“Everyday Use” tells a story about a single mother who puts her all into raising her two daughters “Dee (Wangero)’” and “Maggie”. Alice Walker; the author, explains how heritage and diversity in culture cannot be changed. This short story describes the significance of: family, traditions, and the unity being passed on no matter how you’ve been brought up. Maggie and Dee both have personalities that contradict each other. Maggie is more timid and soft-spoken, meanwhile Dee (Wangero) is more courageous and fearless.The narrator in the story is mama, mama is a very plain and quiet women. Mama does express her opinion throughout the story but only in times where her daughters depend on her.
If mama’s outlook on life were to be portrayed in a quote
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Mama knows that the new house isn't perfect nor will it ever be compared to the old one. According to mama, a brief statement made about the new house was, "It is not just a yard. It is like an extended living room." [77] meaning that the house isn't as big or in as good conditions as the other one was. In addition to this barrier mama didn't only have one barrier, she also had another barrier that includes her relationship with her daughter Dee (Wangero). Dee’s (Wangero) personality has always overridden mama’s, which is why mama says she wishes her and Dee (Wangero) had a relationship like the ones mothers and daughters have on TV, which would be described as profound and sincere. At times Dee (Wangero) makes Mama put herself down for not being able to achieve and accomplish half the things Dee (Wangero) would have wanted from a mother. That is one of the many reasons why Mama aspires to conceive a relationship with Dee (Wangero) over time; she fantasises on the different forms of love Dee (Wangero) would express to her someday. Another barrier to add on to both of these barriers is that Mama is also having trouble facing the fact that Dee (Wangero) is growing up. When Dee (Wangero) comes home Mama is so delighted with her presence. But Dee (Wangero) comes home with so many new changes. For example, her name. Mama has always referred to her as “Dee” but when “Dee” came home she surprised Mama (in a …show more content…
She never hesitated to look anyone directly in the eye, hesitation was no part of her nature. Dee (Wangero) has always expressed herself in a very lavish way. She always wanted the best things to wear and have, she enjoyed nice things. The barrier she was facing was more of an obstacle. Dee (Wangero) wanted to have the quilts that her grandmother made along with Mama, but Maggie has already claimed them way before Dee (Wangero) got home from Augusta. Dee (Wangero) claims that Maggie will never appreciate these quilts which is why she should have them. At the end of the day Mama stood up for Maggie which led to Maggie to keeping the
Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," is a story about a poor, African-American family and a conflict about the word "heritage." In this short story, the word "heritage" has two meanings. One meaning for the word "heritage" represents family items, thoughts, and traditions passed down through the years. The other meaning for the word "heritage" represents the African-American culture.
Mama, the protagonist in Alice Walker's short story, Everyday Use is a woman with a solid foundation and tough roots. The qualities that society would find admirable within Mama are the same qualities that Dee, Mama's oldest daughter, would spurn, thinking them only the qualities of a down home, uneducated, country bumpkin. Dee, the story's main antagonist, is proof that children are not necessarily products of their environment.
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.
“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is a short story written to exhibit the contrasting natures of individuals in a southern family. In this story, three characters of the mother, Dee/Wangero, and Maggie are highlighted. Similarities between the mother and Maggie are drawn throughout, describing both characters as loyal to their southern cultural roots.
In “Everyday Use,” Mama is excited her daughter’s coming home to visit, however, she finds herself making sure everything is perfect upon her arrival. She points out that her daughter, Dee, has nicer clothes and a more luxurious lifestyle, while her other daughter Maggie is on the reserve side, like herself. She doesn’t have fancy clothes and both spend every day and night together. Maggie respects her mother and the choices she makes. However Dee does not. Dee knows that she is able to obtain whatever she want because she has been told ‘no’ very few times in her life. In the Climax of the story Mama finally breaks from treating Dee as a royal princess and says no, Dee could not have the quilt she insisted taking when Mama already promised it to Maggie, who would cherish the family heritage. Mama had reached a point where inside she changes as a person after hitting her breaking point
Dee believes she is more cultured than her family. She may have more knowledge about different cultures and religions that she learned in school, but she does not know as much about the family heritage as she thinks she does. For example, when Dee changes her name to “Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo” she destroys important links to her heritage that she will never understand. Her mother tries to explain to her that her name is significant because it belonged to particular beloved ones. However, Dee seems to reject the names of her ancestors, yet she is eager to seize their handmade goods. When Dee realizes she is not going obtain possession of the quilts, she storms out of the house without saying a word. It is apparent that the only reason for her visit is to get the family heirlooms, not to see the house, her mother, or Maggie.
Dee is a controlling person who always wanted everything to herself only and don't want anybody to take something more than her. And that appeared when mama said that the quilts which were handmade by their grandma Dee, that she would give it to Maggie, Dee was very angry for that and she wanted to take the quilts herself not because she wanted, just because she don't like anybody to take something more than her and wants everything for herself only. Dee was well educated and didn't liked her mother's and sister's way of living so she traveled and when
In the story, a dispute comes about, which was who should receive the grandma’s quilts even though they were already promised to Maggie. Dee argued her sister wouldn’t appreciate the quilts; she would put them to everyday use rather than hang them. Mama explained that was the purpose of the quilts to be used; it held no sentimental value because it was a materialistic thing. At this part of the story, Mama conformed to Maggie’s needs by giving her the quilts instead of obeying Dee’s (Wangero’s) demands as usual.
Heritage: it is something that everyone possesses, whether they like it or not. It is not something that people can choose, and it is not something people can change. Every family has their own unique heritage, each celebrating it in a slightly different way. In brief, heritage is the celebration of one’s family and culture through family holidays, feasts, festivals, and traditions. Heritage is something that people innately celebrate, it does not require much effort to celebrate it. However, some people make it something not innate by using their heritage as an ostentatious display. The concept of celebrating heritage innately or ostentatiously is explored through the characters Maggie, Mama, and Dee in the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker.
The story “Everyday Use” is about the way in which an individual understands his present life in relation to the traditions of his people and culture. I analyzed this story using the cultural studies perspective. This perspective views people’s ways of life, beliefs, customs and attitudes. When analyzing a story using the method it is very important that no single culture prevails. There are many different approaches to understanding a cultural study.
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
A daughter who uses her mother's gifts in contrast to a daughter who preserves them, is far more valuable just like in “Everyday use” by Alice Walker because heritage values can be preserved. From here on, Walker utilizes a prideful tone which later shifts into an authoritative tone by illustrating a proud mother who becomes defensive because of her modern daughter’s opposing views.
The behavior of overlooking her sister's, Maggie, and Mama's feelings since her childhood to the present indicates Dee's character as a person who disregards others. Mama ponders that while the house where they used to live burned to the ground; Maggie was burning, her "hair smoking and dress falling off her in little black papery flakes." Although she saw that Maggie needed her sister's aid, Dee stood "off under the sweet gum tree" at a distance (87). Walker reveals that Mama still finds Dee carrying her self-centeredness when she excludes herself from the pictures and "never [took] a shot without making sure the house is included" (89). Dee wants to capture the signs of poverty from her past so that she can show how much success she has gained in spite of being poor to her friends. Dee is so egotistical that she declares her sister is "backward enough to put [the quilts] to everyday use" (91) whereas she considers herself smart and would appreciate the quilts by hanging them. Her coldness and lack of concern make
The short story “Everyday Use” was written by Alice Walker and published in 1973. The story is told in first-person by “Mama,” an African-American woman residing in Georgia. Mama lives in a small but comfortable house with her physically scarred younger daughter, Maggie. Mama is preparing for the visit back home of her eldest daughter, Dee. Dee is educated and driven; however, we come to learn that most of her accomplishments come at the cost of her mother and her sister Maggie. Mama’s relationship with Dee is strained, and this creates conflict later in the story. “Everyday Use” depicts the complications between a mother and daughter’s relationship. The story examines the feelings a mother has when she believes she is not needed anymore or respected. Mama’s feelings towards both daughters are illustrated through two of Mama’s character traits, her low-self-esteem and lack of worldliness. However, because Mama has such a strong character and understanding of her family, she undergoes a significant change in her life, which then makes her into a dynamic character.
She lives as a single mother on a small run-down farm since she lost her previous house to a fire. Dee is able to leave her home and live as a well-educated woman in Augusta thanks to Mama and the church, and Maggie receives a less successful education while being severely burned from the house fire. Mama discusses the difference in her daughters and describes Maggie as lame animal, and Dee as a person who “has held the life always in the palm of one hand, that “no” is a word the world never learned to say to her” (p.315). Since Mama is not as well educated as Dee, she does not understand much of the world outside of the farm. It is easy to see the selflessness in Mama, but she also struggles to understand Dee and her more cultured personality as she comes home to visit. Dee changes her name to Wangero and constantly asks her mother for objects throughout the house for decorating her own homme since it is her way of showing off her heritage, one being a set of quilts that are supposed to be passed on to Maggie. When Mama finally has enough of Dee’s materialistic ways, she finally sticks up for Maggie and herself and refuses to let Dee take the quilts.