ipl-logo

Maggie In Alice Walker's Everyday Use

154 Words1 Page

Maggie is an extremely reserved girl who has an older sister named Dee. "Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure." (10). She has horrible burn scars all over her body from a house fire, she can't walk well, and is thin. She is a very homely girl who respects, and remembers, her family's culture, values, and history. Maggie dislikes and is afraid of Dee, yet envies how "perfect" she is. She feels like Dee hates her because Dee left her and their mother in their house to burn inside instead of saving them, which stemmed Maggie's hatred towards her. Maggie also said to her mother "Mama when did Dee ever have any friends?" (11). This can be interpreted in two ways. One is that she used a sarcastic tone, meaning that

Show More
Related

  • Maggie Lena Walker Research Paper

    363 Words  | 2 Pages

    Maggie Lena Walker (Draper) was born to Elizabeth Draper & Eccles Cuthbert on July 15, 1867 in Richmond, Virginia. Born a daughter of a former slave. When Maggie was younger she used to always help her mother run a laundry in Virginia. Maggie was put in a wheelchair soon after she died from complications of her diabetic condition .She died December 15, 1934 in Richmond, Virginia.

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of 'Everyday Use' By Alice Walker

    1052 Words  | 5 Pages

    Maggie is also oppressed by society and Dee, and, though to a further degree than her mother, her view of herself attacks her equality compared to the rest of the world. The subject is immediately introduced. The story begins with Maggie and her mother waiting for Dee. They waste their time in order to be available to Dee as soon as Dee

    Read More

  • Point Of View In Alice Walker's Everyday Use

    983 Words  | 4 Pages

    The point of view in the story “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker plays a big part. Throughout the story, one of Mama’s daughters came to visit. The way Mama and Maggie see her is not in a very pleasant way. In fact, they are scared to tell her no when it comes to anything. From Mama’s perspective Dee seems like this rude, stuck up, spoiled child because she had the opportunity to go out and expand her education, while Mama and Maggie continued to live their lives on the farm.

    Read More

  • The Character Of Maggie In Alice Walker's Everyday Use

    119 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the story “Everyday Use” I find Maggie to be the most sympathetic. Maggie’s older sister, Dee, makes Maggie feel inferior to her. Maggie has burn scars and marks on her body, that makes her feel like she doesn’t look good. Dee always receive what she want and Dee is also smart. While Maggie isn’t so smart and doesn’t have the money or style to get what she wants.

    Read More

  • Characterization In Everyday Use

    610 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story goes beyond these traits to deal mainly with the way in which the two sisters value their heritage. Maggie knows nothing but her heritage, for she has never left home. On the other hand, Dee seems to have

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Dee Kemanjo In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

    664 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of Maggie And Dee In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

    1026 Words  | 5 Pages

    Maggie did not go to school, does not dress in colorful attention-getting African garb, and does not have a fancy boyfriend, but she does slam a door which indicates her feelings about the quilts and butter churn her sister has come to claim out from under her feet. The temper has flared, and Maggie gets her quilts. In conclusion, the story seems to tell how different Maggie and Dee were from each other; with few comparisons between the two girls to suggest that they had anything in

    Read More

  • Dee's Identity In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

    721 Words  | 3 Pages

    Maggie has a very bad relationship with her bigger sister Dee with jealousy and hatred. Mama always thinks that Maggie lives an unfair life but Maggie never said that. “Maggie asked me mama when Dee ever had friends” (Walker, 317, 14), this quote shows how Maggie is jalousie from Dee, actually dee has friends. When Maggie sees stuff she doesn’t like she hides it and doesn’t talk but when she knew that Dee wanted to take the quilt that mama promised to give her she dropped the plates and smashes the kitchen door very hard.

    Read More

  • Everyday Use Compare And Contrast Essay

    609 Words  | 3 Pages

    She is spoiled, and she is a mean kind of spoiled, and does not like to be told anything. According to Mama, Maggie thinks that Dee has never heard the word “no” (109). Also, she thinks she knows everything. As for me I am spoiled. I

    Read More

  • Symbols In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

    1338 Words  | 6 Pages

    Maggie is described as a large big boned woman with rough man working hands. Dee is described

    Read More

  • The Role Of Maggie In Alice Walker's Everyday Use

    343 Words  | 2 Pages

    Maggie in Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use” plays the role of being the nervous and ugly sister of the story, however she is the child with the good heart. Maggie was nervous ashamed of her scars “Maggie was nervous… she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs”. Living in a house with a pretty sister and being the ugly sister with scars could be the reason why she picked up on a timid personality, being ‘ashamed’ of her own skin shaping her in a way that she degraded herself from everybody else. Maggie was not this way before the fire, her mother stated, as it is quoted that she had adopted to a certain walk ever since the fire.

    Read More

  • Dee Vs. Maggie In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

    457 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the short story, “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, their are two distinct characters who are very different from each other. These characters have many different motivations, personalities, and points of views with respect to preserving their heritage. The narrator, Mama, looks at them both with different views. Dee and Maggie are two completely different people. Dee has different motivations than Maggie.

    Read More

  • Irony In Alice Walker's Everyday Use

    1283 Words  | 6 Pages

    Mama is able to tell the reader where Maggie’s burn scars came from, and what she thinks caused the fire. She tells the reader about the house burning, and how differently the two girls reacted to the fire. “How long ago was it that the house burned? Ten, twelve years? Sometimes I can still hear the flames and feel Maggie’s arms sticking to me, her hair smoking and her dress falling off her in little black papery flakes.

    Read More

  • Everyday Use Theme Essay

    869 Words  | 4 Pages

    The story is told from the point of view of their mother, Ms. Johnson, and it is from her that we learn about the difference in the sister’s characters. Dee, who changes her name to Wangero, is outspoken and is the educated sister. Maggie is shy and appears to be ashamed of the burns on her skin. “[Maggie] thinks her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand, that ‘no’ is a word the world would never learn to say to her” (Walker 6). This is important because, in the end, Dee does not get her way.

    Read More

  • Two Ways To Belong In America Summary

    667 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Two sisters are raised the exact same way, but have two different effects on the way they want to express their now different cultures. Maggie wanted to express her culture in the way that her mother taught it, but Dee wanted to express her culture differently because she wasn’t appreciative of the one she was raised in. Dee was not happy with the farm life; she chose the city life over it. Her family ashamed her as she explains that she changed her name, “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.” (Walker 63).

    Read More

More about Maggie In Alice Walker's Everyday Use

Open Document