Everyday Use By Alice Walker Analysis

The short story, “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker is about the conflicting relationships a mother has with her two daughters, Dee and Maggie. The two daughters differ vastly. Dee, the older daughter, is an educated, worldly person who had the opportunity to leave and explore. Maggie, the younger daughter, is an uneducated, homely person that is envious but intimidated by Dee. The story surrounds Dee returning home to visit Maggie and their mother, the narrator, to learn and collect family heirlooms of their family heritage. Walker’s use of the first-person narrator strengthens the story by displaying her conflicting attitudes towards each of her daughters. She feels distanced from Dee but discovers her close relationship with Maggie. In the

end, the mother seems aligned with Maggie and this is thematically important because it shows the mother’s belief in heritage as something that must be lived rather than witnessed.
The first-person narrator conveys the differences between the two daughters in her comparison of their individual histories. Throughout the story, the mother describes her daughters vastly different. As the mother describes Dee, she portrays her as a materialistic person, “Dee wanted nice things. A yellow organdy dress to wear to her graduation; black pumps to match a green suit she’d made from an old suit somebody gave me” (71). In this phrase, the mother reveals that Dee values “looks” above anything else. The mother also hints at Dee’s condescending nature towards her and Maggie, “She wrote me once that no matter where we “choose” to love, she will manage to come see us” (72). The use of the words “choose” and “manage” display Dee’s true feelings about the mother and Maggie’s living situation. The mother’s words show that she thinks that Dee feels she is superior to Maggie and her by promising to visit Maggie and her no matter what “house” they find themselves in. On the other hand, the mother describes Maggie as shy and nervous, “Maggie will be nervous until her sister goes; she will stand in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe” (69). The mother’s use of the word “homely” hints at Maggie’s unpretentious qualities, and that she is satisfied with what she has. The mother also reveals Maggie’s genuine attitude when describing her soon-to-be husband, “She will marry John Thomas (who has mossy teeth in an earnest face) …” (71). This phrase conveys that Maggie is not concerned with “looks” by marrying a man, as described by the mother, who is not particularly handsome. The first-person narrator here allows the reader insight of how the values of the two daughters differ.
Walker uses a first-person narrator to reveal the hostility between the mother and Dee. In the story, Dee announces she had changed her name to “Wangero,” to no longer be named after the people who oppress her. The mother opposes Dee by stating, “You know as well as me you was named after your Aunt Dicie” (73). This interaction reveals Dee’s rejection of her own family’s legacy by focusing on her belief that she has chosen a name that represents her African heritage more accurately. This belief confuses the mother because she thought that the name “Dee” did reflect Dee’s heritage in an intimate manner. The name “Wangero” is also used later in the story to emphasize the ongoing hostility between the mother and Dee. As the mother makes her decision to give the quilts to Maggie, she refers to Dee as “Miss Wangero.” The mother’s use of the name “Miss Wangero” at this time shows the mother distancing herself from Dee by not using the name that she, herself, gave Dee.
The first-person narrator draws attention to her own values and beliefs when she decides who deserves the quilts.

At the end of the story, Dee attempts to take the quilts that were originally promised to Maggie. “I promised to give them quilts to Maggie,” the mother says to Dee, but Dee immediately becomes infuriated by exclaiming that Maggie does not deserve the quilts (75). “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts! […] She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use” says Dee (75). This phrase displays Dee’s misunderstanding of what the quilt represent to the mother and Maggie. The mother wants the quilts to be “used” stating, “I reckon she would [...] God knows I been saving’em for long enough with nobody using’em. I hope she will!” (75). The mother understands that the quilts represent a “living” aspect of their heritage because the quilts were made of materials that were “lived in,” the clothes of past relatives. That is why the “use” of the quilts is so important to the mother because she feels, when the quilts are used, her past relatives are being honored. So, the mother believes Maggie deserves the quilts because Maggie will honor the quilts the way they should be, by “using” them. In contrast, Dee does not understand the representation of the quilt. Dee thinks of the quilt as something “to have,” and states that she wants to “hang them” instead of actually using them. By wanting to hang the quilts rather than use them, this shows that Dee believes that her heritage essentially “dead,” as the mother sees it. Once the mother realizes Dee’s misunderstanding of the quilts, she has an epiphany when she looks at Maggie. “When I looked at her like that something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet. Just like when I’m in church and the spirit of God touches me and I get happy and shout” (Walker 76). In this aspect of the story, the mother’s epiphany was that she had taken her relationship with Maggie for granted and that

Maggie encompasses the heritage of her family. The mother realizes that she and Maggie had a bond that she could never have with Dee. Thus, a first-person narrator provides an inside look into the mother’s thoughts and reveals her true beliefs concerning family heritage.
Walker’s use of first-person narration in the story “Everyday Use” strengthens the story by highlighting the contrasting relationships the narrator maintains with her two daughters. The first-person narration provides insight into the narrator’s true beliefs in terms of family and heritage. Therefore, the use of the first-person narrator reveals the mother’s strong connection to Maggie and her distant relationship with Dee and created a vantage point that enriched the story for the reader by allowing an inside look of the interworkings of a family.