The Role Of Generational Conflict In Alice Walker's Everyday Use

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In the short story, "Everyday Use" there are two personality differences and generational conflicts between Mama Johnson and her daughter Dee. Mama, the narrator of the story, describes herself as a "large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands" in the story. She wears overalls and has been both mother and father to her two daughters. Poor and uneducated, she was not given the opportunity to break out of her rural life. Mama has a strong understanding of her heritage and won’t allow Dee to take the family quilts. On the other hand, Dee is educated, like the high class life, and determined, she will not stop until she gets what she want. As you can see, we have two different personalities which create a generational conflict between …show more content…

Maggie is nervous and intimidated by Dee, who, in turn, is bold and selfish. Maggie values the sentiment of the family quilts, while Dee wants to display them as a symbol of her heritage. Dee wanted the quilt just she can have something to show her background, but at the same time Maggie is nervous to tell Dee how she really feel about her taking that partial quilt. So mama offer her and other quilt because she believes that Maggie will honor the quilt more and not to just to use it as an item to decorate her house. After all the back and front about the quilt Dee is determined to get the quilt, it wasn’t sitting right with mama in the story it stated” Mama looks at Maggie, she is struck by a strange feeling, similar to the spirit she feels sometimes in church”. Overall, dee just want the quilt so she can boast to her friends about her heritage.
As shown above, Mama and Dee have two different personalities which create a conflict between the two characters. Mama and Maggie have a different perspective on the value of household items. Dee believes that the quilt should be conserved and displayed as a symbol of the family’s heritage, however, Mama believe that the quilt is more useful for what they were made

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