Mama's Family Heritage In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

She shows no respect for anyone and that there is not a single possession that she should not have. Firstly, Dee thinks that no matter what she sees, it should be hers. Without asking Mama if she could have it, Dee took the butter churn from the kitchen, and told Mama she would use it as a centerpiece (53). Another example would be that Dee shows no respect for anyone even her mother. When they were finished eating, Dee disrespected her mother by going through her trunk at the foot of the bed and took the quilts (53). Lastly, Dee shows how controlling and how she puts herself above people. “Dee moved back just enough so that I [Mama] couldn’t reach the quilts. They already belonged to her” (53); Dee has not even gotten these quilts, and has already put her control on them. In these ways and more, Dee is showing herself as someone who respects no one and thinks she is above

Dee does not truly value the heritage, and her interest in the quilts seem to reflect a cultural trend. This cultural trend becomes evident when the mother says, “I had offered Dee a quilt when she went away to college. Then she had told me they were old-fashioned, out of style”(Walker 96). We learned early in the story that Dee acquired a style at a young age, and she allowed the world around her to alter and manipulate that style.

Although Dee does not want any dealings with her African American background, she still wants the sentimental items that come with it. This entire situation is very ironic seeing that she degraded her family’s heritage earlier in the story. Cowart viewed this situation as “hopelessly selfish and misguided.” The irony in the situation is that she did everything she could not to be connected to the family, yet she still wants items that are family heirlooms. Walker proves that no matter how hard one try to disconnect from a family; it will always be there in some shape.

During Dee?s visit with her family, she asks for the two quilts, and her mother refuses. The mother had offered them to Dee before she went to college and she did not want them. Back then, Dee had called the quilts "old-fashioned, out of style" (Walker 1154). This shows that Dee was not interested in the quilts until they were considered fashionable, trendy, and "in style." This also shows that Dee is a "stylish" person who is trying

Alice Walkers “Everyday Use”, is a story about a family of African Americans that are faced with moral issues involving what true inheritance is and who deserves it. Two sisters and two hand stitched quilts become the center of focus for this short story. Walker paints for us the most vivid representation through a third person perspective of family values and how people from the same environment and upbringing can become different types of people.

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.

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

In the short story, “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, three distinct characters are depicted, Mama, Dee, and Maggie. Each have different qualities: Maggie is somewhat demure but humble, Mama is a hard-worker who tries her hardest to understand her daughters, and Dee is a vibrant, educated woman who has strong opinions which she is not hesitant to share (in stark contrast to her mother and sister). Mama and Maggie are often overshadowed by Dee’s vivacious personality, thus making their relationship to her somewhat strained. For example, Mama has done a lot for Dee to help her become the woman she wanted to be (“...we raised money, the church and me, to send her to Augusta to school.”), yet Dee doesn't really seem to understand or appreciate all of her mother’s hard work and instead sort of throws it back in Mama’s face by constantly making her feel inferior and uneducated (“...I am the way my daughter would want me to be: a hundred pounds lighter, my skin like an uncooked barley pancake”; “She [Dee] used to read to us [Mama and Maggie] without pity; forcing words, lies […] whole other lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice.”).

Most families share similar issue. Regardless of race, wealth, or even religion, all families, at some point, hardships or even joys to share. In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” a family is force to face issues caused by poverty, misunderstandings, and separations. Momma, Maggie, and Dee all seems to appreciate their heritage, but the problem is that they do not view the same way. This lack of understanding is universal. In “Everyday Use” the family shares similarities and differences with my family concerning the disrespect, sibling relationships, and hard working parents.

Alice Walker, a famous author, stated in her short story, Everyday Use, “Dee (Wangero) looked at me with hatred. “You just will not understand. The point is these quilts, these quilts.” Each person’s identity is shaped from a culture that is built with the offering of everything in his or her surrounding environment. Culture is one of the most important factors, though there are many other contributing factors, that can influence someone’s perspective on the world because all of their opinions, decisions, and morals are all based off of their surrounding environment. In the poem and story, “My Mother Pieced Quilts” and Everyday Use, they both demonstrate how one’s cultural identity is influenced by his or her surroundings, changing the

Dee is clearly distancing herself from her mother and sister. She goes so far as to change her name from Dee to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, saying, "I couldn't bear it any longer being named after the people who oppress me." Yet, she wants the quilts that are made by the very people that she despises. Mama is uneducated but not so ignorant as to realize Dee's unrooted, superficial motivation to have the quilts. "For her, heritage is something to be displayed on the coffee table and on the wall." Dee blatantly disrespects her mother's authority and free will.

Dee realizes the worth of the quilts when she states, “These are all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear” (477). She also states when Mama tells her that she was planning on giving Dee the quilts, “But they’re priceless! Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts! She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use” (477). Then when her mother asked, well what would you do with them, she responds, hang them (477).

We all have families, mine may be crazier than yours, but what can you do about it. Most of us know Alice Walker for the famous book The color purple, but her short story “Everyday Use” is more comparable to mine. A story about a mom and her daughters who have an appreciation for their heritage, but look at it from different perspectives. With looking from different perspective comes a struggle. My family and the family in Everyday use share some similarities when it comes to insecurities, a hardworking mother, and disrespect.

Everyday Use, by Alice Walker, a very known short story, tells the life of Mama, Dee, and Maggie. The characters encounter a difficulty when the mother of two daughters decides who she should give her quilts to. Mama, the mother of Maggie and Dee(Wangero) ends up giving Maggie the quilts. She ends up giving them to her because she knows Maggie will appreciate them the way they are meant to be appreciated. The quilts are extremely important to the family since the fabric incorporated come from old pieces of clothing of grandparents.

“In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens” Alice Walker talks about the hardships that black women had to face. She uses different ways to describe how black creativity has survived throughout the harsh times. She explains through the stories of women to tell the readers that African American women did not have the luxury to use their gifts, talents, and their abilities. She incorporates stories from her own family history and some from other people’s family history.They were not allowed to express who they were as individuals and instead were forced in to hard labor. Nonetheless, the women still managed to pass down their gifts to their children. If these are her theoretical statements about the vision of art “Everyday Use” is a story that fits