Family Values In Alice Walker's 'Everyday Use'

Growing up it is normal for siblings to have the same kinds of values instilled in them by their parents. Sometimes due to circumstances and things beyond the control of the parents’ the siblings will turn out much differently from one another. Although Dee and Maggie are sisters their view on family values and what family means is quite different. In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” we learn about the differences between Dee and Maggie and what it is that family means to each one as seen through the eyes of their mother or “Mama”. The sisters have differing views on family possessions and what they should be used for, how they view and feel about the house they live in or grew up in and about the family’s heritage. Dee sees the everyday objects that her mother and Maggie use as things to be displayed and not used while Maggie uses the objects for the purposes for which they were built or made. When Dee comes home she asks her Mama for different things that they still use every day to take back with her to the city and then put them on display in her apartment. She wants to frame the quilts instead of using them and turn part of the

Dee has renamed herself Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo and greets her mother with a standard Swahili greeting. She is also wearing a dress that covers her all the way to her feet and is so loud the sun reflecting off of it blinds Mama. She is adorned with gold earrings and bracelets. When her mother asked “What happened to ‘Dee’?” she told her that she was dead because she didn’t want to be named by her oppressors. Maggie on the other hand embraces her family’s heritage. She has learned how to quilt from her aunt and grandmother. Maggie has embraced the heritage of her family and is keeping it alive by learning how to make quilts. She also dresses quite simply and is uncomfortable in the pink skirt and red blouse that she was wearing when her sister came