Indirect Characterization In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

A very famous person once said that people are who they are because of their past. The past is the foundation upon which people’s success is built and this is seen in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” about two sisters, Dee and Maggie, and their Mama. Dee, fortunately, was able to get a fancy education in the city with the support of her church, and reach a financially stable position, unlike her rural and traditional Mama and sister Maggie. In an attempt to connect to her past, she tries to gather traditional heirlooms and belongings, such as a quilt to showcase, but faces resistance from her family with differing values. Alice Walker, in her short story “Everyday Use”, applies indirect characterization through appearance, uses a vitriolic

One example of such is when Mama describes the way Dee reads as “read[ing] without pity, forcing words, lies, other folk’s habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath” (79). Walker, through Mama, uses strong words such as forcing and trapped in order to show the effect of Dee’s voice on Mama and Maggie. The fact that Dee has the ability to read without pity makes her seem heartless. Also, the statement that Mama felt that whole lives were being told to them two shows that she is overwhelmed by Dee, showing the audience that Dee herself is very overwhelming and strong. Furthermore, Dee is said to have “burned us with a lot of knowledge” (79). By writing that Dee was burning Maggie and Mama, Walker has the reader literally imagine Dee actually burning the two characters alive. This image again portrays Dee as atrocious, and this affects the reader because the audience starts to share the same contemptuous view the narrator has towards Dee. By using the vitriolic tone established through negative wording, Maggie and Mama are seen as being oppressed and forced to submit to Dee, which makes Dee look evil and a

Walker communicates through Dee that Maggie “ ‘probably be backward enough to put them [the quilt] to everyday use’ ” (82). This portrays Maggie as a rural character, who owns the minimal and uses all her belongings as an instrument to help in survival. For her, the quilt is a form of cover. Also, that fact that this dialogue is coming from Dee shows that Dee is very inconsiderate of other’s feelings and disrespectful to her sister, and rudely snatches the quilt for the purpose to “ ‘hang them’ ” (82). The reality that Dee wants to hang the quilt shows that Dee would want the quilt for the purpose of decoration. This shows her value of tradition, which she believes should be showcased, rather than lived. It also tells that audience, as stated earlier, that Dee prioritizes fashion and showcasing. Another example of Maggie being a foil is that Maggie is a character that “stand[s] helplessly in the corners, homely, and ashamed” (77). This uncovers the lack of confidence in Maggie, who is still not completely over the trauma of her house burning down. Maggie is a character who is defeated and ashamed of herself, clearly lacking self esteem. Because of this, the audience starts to sympathize for Maggie, who has lost herself somewhere in the fire that burned down their house. This is the exact opposite of Dee herself, who is “determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts” (79). This