Literary Analysis Of Everyday Use By Alice Walker

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Literacy Analysis on “Everyday Use” Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is a short story about an African American family that struggles to make it. Mama tries her best to give Maggie and Dee a better life than what she had. In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use,” Dee is the older sister and Maggie is younger. Dee is described as selfish and self-centered. Maggie is generous, kind, and cares the family’s history together. She would go out of her way to make sure that her older sister, Dee has everything she needs and wants. Maggie is also willing to share what she has with her sister. Maggie is also shy and vulnerable. Mama is the mother of Maggie and Dee. Mama is fair and always keeps her promises to her children. Hakim-a-barber is the boyfriend …show more content…

When Dee finds out that her mama promise to give the quilts to her sister, Dee gets very angry and says that she deserves the quilts more than Maggie because Maggie would not take care of them like she would. Dee feels that she can value and treasure heritage more than her sister Maggie. Dee does what she wants, whenever she wants and she will not accept the word no for any answer. “She thinks her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand, that "no" is a word the world never learned to say to her.” Maggie is used to never getting anything. Throughout the entire story, it says that Maggie gives up many things so Dee can have what she needs or …show more content…

"Mama," Wangro said sweet as a bird. "Can I have these old quilts?" Mama replied, "Why don 't you take one or two of the others?” "These old things was just done by me and Big Dee from some tops your grandma pieced before she died." Dee still would ask for it again. Mama remembers the promise that she had made to Maggie. "The truth is," I said, "I promised to give them quilts to Maggie, for when she marrys John Thomas." This proves that Mama is always fair and keeps her promises. Mama understands what family heritage is important so she would be give the quilts to

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    In the story "Everyday Use" the narrator is telling a story about her life and two daughters, who are named Dee and Maggie. The narrator is very strong willed, honest, compassionate and very concerned with the lives of her two daughters. Her daughter Dee is not content with her lifestyle and makes it hard on Maggie and the narrator. The narrator is trying to provide for her family the best way she can. The narrator is alone in raising the two daughters and later sends her daughter Dee to college. The longer the story goes on the more the narrator shows how intelligent and how much she loves her two daughters.

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  • The Symbolism of the Handmade Quilt in Everyday Use by Alice Walker

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    Many people show their appreciation for things in different ways. Dee appreciates the quilt for being her heritage. She can't express enough how she feels about it. She can't even imagine that the quilt was hand made with every stitch stroked in and out. As for Maggie, Dee believes she can't appreciate the quilt in the same way she can. "Maggie can't appreciate these quilts." Instead, she thinks that Maggie will use the quilt for about 5 or so years and it will turn into a rag. "She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use." "Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they'd be in rags. Less than that!" Dee doesn't feel Maggie deserves the quilt.

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  • Indirect Characterization In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

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    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

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  • Maggie's Everyday Use

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    As you can see, I strongly agree with the narrator of the story and her choice in giving Maggie the quilts. Dee (Wangero) has been given enough in her life. She has beauty, confidence and her education. Maggie has wonderful qualities too, but has been through hardships. All which make her more deserving of the family quilts.

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  • Family Heirlooms In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

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    The quilts were pieced together by Mama, Grandma Dee, and Big Dee symbolizing a long line of relatives. The quilts made from scraps of dresses worn by Grandma Dee, Grandpa Jarrell’s Paisley shirts, and Great Grandpa Ezra’s Civil War uniform represented the family heritage and values, and had been promised to Mama to Maggie when she married. However, Dee does not understand the love put into the making of the quilts, neither does she understand the significance of the quilts as part of her family heritage. It is evident she does not understand the significance of the quilt, having been offered one when went away to college declaring them “as old-fashioned” and “out of style”. She does not care about the value of the quilts to her family, rather she sees it as a work of art, valuable as an African heritage but not as a family heirloom. She wants the quilts because they are handmade, not stitched with around the borders. She tells Mama, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!... She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use… But, they’re priceless!.. Maggie would put them on her the bed and in five years they’d be in rags. Less than that!” (317). The quilt signifies the family pride and history, which is important to Mama. She makes the decision to give the quilt to Maggie who will appreciate it more than Dee, to whom she says, “God knows I been saving ‘em for long enough with

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    The main objects of topic throughout the story are the quilts that symbolize the African American Woman’s history. Susan Farrell, a critic of many short stories, describes the everyday lives of African American Women by saying “weaving and sewing has often been mandatory labor, women have historically endowed their work with special meanings and significance” and have now embraced this as a part of their culture. The two quilts that Dee wanted “had been pieced together by Grandma Dee and then Big Dee and me [Mother] had hung them on the quilt frames on the front porch and quilted them” (par. 55) showing that these quilts were more valuable as memories than they were just blankets. The fabrics in the quilts “were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and more years ago. Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell’s paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece, about the piece of a penny matchbox, that was from Great Grandpa Ezra’s uniform that he wore in the Civil War” (par. 55) putting forth more evidence that these are not just scraps, but have become pieces of family history. The q...

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  • Everyday Use

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  • Literary Analysis: "Everyday Use"

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    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.

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    876 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the story, it states, “‘These are all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear. She did all this stitching by hand. Imagine!’... ‘Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!’ she said. ‘She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.’ ‘I reckon she would,’ I said. ‘God knows I been saving ‘em for long enough with nobody using ‘em. I hope she will!’ (Walker 320). This quote explains how Dee believes she should have the quilts made by her grandmother because her sister would put them to everyday use. Dee believes that the quilts are so valuable to her heritage that they needed to hang the quilts, treating them like foreign objects, in order to appreciate their value. Conversely, the narrator believes that their heritage would be appreciated by using how they were intended to be used, which is why she later decides to give the quilts to Maggie instead of Dee. This creates a very evident conflict between Dee and the narrator as a result of different interpretations of

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    One situation in particular that Mama brings up is the time when she offers to Dee to bring some of the ancestral quilts with her to college. She claims, “I had offered Dee a quilt whe...

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    Lex Luger, a retired wrestler and television producer, reflects that “Many times, the decisions we make affect and hurt your closest friends and family the most. I have a lot of regrets in that regard. But God has forgiven me, which I am very thankful for. It has enabled me to forgive myself and move forward one day at a time.” Luger believes that you shouldn’t dwell on what you’ve done but grow from it and move forward with your life. At times, we can feel taken for granted, but there is always a way to move beyond the situation and feel better about ourselves. Dee, Alice Walker’s main character, has hurt both her mother and sister, but Mama, as all mothers do, overlook their children’s shortcoming and forgive. Dee unappreciative her whole life not caring about the hard work her mother and sister Maggie has put in to help her have a better life, making sure she had and education and was able to go to a good college in Dee wanted to do was forget about and where she came from only caring about herself; which drove Mama and Maggie to shift a lot in the story. Mama finally becoming of herself speaking up for Maggie you would say her overlooked daughter. While Maggie got a sense of happiest on the inside to finally ends up with the quilts compared to always having Dee get any and everything she wants. Now Dee has realize that her bratty and spoiled ways aren’t

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    exactly what's going on and begins to resent Wangero even more. The quilts themselves are symbols in the story, interpreted in different ways, by the narrator, the author, the reader, and Wangero. Again, Walker uses the narrator's simplicity to her advantage. While Wangero sees the quilts as a symbol of her heritage, the narrator. sees them only literally, as blankets to be used, not saved for. cultural posterity.

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    Everyday use is a widely studied short story by Alice Walker. Due to its widely studied situation, it is the most frequently anthologized short story. Walker tells the story as a first person as an African American woman who is living in the Deep south together with her two daughters. In the story, conflicts and struggles within the African American culture are well represented and in the same time figuring out on harmony. There is the representation of the bond between a mother and a daughter defining the African American woman’s identity and other family relationships.

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    Dee, the older sister, wants to hang the quilts on a wall and view her culture from a distance. In fact she even seems ashamed of her family situation. In a letter to her mother Dee says, " . . . no matter where [they] choose to live, she will manage to come and see [them], but she will never bring her friends" (87). She even goes as far as to denounce her name because she claims, " I couldn't bear it any longer being named after the people that oppress me" (89). However, her mother states that she was named after her aunt and grandmother, the very people who made her beloved quilts. She makes it apparent that her idea of appreciating her culture is to leave it alone, especially when she says, " Maggie can't appreciate these quilts! She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use"(91).

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  • The Importance of Personal Identity in Alice Walker's Everyday Use

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    Author Alice Walker, displays the importance of personal identity and the significance of one’s heritage. These subjects are being addressed through the characterization of each character. In the story “Everyday Use”, the mother shows how their daughters are in completely two different worlds. One of her daughter, Maggie, is shy and jealous of her sister Dee and thought her sister had it easy with her life. She is the type that would stay around with her mother and be excluded from the outside world. Dee on the other hand, grew to be more outgoing and exposed to the real, modern world. The story shows how the two girls from different views of life co-exist and have a relationship with each other in the family. Maggie had always felt that Mama, her mother, showed more love and care to Dee over her. It is until the end of the story where we find out Mama cares more about Maggie through the quilt her mother gave to her. Showing that even though Dee is successful and have a more modern life, Maggie herself is just as successful in her own way through her love for her traditions and old w...

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