An Analysis Of Everyday Use By Alice Walker

Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is a story about a young girl who ventured off to school, away from her home, leaving her heritage behind. The story leads the reader to perceive that the narrator, Mama, is conflicting with her daughter Dee over her heritage in the form of family heirlooms. While the story is told through Mama’s eyes, this idea can be easily accepted. However upon further evaluation it is evident that Dee is the protagonist, left struggling to fight for the heritage she unknowingly left behind. From the beginning of the story the hostility towards Dee is quite clear. Her sister Maggie is resentful of the seemingly easy life her sister has led, and Mama explains “She thinks her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand.” Many years prior the family’s home had burnt down in a fire, leaving Maggie physically and emotionally scarred. Mama however, goes on to explain Dee’s resentment towards the old home and how she imagined her dancing

When she was a young girl she hated her home and moved away at the first opportunity she had. The quilts that have now become so significant, she once had turned down upon her mother’s offering. Dee is no longer her adolescent self and has evolved into a strong woman, on a quest to know where she came from, in order to build a better future for herself and her generation. Mama and Maggie, unable to see Dee’s true nature, meet her with hostility and apprehension. They feel as if Dee is somehow tarnishing the heritage they have, in return for personal gain. The word heritage holds a different meaning in the eyes of the three women, and thus leaves Dee feeling objectified. Dee’s efforts are feeble and Maggie smiles a “real smile” as Dee leaves. The two watch the dust settle, as they sit outside and find enjoyment in the fact that Dee is now