Alice Walker Quilts Analysis

Alice Malsenior Walker was born on February 9, 1944, in a small town to the southeast of Atlanta, Georgia, called Eatonton. She was the youngest daughter of eight born to her parents, a sharecropper and a maid. Her mother worked as a maid to help provide for their poor family. At eight years old, Walker was shot in the right eye by a BB pellet while playing with her two brothers. The accident caused whitish scar tissue to form in her damaged eye. At that point in her life, she became very self-conscious and felt "ugly and disfigured." That was when she began to find comfort in reading and writing poetry. She attended segregated schools and graduated as valedictorian of her class. She went on to attend college at Spelman, in Atlanta, and then

This is the climax of the story because Maggie actually shows some personality and "fights back" because she also wants the quilts. The quilts mean different things to both of the girls. To Maggie, the quilts represent family bonds and heritage. She understands the true meaning of them because she and Mama share a connection through the quilts. They have both experienced pain and joy throughout their lives, and so have the quilts. Since the quilts embody pieces of Mama's mother's clothing in the patchwork, Maggie understands that the quilts have their family heritage sewn in them. On the other hand, Dee does not fully grasp this. Her understanding of family heritage is not as strong because she has already changed her name from Dee, a family name, to Wagero. She has always thought that she wants "new and nice things." It is not until she comes back home from leaving for college that she realizes that the quilts for their fashionable

Some members of the family do not understand the meaning of family heritage and get lost in having "newer and nicer things," rather than having heirlooms passed down to them from earlier generations. Maggie and Dee differ from the reasons that they want the quilts. The only similarity they share is the desire to own the quilts. Maggie has always thought that Mama would hand the quilts down to her when it comes times; Dee decides that the quilts will only be taken care of if they are in her possession. Being the humble and quiet person she is, Maggie tells Mama to give the quilts to Dee. In return, Mama realizes that Maggie deserves them for herself. Maggie's identity shines through when her face lights up after Mama snatches the quilts from Dee. In "Everyday Use", Alice Walker spotlights the struggle that African Americans faced during that time to find their personal