From the first moment that a person holds their child for the first time so begins their unwavering duty be a good parent. The journey into parenting is a winding road, at times it is the scariest most confusing experience of a lifetime while being the most rewarding one at the very same time. It does not take much effort to be a good parent just a never-ending supply of love and Band-Aids. Parenting is a tough job and not everyone does a good job. It requires patience, understanding, and compassion. As well as guidance, freedom, and discipline for good measure. The mother in “Everyday Use” was just that, a good mother.
First of all, as the story began we met Maggie, a shy girl who lived her life in the darkness of her sister Dee’s shadow. Their mother was hardworking and spent her days on the farm working to offer a better life for her daughters. Raising children alone is a backbreaking task. Although they lived a modest life her children never went without. She gave them a home and food to eat, everything from killing hogs to breaking ice was done for her children. There lies the dedication seen in a good parent.
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Even though Dee spent her life being difficult and she was never satisfied until she got what she wanted. When she wanted to go away to school her mother supported her. Even though their relationship came across as strained she always wanted the best for her daughter. She longed for a close to Dee like she was Maggie. When Dee came home after being gone she wanted to take all the items from her mother’s house like they were pieces for a museum. Her behavior aggravated her mother but her mother was patient and loved her just the
The narrator has two daughters, Dee and Maggie. Dee was this cute girl who was super intelligent and sophisticated. She often saw herself as being above her mother and sister and would often make them feel stupid and bad about themselves. "She used to read to us without pity, forcing words, lies, other folks' habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice". She shows that Dee enjoyed making her mother and younger sister feel dumb about themselves because it made her feel superior. Her whole life Dee detested her family and where she came from and couldn’t wait to get away. But, still her mother worked her booty off to provide her with high education and a good life. Dee goes away to college and when she returns she is a completely different person, suddenly interested in her family; photographing them upon arrival. With her guest, new "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo", invades her mothers house taking everything in like it’s a cute display for her. Finally, when Wangero (Dee) demands that her mother give her some quilts, her mum can not take anymore. She tells Dee that Maggie, not her, will be receiving the quilts and she snaps. "I did something I never had done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero's hands, and dumped them into Maggie's lap. Maggie just sat
Maggie relationship with Dee is full of jealousy and envy. Maggie thinks that her sister is better, prettier, and smarter than she will ever be. Because of that, Maggie is shy and intimidated when her sister and her boyfriend come home to visit for the first time in years. Dee on the other hand does not make it any better, because of her jealousy and judgmental ways make Maggie feel unloved and unappreciated. When Maggie is burn in the house fire Dee shows no concern if her sister lives or die. Even their mother knows that their relationship is nonexistent. Dee’s mother said “I used to think she hated Maggie” (Walker 154). Even as adults Dee and Maggie love for one another is arm distance away. Dee feels that her mother and sister are not claiming their heritage and are close minded country
Everyday Use ends with Dee leaving, not with the quilts, thus making room for the new bond between Mama and Maggie. Dee may believe that she has won in some way because she is the educated sister who appreciates her heritage, but the reader sees it is in fact Maggie who has become victorious by having her way of life validated by Mama’s support and Dee’s envy. Maggie’s system of values is redeemed by creating a new relationship, with herself, in which she is no longer silenced and can truly appreciate the beauty of her home even in its everyday use. While there is little growth seen from the experience on Dee’s side, we know that Maggie is forever changed, giving her more power than she ever had. There is still and will always be a struggle between her and her sister, but Maggie now knows she does not need redemption from Dee, nor anyone else, because it is she who carries the importance of the past into the future.
When we meet our narrator, the mother of Maggie and Dee, she is waiting in the yard with Maggie for Dee to visit. The mother takes simple pleasure in such a pleasant place where, "anyone can come back and look up at the elm tree and wait for the breezes that never come inside the house." (Walker 383) This is her basic attitude, the simple everyday pleasures that have nothing to do with great ideas, cultural heritage or family or racial histories. She later reveals to us that she is even more the rough rural woman since she, "can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man." (Walker 383) Hardly a woman one would expect to have much patience with hanging historical quilts on a wall. Daughter Maggie is very much the opposite of her older sister, Dee. Maggie is portrayed as knowing "she is not bright." (Walker 384)
n “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, we hear a story from the viewpoint of Mama, an African American woman about a visit from her daughter Dee. Mama along with her other daughter Maggie still live poor in the Deep South while Dee has moved onto a more successful life. Mama and Maggie embrace their roots and heritage whereas Dee wants to get as far away as possible. During her return, Dee draws her attention to a quilt. It is this quilt and the title of the piece that centers on the concept of what it means to integrate one’s culture into their everyday life.
While reading this there were some animosity toward Dee because of what type of character she was. The animosity was caused by the numerous comments and actions that occurred in the story. She was very selfish, uneducated, and very unappreciative of where she came from. Dee carried herself in a very ridiculous way. Among Dee’s family she is the object of jealousy, awe, and agitation, meanwhile she searches for her purpose and sense of self. Dee and her judgmental nature has an effect on Mama and Maggie, her younger sister. Although she across as being arrogant and insensitive, Mama sees he strive to know more and do more. Dee also portray as being a condensing type person because no matter where Mama and Maggie lived she still kept her commitment to come and visit. When Dee comes to visit she tells Maggie and Mama that she has changed her because Dee had died when she left for college. Dee changed her name to Wangoero, which come across as being an attention seeking ploy who still keeps the selfishness of Dee. With Dee changing her name to Wangoero she wants to reclaim her heritage and honor
In conclusion, Dee’s three conflicts include Dee vs. Southern Heritage, Dee vs. Maggie, and Dee vs. Mama. Dee gave up her heritage, and she lost her appreciation for her family. She belittled her mother, her sister, and her family’s history. In the end, Mama finally stood up for Maggie; this was something that had never happened to Dee, or Wangero, before. In brief, Dee lost her touch with reality and with her supportive
In this story, Maggie is a lot like her mother. They both are uneducated, loving, caring, and allow Dee to run over them. Maggie has been through more things than her mother has though, because of the incident that happened. Maggie has scars like Emily, except Maggie’s scars are from a house fire (319). The house fire has impacted Maggie’s life tremendously, since she is very self-conscious and shy. Walker stated that Maggie is “ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs (318). The mother is protective of Maggie and will be there for her whenever she needs her too. Even though her mother knows all her struggles, she still supports her and pushes her to be better. I think that is one reason she pushes her to marry John Thomas, because she wants her to become her own person and to be strong (319). The mother of “Everyday Use” is opposite from the mother in “I Stand Here Ironing”, because she is there for her children no matter what their financial status
When Dee returns and announces that she would be using a new name in order to reflect her African heritage her Mom becomes annoyed and starts to find her attitude ridiculous. After Dee tells her Mom that she no longer goes by Dee, Mom replies, “What happened to ‘Dee’?”(488). The fact the Mom asks about these changes exemplifies this annoyance she has with Dee. When Dee explains she changed her name because she’s oppressed her Mom shows that she finds the attitude ridiculous by pointing out it is a family tradition spanning more than 4 generations. When Dee starts asking to have the items that her Mom and Maggie need for everyday use with the intent to appreciate it as art, it only furthers how much she irritates her Mom. Dee had been offered one of the quilts before she went to college Dee thought they were, “old-fashioned, out of style.”(490). It’s after Maggie agrees to give Dee the quilts that her Mom realizes that she has always given Dee everything she wanted even at Maggie’s expense. Mother had an epiphany about how to handle the situation, shown when she says, “Something hit me on top of the head”, “just like when I’m in church and the spirit of God touches me”(492). Dee’s attitude had annoyed the Mom so much she had this realization. For once the Mom decides to stand up against
In the story “Everyday Use” Walker weaves us into the lives of Momma, Dee, and Maggie, an underprivileged family in rural Georgia. Momma is described as a loving, hard working woman who cares more about her family’s welfare than her appearance. The conflict comes along with Momma’s two daughters Dee and Maggie whose personalities are as different as night and day. Dee, the younger, is an attractive, full figured, light skinned young lady with ample creativity when it comes to getting what she wants and feels she needs. Maggie on the other hand, is darker skinned, homely and scarred from the fire that destroyed the family’s first house. Throughout the story we are told about Maggie’s timid and withdrawn behavior. Her own mother described her as “. . . a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car . . . That is the way my Maggie walks . . . chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire.” (Handout, Walker) She is constantly overpowered by her dominant sister who “held life in the palm of one hand, that “no” is a word the world never learned to say to her” (Handout, Walker). It seems as if Walker herself find Maggie inferior, seeing as how she is a minor character in the story. Things begin to turn around for Maggie towards the end when she receives the family’s...
The mother describes her younger daughter, Maggie, as ."..not bright. Like good looks and money, quickness passed her by," and ."..perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him...That's the way my Maggie walks." The reader already feels the older daughter Dee, although ."..stylish...with nicer hair and a fuller figure...and full of knowledge" is more like the careless person rich enough to own a car. Although Maggie and her mother make attempts to improve the appearance of themselves and their home for Dee's arrival and seem eager to see her, having no relation to Dee the reader is given no reason to like her. Already Walker is placing value on "slow, self-conscious," Maggie, who plans on marrying and staying close to home, and casting, Dee, who is attractive and cosmopolitan, and could conceivably bring greater resources to her sister and mother, in a negative light.
It is what a true mother-daughter bond is supposed to be like. When Dee and the mom were arguing over the quilts the narrator said “like somebody used to never winning anything, or having reserved for her,” which is something that mama has a favorite daughter and she lets Dee have whatever she wants without letting Maggie have anything. It seems like mama wants Dee to be happy when she comes down so she will want to come home. Mama even was going to call her by her new name instead of not going to she tried to because it comes off as Dee is her favorite daughter which is why their mother-daughter relationship is different from Maggie 's and mama’s relationship. Even when Dee took what she wanted like when she just went through mama’s things without asking her. That 's something that only a favorite daughter or someone with a very good mother-daughter relationship would do.
The story begins with Mama, and her daughter, Maggie, waiting in their yard for a visit from Dee. Walker uses the setting of the story to allow the reader to fully grasp the financial hardships that the family has had to bear. The house is described as having “three rooms, there are no real windows, just some holes cut in the sides, like the portholes in a ship, but not round and not square, with rawhide holding the shutters up on the outside” (Baym and Levine 1531). Dee is the daughter who couldn’t wait to leave home. In fact, she hated the house she grew up in. When it caught on fire many years ago, Mama wanted to ask her “Why don’t you do a dance around the ashes? She had hated the house that much” (Baym and Levine 1532). Dee’s family raised enough money for her to go to school and, as she moved away and became more educated, she lost sight of where she came from. Mama is not just waiting on her daughter to arrive but also wondering if she will be accepted by her. Her daughter is the complete opposite of her, and Mama sometimes dreams that “I am the way my daughter would want me to be: a hundred pounds lighter, my skin like an uncooked barley pancake. My hair glistens in the hot bright lights” (Baym and Levine 1531). Mama is a practical woman though and knows this is not the way things are. The reader realizes this when
Despite the speaker’s good intentions regarding her daughter, the story follows the clear distinction between mother and daughter. Dee’s mother was never offered the opportunity to gain higher education, so she is sure to provide it for Dee. Dee comes back during her vacation from school, with new information, which happens to oftentimes conflict with her mother’s ideals and teachings. For instance, her mother had named her “Dee”, yet she chose a traditional African name for herself, in order to
Dee thinks she is better than Maggie and often talks down on her sister. She belittles the family as a whole just based off the difference in the level of their education. Mama often finds herself in the middle but knows Dee in the wrong. Dee feels her family is living in the past now that she has left and came back home a new person. I think of it like Dee represents a world of extreme change, Maggie relentlessly stays the same. Change in life is always good but never forget where you come from. Also you should never look down on others that are in your old shoes. Dee has done both and in this story she don 't look like someone who you would want to visit. For her to down talk on her family the way she has it 's really shows how she lack self-respect and love for her family and their