Trauma Defines Personality In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

692 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Character analysis on everyday use by alice walker

Trauma Defines Personality The short story “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker, is about what life was like for an African-American family after surviving a tragedy. The family consists of mother, whose name was never mentioned and her two daughters Maggie and Dee. The family had survived a house fire a few years back forever changing their life. Like all siblings, Dee and Maggie had a lot of differences but, they both wanted their mother to be proud of them. Dee was the oldest of the two girls. When the house burned down, Dee’s mother said it was almost like Dee was happy the house was gone. Dee felt that the old house was not good enough for her. Dee had a body that was shaped nicely and was free of scars. She walked with confidence and grace and never avoided looking someone in the eye. Dee seemed to have everything that Maggie always wanted, but Dee always seemed to crave more. It was not until Dee moved away and came back that she was more appreciative. …show more content…

During the fire, Maggie was burned all down her legs leaving scars on her legs that will never disappear. These scars could be one of the reasons for Maggie’s shy personality due to insecurities. To add insult to injury Maggie never had an opportunity to be educated the way her sister Dee was. Maggie struggled to read. Dee would read to Maggie and their mother. Dee may have meant well by this gesture, but Maggie felt that Dee hated her because Dee did not show any pity when her younger sister Maggie was unable to read. The only reason Dee even was provided an education because the church raised enough money for Dee to attend school. It was unfair to Maggie that her sister got an education and she did not. No wonder Maggie felt like she could never be anything like her sister. Maggie handled herself humbly; she was used to her sister getting what she wanted to and learned to

Show More
Related

  • Dee Quotes From Everyday Use

    836 Words  | 2 Pages

    All she said to Mama was “she’s dead” (Walker 318). She does not give an explanation further than that, and I can tell that Mama is hurt because she brings up where the name Dee came

    Read More

  • Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Literary Analysis

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    They may argue Maggie could of escape from the slum life and she didn’t have to let it take a hold of her. They may also say that Maggie was her own downfall and demise by letting a boy drag her down to the mud and damage her good name. However, because of her upbringing, it was hard for her not to be affected by her environment and social factors.

    Read More

  • 'Everyday Use And My Mother Pieced Quilts'

    686 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Accepting One's Heritage in "Everyday Use"

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...sents some discrepancies in how people value their family history. To some, family does not mean much at all but others are very much aware of their ancestors and the traits that they share in common. Some people use this self-awareness to better themselves while others find ways of exploiting it to satisfy their superficial needs. Dee is the type of individual that misuses her heritage. She is using it to fit in and attract the new religious group with which she has begun to associate. Maggie just seems oblivious, although the story does not allow the reader to know what she is thinking. The truth is that Maggie and her mother are living their heritage. This is the lesson that Dee's mother is trying to teach her; to accept and embrace who she is rather than continuously search for something she is not. She could search for her entire life and never be fulfilled.

    Read More

  • Everyday Use Essay: Sisters with Nothing in Common

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    Maggie is not as attractive as Dee. She is a thin and awkward girl. Her

    Read More

  • Self Confidence In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    First, Walker shows how Dee and Maggie confidence affect their relationship. Maggie lacks confidence, because she is shy, which calls her to hang in the background and not make eye contact when people are around. Her lack of confidence stems from her being a home body, isolated and under educated. Maggie will

    Read More

  • Everyday Use by Alice Walker

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    The two sisters in the contrast of Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" have different personalities and looks that are as opposite as right and wrong. It's seems like Walker is trying to say one of the sister is right and the other is wrong from the beginning. Maggie has poor, miserable image as Walker describes the way Maggie walks "…a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless people rich enough to own a car…". Maggie has burn scars down her arms and legs, which she got from the fire that burned the house they had earlier. Perhaps, because of her bad appearance, she is very shy and it is described where Walker says, "She (Maggie) has been like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle…". Dee, on the other hand, is a very self-confident girl with beautiful look. Her body is described as "…lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and fuller figure. She's a woman now…" (Walker 1172). She is highly motivated and does everything it takes to get what she wants, as it is described in the story of her graduation...

    Read More

  • Everyday Use

    623 Words  | 2 Pages

    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)

    Read More

  • Dee Walker's Character In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast I Stand Here Ironing And Everyday Use

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Character of Dee in Alice Walker's Everyday Use

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dee's physical beauty can be defined as one of her biggest assets. The fact that Maggie sees Dee "with a mixture of envy and awe" (409) cues the reader to Dee's favorable appearance. The simplistic way in which Walker states that "Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure" (410) gives the reader the idea that Dee's beauty has made it easier for her to be accepted outside her family in society. We are left with the impression that Dee's appearance is above average. Walker plays on Dee's physical beauty to contrast the homeliness of Maggie and her mother. Walker goes so far as to describe her feet as "always neat-looking, as if God himself had shaped them with a certain style" (411). In describing Dee's feet, Walker is giving the impression of perfection from head to toe. Dee's outward beauty has "made her transition from poor farm girl to that of an educated, middle-class black woman possible" (Allen-Polley 11). Needless to say, Dee doesn't seem comfortable with her past and therefore has a difficult time accepting her future. It is as though she is not really connected with her family anymore. She simply needs them to fulfill their positions in her recreated past.

    Read More

  • Alice Walker’s Women: Oppression and Victory in Everyday Use and The Color Purple

    1512 Words  | 4 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Family Heritage In Everyday Use

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    The differences in attitude that Dee and Maggie portray about their heritage are seen early in the story. When the family's house burned down ten or twelve years ago, Maggie was deeply affected by the tragedy of losing her home where she grew up. As her mother describes, "She has been like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire that burned the other house to the ground" (409). Dee, on the other hand, had hated the house. Her mother had wanted to ask her, "Why don't you dance around the ashes?" (409). Dee did not hold any significance in the home where she had grown up. In her confusion about her heritage, it was just a house to her.

    Read More

  • Maggie And Dee In Alice Walker's Everyday Use

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    Right off the bat, Maggie’s actions start to illustrate her feelings towards Dee’s visit. Mama sees Maggie is nervous as she awaits Dee’s arrival. Mama knows that through out her eldest daughters visit; Maggie will “stand in corners homely and ashamed” (Walker 315). It is very clear by the way that Maggie attempts to run back inside the house when Dee pulls up; that she wasn’t looking forward to this visit. Her fleeing

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of Everyday Use By Alice Walker

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

More about Trauma Defines Personality In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

Open Document