After Wangero asks for the quilts for the first time, Mama shares that she promised to give them to Maggie at her wedding. Upset by this response, Wangero quickly attempts to convince her mother that Maggie isn't worthy of having the quilts. In paragraph 12, Wangero claims “maggie can't appreciate the quilts” and “She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.” She was trying to appeal to her mother's love and attachment to the quilts. She wanted to explain to her mother that if she gave maggie the quilts, they would get ruined so instead she should let Wangero have them so they could be preserved.
She doesn 't know how hard life is with her sister and mother. Dee only cares about what she wants and she talks down on her family. She believes her sister could not use the quilts in a way she thought they should be used. " Maggie can 't appreciate these quilts!" she said.
These quilts are a ways of honoring her African American heritage and to be given these was very significant in their culture. For once Dee sees the historical background because of the stitching and material used, but doesn’t find any use in using them. Dee is going to try and convince her mom to let her keep the quilts, when Dee says, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!” (Walker 721) and “You just will not understand. The point these quilts, these quilts!”
The family leads a hard working, simple and minimalistic life that allows them just enough to get by. Mama is described as a “large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands” (Walker 418). Her day to day life doesn’t allow for the high standards of her eldest daughter Dee. Dee is described by Mama as being unappreciative and bratty. Mama makes is clear that the family’s socioeconomic status would never be good enough for the eldest daughter.
Everyday Use and Sula are coming of age stories. They both illustrate times in people’s lives when they have to decide to how they are going to live with their past and themselves. The short story "Everyday Use", Alice Walker emphasizes the aspect of individuality. The story focuses on the lives of two sisters, Maggie and Dee.
“ ‘Mama, Wangero said sweet as a bird. Can I have these quilts?’... ‘These are all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear. She did all this stitching by hand. Imagine!’...
She lives her life for others, like her marriage to Jude, and only finds meaning for herself when she is with Sula, a childhood friend who compliments her personality. Together, they create meaning for themselves through each other. “[Nel’s] parents had succeeded in rubbing down to a dull glow any sparkle or splutter she had. Only with Sula did that quality have free reign, but their friendship was so close, they themselves had difficulty distinguishing one’s thoughts from the other’s” (Morrison 83).
When Dee (Wangero) began taking things that belonged to her mother in order to decorate her new house, the mood changed quickly from bewilderment to acrimony when Dee finally went too far. The sole purpose for Dee’s visit was to procure specific items belonging to her mother. Mom was initially perplexed as to why Dee would want the churn top and dasher and quickly incensed over Dee’s insistence that she was the only one capable of properly caring for the quilts. Wangero is astounded that her mother is going to give Maggie the blankets to be used for everyday use, believes that the quilts need to be preserved, and tells her mother that she doesn’t understand her own culture.
Mama wanted nothing but the best for her; she did everything in her power to get her to college because she wanted her to have a better life than she did. However, Dee used her education against Mama and Maggie in efforts to present her culture in a “better” way. Changing her name to Wangero because her birth name “Dee”, as she informed them “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people oppress me” (Walker 27). In contrast, Mama and Maggie never changed the way they dressed “African descent” or change their names to portray their true
She remembers that Dee had refused her previous offer on taking the quilts, arguing that the quilts were “old fashioned and out of style”(70). She didn’t conformed to Dee as she did in the previous case, and the tension between two women
In attempts to reconnect with her African roots, Dee has changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo. Dee has also taken an interest in embracing her African heritage and has dressed in traditional African clothes to visit her mother. Her mother knows that Dee’s intentions are not genuine. Worrying more about taking pictures of her mother and collecting items that represent the African culture to take back home, Dee neglects to spend time with her family. Her mother notices that Dee, “Lines up picture after picture of me sitting there in front of the house with Maggie cowering behind me.
In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" written in 1973 the author presents to the reader a story of the sibling rivalry and mother-daughter drama. The setting of the short story is made in the 1960s. It was “a new day” for the blacks and as it becomes fashionable in the Black Power Movement to return to one’s roots. The main character Dee constructed her identity in a completely new way to receive the benefits which could be achieved through it. It is possible to assume that she is mean and superficial, but it is wrong.
Ms. Johnson didn't have an education, yet she knew the value of the quilts and she didn’t let a few words from Dee change her decision of giving the quilts to Maggie. Dee leaves her mother’s house quite upset and tells her sister, “You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It’s really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live you’d never know it” (Walker 12).
Alice Walker wrote what Mama said about Dee or Wangero, “Dee wanted nice things.” Mama describes Dee as a lavish person who is only interested in herself and her fulfilling’s. Dee had changed her name to show that she is not accepting that a “white person” named her ancestors in way, so it can be passed down. Walker describes Mama as someone who is satisfied with what they have. “I will wait for her in the yard that Maggie and I made so clean and wavy yesterday afternoon,” Walker demonstrates how Mama is pleased with nature where her life takes place in.
Characterization in “Everyday use” In “Everyday Use” Alice Walker creates the characters of Mom, Maggie, and Dee in order to explore the appreciation and values of African American culture and what it stands for. The story grows around one daughter Dee coming back home to visit her family. As one is introduced to the characters in “Everyday Use”, it becomes noticeable that the two sisters, Maggie and Dee, are very different. Maggie is portrayed as a homely and ignorant girl, while Dee is portrayed as a beautiful and educated woman.
