd never know it' (Walker 81). Dee seems to almost mock her mother and sister for embracing their identity and continuing to live a simple life. Dee seems to turn her nose up to their way of life as she turns and leaves towards her new life that she has made for

When Dee arrives with no knowledge about her heritage, it shows that the bond amongst the family can be easily broken. Dee clearly doesn’t understand that the quilts are pieces of living history and she just wants to use it for house décor. The quilts serve as living history and proof of how the war and poverty effected their family had faced. Mama values these items and instead of her receiving financial compensation she received the quilts and for her she believes that Dee wouldn’t be able to understand the value of them as much as Maggie