Category: Everyday Use

Introduction

“Everyday use” by Alice Walker is a fictional story analyzed years over, in academic and professional circles from an initial collection of In live and trouble (Donnelly 124). The story is narrated from a first person point of view (by a single mother, Mrs. Johnson) and dwells on the perception of two sisters regarding cultural artifacts (Wangero). Maggie has a shy personality but Dee is a representation of a pretentious native African identity.

Throughout the story, Walker develops a deep criticism of postmodern ideals through symbolism, with the story’s meaning going deeper than the surface analysis, because even the title “Everyday Use” is a representation of whether cultural heritage should be preserved and used on an everyday basis or not.

The quilt is especially mentioned as a representation of culture and heritage, especially when Dee wants to hang the quilts: she has essentially removed the artifacts from their everyday contextual meaning and creates some form of symbolic representation of the quilts.

This study therefore identifies there points; in that, Walker seeks to convey the principle that art is a living and breathing part of its origin, a significant cultural possession, and a critique of the postmodern treatment of cultural art.

Analysis

The story asserts that art should be valued in the context of its cultural and heritage origin. The quilt is strategically used in the story as a representation of cultural art and its existence has a rich cultural significance. The quilt is later depicted as inseparable from its culture because the historical trace of the quilt essentially represents the history of the Johnson family. Walker specifically says “In both of them were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and more years ago.

Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell’s Paisley shirts and one teeny faded blue piece, that was from Great Grandpa Ezra’s uniform that he wore in the Civil War” (563). This shows that not only do the quilts represent the heirloom of the family, but they are a core factor in the family’s identity. The gist of this symbolism is that, not only is the quilt a representation of the Johnson culture but also an inseparable element from the culture itself.

How Mrs. Johnson treats the quilts shows that cultural artifacts should be treated as a significant cultural possession. Dee on the other hand views the quilts as financially and aesthetically valuable. When Dee realizes her mother intended to give them to Maggie; she exclaims that they were priceless.

Dee further adds that Maggie has the capability of wearing them everyday, something that she did not think was right for the quilts; implying that she viewed the quilts as an object instead of an item that should be used on a daily basis. Some sense of individualism is also noted from Maggie’s perception of the quilt, RO because in her opinion, the quilts bore some form of personal and emotional significance, which became clear when she said, “I can member Grandma Dee without the quilts” (Walker 564).

Maggie therefore implies that she perceives the quilt from its deep family connection. Moreover, she understood the fact that the quilts ought to “stay alive”, generations on end, through continuous renewal. Walker even points out that “Maggie knows how to quilt” (Walker 564), implying that she had the cultural significance of the quilts at heart.

The representation of the two sisters’ attitudes and perceptions of the quilts is a critique of the postmodern treatment of ancient artifacts and the way cultural art is treated in today’s society. Essentially, Dee’s perception of art for its monetary value represents the postmodern view of art while Maggie’s perception of the quilt for its personal significance is a representation of the contemporary view of art.

The author however does not leave us a in a huge dilemma of which perception is right because Mrs. Johnson snatches the quilts from Dee and gives them to Maggie thereby depicting the contemporary view of art as the right perception.

Conclusion

Walker’s literary piece is a good example of an educational piece that reflects the current perception of art, especially thriving in today’s commercially, oriented world. Basically art in its right form should be kept alive through generations on end in everyday use. This literally, “can be perceived”, through the short story, but should be perceived in a symbolic manner as a facet of conventional art (Factstaff 3).

Walker therefore shows that the true significance and meaning of art that can only be traced back to the culture or the root it came from. This is contrary to postmodern use of ancient artifacts as an object to be observed, by future generations, as Dee tries to express. Walker therefore shows that cultural artifacts should be used as a significant cultural possession, and be kept alive through generations.

Moreover, she didn’t write the piece with the intention of being microscopically analyzed, or to be quantified monetarily; her literary piece, despite being written in past decades, was meant to be explored, investigated, questioned and even debated by today’s commercially driven society where culture is slowly fading away and postmodern values are quickly catching up (Factstaff 4). In summary, the author says that cultural artifacts with a special reference to the quilt should be put into everyday use.

Works Cited

Donnelly, Mary. Alice Walker: The Color Purple and Other Works. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2009. Print.

Factstaff. Quilts and Art in “Everyday Use”. 23 February. 2010. Web.

Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1994. Print.

Introduction

‘Everyday Use’ is set in the American rural down South; superficially, it is a story of Mama Johnson and her conflicting psychological reception and relationship with her two daughters, Dee and Maggie (Xroads). Dee has taken an impressive formal education and now works in an urban environment; she is light skinned and sophisticated (Xroads).

Maggie has never left, she is the typical country girl, even in appearance and there are still traces of scars that she obtained from a house fire. Mama Johnson, who was born and grew in the early days of the past century, is struggling to understand the implications of her own background (represented by Maggie) in comparison to the life that Dee now leads. She keeps comparing Dee and Maggie. In the end she favors the practical life and values of the less fortunate Maggie instead of the superficial values of Dee.

Discussion

Deep down, the story is exploring the question of African-American heritage; the story, probably set in the ebbing days of the 1960s or at the dawn of 1970s, coincides with the attempt of African-Americans to define their identity in terms of culture (Xroads).

The term ‘Negro’ was gradually replaced with ‘Black’ but the pains and injustices of the past had been so cruel that the black people are willing to deny and reject their American heritage (Xroads). This story is an exploration of both African and American heritages of the black people; the three characters represent the three faces of this theme.

Mama represents the uncertain link between the African and American heritages. From mama’s description of herself, the way she takes pride in her expertise at killing and cleaning a hog, makes one see that she appreciates the practical aspects of her life and nature, it is easy to assume that she cannot ponder such an abstract concept as heritage.

Yet, even with her lack of formal education and refinement, her respect and love for those who preceded her reflects her inherent comprehension of heritage through the way that she is able to associate pieces of clothes in two quilts with those who’s clothes the pieces had been cut from (Xroads). The quilts “are special to Mama when she touches the quilts, it is her way of touching the people that the quilts represent” (Xroads).

These quilts are a symbol and represent gone times to which one still has a shaky and ambivalent relationship; the same symbolism is portrayed through the dasher handle. When mama touches the ridges left by fingers of those who are gone, she connects with them (Xroads).

Dee’s superficial nature: her personality, her dressing and speech, represents the superficial perspective of heritage that the Black Power movement preached. There are inconsistencies in her style and her manner and she does not understand the origin of her name ‘Dee’ and the link to her family; this is a reflection of her attempt to reject her American heritage.

Maggie, on the other hand, is nervous in the presence of Dee and is ashamed of her scars and hides from Dee; these scars symbolize the fires of slavery. Her manner: staring at the ground, her feet in shuffle; she represents the American heritage of the black people.

Dee and Maggie do not interact, it is only as the story ends that Dee speaks to her angrily as she is leaving; this ending portrays the relationship of the African and American heritages. The former acting inferiorly before the latter that does not hesitate to flaunt its perceived superiority and assert its assumed disconnection from the former.

Conclusion

The general argument that Alice projects here is that African-American is a product of both African and American natives, and rejecting the American face is not only disrespectful to their respective ancestors, but also detrimental to that heritage which defines the blacks.

Works Cited

Xroads. “Everyday Use by Alice Walker.” 2011. Web. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug97/quilt/walker.html>

Introduction

In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use”, the author places two sisters side by side for an afternoon of visiting. One of these sisters, Maggie, lives with her mother in a small, poorly built shack on the edge of the country and is planning to marry a somewhat unattractive but dependable man in their small town. As a child, she was caught in a fire and still bears significant scarring on her legs and arms, a fact that makes her shy and withdrawn.

The other sister, Dee, lives a beautiful life in the city with her good looks, her outgoing charm, and her refusal to be denied. Her status with the man she travels with is unknown, but her attitudes and behaviors are that of a middle-class urban black woman attempting to recapture a sense of her heritage. While both girls can be seen to honor their past and the cultural heritage from which they descended, Walker demonstrates a deeper appreciation for a person’s heritage that can only be obtained through everyday use.

Main body

The type of interest Dee shows in her surroundings is immediately depicted as approaching cultural awareness from a distance. The perfect image of a mother for Dee is someone other than her own, someone “a hundred pounds lighter, my skin like an uncooked barley pancake. My hair glistens in the hot bright lights” (Walker, 2007), indicating someone who has not worked hard outside most of her life with more important things to be concerned about than cosseting her hair. Further distancing her from this heritage, Dee was sent to the Augusta school where she learned to love the stories she read about in books and grew up wanting nice things.

While she apparently loves her mother and sister, “She wrote me once that no matter where we ‘choose’ to live, she will manage to come see us. But she will never bring her friends” (Walker, 2007), it is also apparent that she takes little or no pride in her own past.

This is much different from the awareness of her heritage displayed by Maggie, who lives the lifestyle alongside her mother and is more intimately aware of the stories behind each of the pieces Dee determines she will take back with her to the city. The items Dee wishes to take from the house are all strongly associated with her culture and past, but she intends to put them to alternate uses within her home, “’I can use the chute top as a centerpiece for the alcove table,’ she said, sliding a plate over the chute, ‘and I’ll think of something artistic to do with the dasher’” (Walker, 2007). In taking some of these things, she is removing useful tools regularly used for the purposes intended by Maggie and her mother.

In the end, Dee can’t understand why her mother might not allow her to ‘properly’ take care of something as valuable as the heritage quilt she’s dug out of her mother’s trunk. She would hang them on the wall and take ‘proper’ care of them as opposed to Maggie, who would use them on her beds as a reminder of the wonderful grandmother who began piecing them together, the industry of the women of the family in stitching it and the history of the family as the cloth included such items as a small fragment of a uniform her great-great-grandfather wore when he fought in the Civil War. Maggie remembers all of this information about the quilts, but Dee identifies them only as something her grandmother once did and as a symbol of the industry of the oppressed.

Conclusion

Dee’s valuation of her heritage came from the externally defined values of the greater mass culture she encountered in the city. She was not able to appreciate the work that went into the making of the quilts or the real use of the butter churn that her mother still used to make her butter. By contrast, Maggie was able to remember many more details about her true heritage as it was experienced and lived by those who came before her through her intimate understanding of the uses of the various items that had come to represent that heritage. As a result, she had a deeper and more authentic understanding of where she had come from and where she was going.

Works Cited

Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” 2008. Web.

The stories we are going to talk about are Saboteur by Ha Jin and Everyday Use by Alice Walker. The first one centers around some unfair punishment, which the main character Mr. Chiu is suffering and his strange way to take revenge on people.

The second story describes the life of a common family in which even tenor is interrupted by the visit of one of the daughters of Mama and their different understanding of identity. These two stories are absolutely different, and the main characters are different too. They possess qualities that distinguish them from each other, making Mr. Chiu and Mama absolutely dissimilar.

The main character of the story, Saboteur, is Mr. Chiu. He is a very well educated person working as a lecturer at Harbin University (Jin para. 34). He has just returned from his honeymoon and wants to enjoy a day to day routine. However, there is one thing that darkens his life. It is the fact that “he had suffered from acute hepatitis” (Jin para. 4) This knowledge becomes very important for the development of the story.

Being imprisoned, he shows qualities which are peculiar for a noble, high educated though a bit naive person. He believes in justice and the ideal of tolerance as it was proclaimed that “all citizens were equal before the law” (Jin para. 27). However, another part of his nature is shown at the end of the story. Being irritated, he just wants to take revenge, infecting people with hepatitis. He serves as a typical image of a despaired intellectual who is totally exhausted.

The main character of another story is Mama. She is totally different. She serves as an embodiment of the image of the working woman “I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man working hands. In the winter, I wear flannel nightgowns to bed and overalls dur.ing the day. I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man” (Walker, para. 5).

Of course, she is not educated. She finished only one class, and she cannot even read. Her character corresponds to her look. The story is presented from her point of view, and her thoughts sound very steadily without any complicated constructions. However, she is a good woman who is satisfied with her life, and she loves her children and cares about them. Her daughter Dee comes to her after a long pause, totally different; however, she does not deprive her of mothers love.

From the first point of view, these two main characters seem to be very different. It is possible to oppose well educated and intelligent Mr. Chiu to uneducated mother of two daughters. He believes in some high ideas of tolerance and human rights, while she seems to be totally indifferent to these words. Life is her best teacher, and she shows the existence of some kind of worldly wisdom. While Mr. Chiu does not have any sign of it. His attempt to go against the system perfectly demonstrates it.

It can be taken as the great desire to attain justice; however, form another point of view, he just behaves himself silly admonishing the policeman. The great difference can also be seen in the endings of the stories. An uneducated woman shows more compassion, love, and understanding of her identity than intelligent Mr. Chiu, who infects a great number of innocent people in his blind desire to take revenge.

Works Cited

Jin, Ha. Saboteur. 2000. Web.

Walker, Alice. Everyday Use. 1973. Web.

From the perspective of human experience, Girl by Jamaica Kincaid and Everyday use by Alice Walker provide important insights and considerations. The former tells a story of a mother teaching her daughter how to live in society; the latter pictures a situation of a daughter’s homecoming after a long absence. In my opinion, in both Walker’s and Kincaid’s stories, there are the three themes of mother-daughter relationships, economic struggles, and societal expectations.

First, the topic of mother-daughter relationships is illustrated by the respective conflict of opinions. In the case of Girl, the conflict is based on the concerns the mother has about her daughter’s behavior. For instance, she inquires whether the daughter sings inappropriate songs in Sunday school, disregarding the negative reply that follows shortly (Kincaid, 2003). Such an attitude indicates the mother’s concerns overshadow reality, devaluating the daughter’s opinion. Meanwhile, the Everyday use case also highlights the mother’s disregard for her daughter’s opinion, albeit with a different connotation. The first daughter, Dee, wanted to take something memorable from her family house, choosing her grandmother’s quilts promised to her sister, Maggie. Throughout the book, Dee is illustrated as a selfish person believing “that ‘no’ is a word the world never learned to say to her” (Walker, 1973, para. 2). However, the mother did not allow this wish to come true, forcefully taking away the quilts and surprising the frustrated Maggie. Thus, both tales display the mother-daughter conflict but approach it from different angles.

Second, economic struggles play an important background role in both tales. Poor living conditions and rural settings are similarly used to create the desired atmosphere and impact the readers. In Girl, economic struggles can be deduced from the small details, such as “don’t pick people’s flowers – you might catch something” (Kincaid, 2003, p. 321). In turn, the instructions about how and where to grow crops imply the rural setting. Everyday use expresses poverty through the details about the family house with “no real windows, just some holes cut in the sides” (Walker, 1973, para. 14). Consequently, the rural setting can be seen in mentioned mother’s activities, such as milking cows and processing fresh meat (Walker, 1973). Overall, such a background is vital for the general impression of the reader and particularly important for the next topic.

Last comes the topic of societal expectations that do not fit into the illustrated setting. The Girl contrasts the daughter’s actual behavior and genuine intent with the mother’s experience and common traits met in their society. While the mother acts out of love and care, trying to share wisdom and explain the unknown, she repeatedly mentions her daughter’s supposed intent on becoming a girl of easy virtue (Kincaid, 2003). Even discussing an entirely different issue, the mother caustically asks if the daughter is “going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread” (Kincaid, 2003, p. 321). In the meantime, Everyday use again changes the polarity of the conflict, picturing how the mother and Maggie do not fit into Dee’s vision. In particular, she urges them to change but doubts if it is possible because “from the way you and Mama still live you’d never know it” (Walker, 1973, para. 81). Therefore, the displayed conditions justify the discrepancy with societal expectations.

In conclusion, the stories written by Kincaid and Walker exemplify two visions of mother-daughter relationships and societal expectations in the same poor settings. The mother-daughter conflict can be described as a mother’s disregard for a daughter’s opinion based on particular reasoning. The economic struggles faced by stories’ characters create the needed atmosphere and justify societal expectations that differ from reality. The main difference between the stories lies in the conflict’s connotation and readers’ respective compassion for the characters. It is then left for the readers to decide who has the right or wrong in displayed conflicts.

References

Kincaid, J. (2003). Girl. In A. Charters (Ed.), The story and its writer: An introduction to short fiction (6^th ed.) (pp. 320-321). Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Walker, A. (1973). Everyday use. Harper’s Magazine. Web.

Walker shows us what inheritance is through her short story, Everyday Use. The two hand-stitched quilts draw attention and become the center of conflict in the family of Mama and her two daughters. Walker also uses these quilts as symbolism for heritage. The author shows that different views, events, and situations shape one’s life in different ways as an individual responds to them. In the short story, we see the conflict within the family of Mama and her two daughters (SuperSummary 1-5).

Walker narrates the story of a conflict in relation to identities and heritage. The author presents the conflict through Maggie, Dee, and the Mother. All these characters show variations in beliefs due different experiences and ideologies in life. Mama lives a simple life based on her cultural heritage.

This is a fulfilling life to Mama because she believes in simplicity of life. As a result, Mama scorns Dee’s materialistic tendencies when relating to her culture. On the other hand, Maggie is shy and submissive almost like Mama in simplicity, but she still remembers her heritage. Dee shows a modern way of life that is out of touch with her culture and heritage. Dee’s characters and actions show that one can only value her culture for its artistic appeal.

Mama is happy and proud about her simple life. Dee has materialistic tendencies in which she only craves for “nice things” (Walker 384) in her life. Moreover, Dee believes that she can control her life and do anything she wants to do with it.

She demonstrates this trait by insisting on having the churn top and the dasher together with the quilts. However, Mama had promised to give these items to Maggie. On the contrary, Maggie has come into terms with her life. She believes that happiness comes from the heart and not from material possessions.

These characters also have diverse views about culture and heritage. Mama and Maggie consider a strong family tradition as their source of heritage. Mama believes that heritage is memories of the tradition and its practical aspects.

She believes that Maggie shall use quilts every day. Still, Mama also has fond memories of the benches when Dee admires them, she notes that Dee’s daddy made the benches “when they couldn’t afford to buy chairs” (Walker 385). Mama has a special affection to history because it brings sweet memory of her husband. On the same note, Maggie also likes tradition and its memories.

She can remember how Henry or Stash carved the dasher (Walker 386). Maggie could have learned such history from her Mama and kept it in her memory as a part of history and tradition. Maggie sees a great meaning in the quilts. She considers the quilts as sources of memory and tradition. For instance, she says, “I cannot remember Grandma Dee without the quilts” (Walker 386).

This shows that Maggie’s relation with the two quilts is expressive and special in her memory, traditions, and history. These quilts represent tradition and history to Maggie, not because they are hand stitched, but rather because of the history and heritage, they have in the family. On the other hand, Dee sees her tradition as African culture. In fact, Dee rejects her family heritage because it does not conform to African traditions.

According to Dee, her family tradition does not reflect her beliefs. For instance, after she receives education from the city and becomes stylish, Dee writes to Mama and informs her that she would visit home, “but will never bring her friends” (Walker 383). Dee does not want her friends to learn about her background, history, and tradition. Dee considers it as backward and unsophisticated life. Dee strives to embrace the root culture of Africans, but she refuses to accept her own heritage.

Dee sees her heritage in terms of materialistic qualities, rather than as history and heritage of her family. For instance, Dee informs her family that she changed her name to ‘Wangero’ and states that, “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me” (Walker 385). According to her, the name has been “a form of oppression” (Walker 386), and changing it gives her a sense of self-determination.

One can realize that Dee’s new name is an African name, but has nothing in relation to her history, family, and traditions. Education has changed Dee’s attitude toward her family and heritage. She prefers new life and sophistication of the city. Dee is not aware of the art of making quilts, but she knows that such “old quilts in her family are priceless and invaluable” (Walker 386). The major concern for Dee is the appearance of the quilts and not their cultural representations.

According to Dee, the churn top is only suitable as “a centerpiece for the alcove table” (Walker 386). On the contrary, her mother and Maggie consider the churn top as an item of connection to their heritage. One can also notice that Dee “admires the benches because of their textures” (Walker 386), but she fails to notice whoever made them. Dee and Mama have different views about the quilts. Her mother believes that the quilts should be on everyday use as a way of keeping the past alive.

Conversely, Dee believes that the quilts should only serve decorative purposes. Dee wants her mother and Maggie to embrace the new life of sophistication. For instance, she tells Maggie that, “It’s really a new day for us, but from the way you and mama still live, you’d never know it” (Walker 388). However, Mama and Maggie have not embraced the new culture of Dee. Further, Mama and Maggie show confusion about the new state of Dee’s life.

They do not see any connection to the new name of Dee, ‘Wangero’ because Mama and Maggie can only find such memories in their heritage and history. They have such memories because of the role that heritage has played in their lives. Mama and Maggie believe that the family heritage is important in their daily lives. However, Dee believes that heritage is history that does not have any significant role in her present life, and any memory should only be of artistic value.

Dee has totally failed to recognize any value in her family heritage. Consequently, she finds a heritage that matches her education and sophistication. Dee believes that her new name, Wangero represents her heritage and cultural beliefs. Dee thinks that the name represents her African values.

However, one can observe that Dee has failed in this endeavor because the name and her African attires have no meaning because they are false and artificial. Besides, Dee does not understand her new culture. Dee constructs a culture that is beyond her history and reach.

Education has only served the role of alienating Dee from her family, true identity, and heritage. With haughty ideals from the city life and education, Dee lost her heritage and identity, which can only come from the family. Dee’s new life and a sense of identity scare Mama and Maggie because their simple lives cannot match the new identity of Dee.

Visibility, rights, and equal opportunities are the new ideals of Dee. While these ideals are not problematic, what is bothersome is that Dee has lost respect for her heritage and alienated herself from the family. Maggie is a contrast of Dee. She does not know of any other heritage apart from the family heritage. She lacks education that Dee has.

However, Maggie has accepted her situation and found her self-fulfillment. Walker manages to use contrast in order to reveal effects of lacking and having education between the two sisters. Dee’s insatiable search for education has led her to reject her heritage and simple life of Mama and Maggie. On the other hand, Maggie’s lack of education has stifled her, and made her to accept everything without questions. Walker shows that either having or lacking education can be detrimental in a family.

Walker has also written other short stories. For instance, You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down is a collection of fourteen short stories that show the plight and triumph of African American women (Walker 3-138). Just like in Everyday Use, Walker tells her stories from perspectives of women.

Characters narrate their experiences of trauma and success. While such stories are common and may not be unique, it is the African woman’s viewpoint that makes the work outstanding. These ideas vary from pornography, gender issues to inequality among others. Some of these experiences may force women to superficiality.

For instance, Dee lives in a world of superficiality while Maggie maintains a deep understanding of her culture. As Mama realizes the simplicity of Maggie, she begins to appreciate it (Walker 389). Conversely, the new life of Dee has only led to confusion in the family.

Walker aims to assert that people should appreciate their heritage and culture. In addition, people should not look at heritage and culture as the ‘dead past’ that can only serve ornamental purposes. Instead, people should see their heritage as a living past. We should ensure that we put heritage in everyday use to sustain it.

Walker wrote Everyday Use in the 1970s when African Americans were struggling to find and control their identities. As a result, some of them could not match the social, cultural, and political aspects that developed. This led to confusion among African American women. Walker also notes contributions of African Americans through their arts. Such artworks connected their generations to the past. In fact, artworks survived through generations and served as important pieces of heritage.

Dee reflects the struggle among African Americans who wanted to establish their own identity through their original roots, Africa. However, such people often failed because their roots remained vague to them. The bleak history inspired people to trace their ancestry in order to grasp and reconnect with their roots. Overall, Walker’s short story shows African Americans who did not understand the concept of the black consciousness or its ideals.

Alice Walker is an “American author, feminist, poet, and activist born in 1944” (Walker 1). She has written several short stories and poems. In fact, Walker listened to black stories from her father, which influenced her late works. Events of her childhood and political, social, and historical development in the US also feature in all her works. She narrates these stories manly from African American women perspectives.

Works Cited

SuperSummary. “Plot Summary of Everyday Use by Alice Walker.” 2012. Web.

Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Making Literature Matter: An Anthology For Readers and Writers. 2nd ed. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003. 382-389. Print.

—. You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down. San Diego: Mariner Books, 1982. Print.

Family is one of the most demonstrative social groups, where people related by kinship interact within complex relations of authority and power division. In well-balanced families, each member tries too use his/her authority not only for own benefit but also for the benefit of the others.

Such attitude forms the basis of responsible treatment among family members. However, in cases of disunited families, certain members employ their power for their own benefit, disregarding the needs of their relatives. An example of this can be found in Alice Walker’s essay “Everyday Use”, where the older sister uses her natural charisma and brightness to achieve personal success, irresponsibly neglecting her less advanced kin.

The dramatic contrast between Dee (or Wangero, as she chooses to call herself) and her mother and sister Maggie is revealed already on the level of appearance.

According to her mother’s description, Dee is good-looking and stylish. She has been demanding “nice things”, such as stylish matching clothes already since her teen age and has been aware of the power rendered by looks: “At sixteen she had a style of her own: and knew what style was” (Walker 451). Her limbs are perfectly shaped, which allows her mother to recognize her only catching a small glimpse of her leg stepping out of the car: “…even the first glimpse of leg out of the car tells me it is Dee.

Her feet were always neat-looking, as if God himself had shaped them with a certain style” (Walker 451). Her mother, “a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands”, and Maggie, all mutilated by “burn scars down her arms and legs”, are no-match to Dee’s ostensible beauty (Walker 449–450).

Adding to the outward contrast is the discrepancy between the characters and bearings of the three women. Dee is all self-assurance; she knows her strong sides, such as general brightness and scholarship. Therefore, she is determined to achieve success; and knowing it is in her power, she would not bend down before anyone: “She would always look anyone in the eye. Hesitation was no part of her nature. […] She was determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts” (Walker 450).

On the contrary, her uneducated mother would never look “a strange white man in the eye”; and Maggie, though undertaking attempts at reading, “knows she is not bright”, which makes her even more shy and timid (Walker 451). Maggie is opposed to Dee in her hopeless misery, “chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle”, fearful and bit envious of her sister’s self-confidence and ostentatious grandeur (Walker 450).

Against the background of such contraposition between success and failure, the more revealing appears the fact that Dee, in her shallow vanity, never uses her natural powers to support her family. Instead of carefully encouraging her mother’s and sister’s hankering after knowledge, she humiliates them by her arrogant disdain: “She washed us in a river of make-believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge we didn’t necessarily need to know.

Pressed us to her with the serf’ oust way she read, to shove us away at just the moment, like dimwits, we seemed about to understand” (Walker 450). No wonder her motives for taking away the historical quilts — simply to hang them in her designer parlor — appear absurd to her practically-oriented mother, who has planned to give them as dowry to be practically used by her younger daughter.

At this culmination point of extreme tension between Dee’s pseudo-refinement and her mother’s claim to common sense, Maggie unexpectedly reveals her power of wisdom by saying that she would remember her ancestors even without any quilts (Walker 454). This statement of Maggie’s inner power provokes her mother to exercise her authority and stop Dee from plundering the house which she has never respected, loved or devoted her effort to.

Any power presupposes certain degree of responsibility from its owner. In case with Dee, who has both the looks and the brains to achieve success, this power is misused. Not only does she neglect her family, but she also runs counter to her mother’s will and disrespects her parent’s authority.

Punishment for such outrageous behavior does not take long to come: the usually timid and miserable Maggie reveals her inner moral strength which inspires her mother to protect their right for preserving family heritage the way they considered it best.

Works Cited

Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Reading Literature and Writing Argument. 3rd ed. Eds. Missy James and Alan P. Merickel. Pearson, 2007. 449–455. Print.

In the short story Everyday Use, Alice Walker talks about the conflict that exists between Mama and Dee. This observation is shared by many. All the literary critic and commentator will agree that there is conflict between the mother and her eldest daughter. All of them will also agree that Mama chose to stand beside Maggie and supported her while she turned her back on Dee. However, there is no universal agreement when it comes to who is right and who is wrong.

There are those who said that Mama recognized the superficiality of Dee while she favored the moral strength of Maggie. On the other side of the fence there are those who said that Dee had the correct worldview and that she was justified her attempt to transform Mama’s old way of thinking. The reader must not take sides and instead find a way to reconcile the opposing worldviews of Mama and Dee.

Nancy Tuten echoes the sentiment of most readers and most commentators who said that Dee was a bad example of how a girl should behave. This is evident in the introduction to an article that she had written on this subject and she wrote “Commentaries on Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” typically center on Mama’s awakening to one daughter’s superficiality and to the other’s deep-seated understanding of heritage (Tuten, 1993, p.125). There are many examples in Alice Walker’s story that supports this view.

In the very beginning of the story one can already see the reason why Tuten disapproved of Dee’s actions and supported the desire of Mama and Maggie to continue with their way of life. There was a romantic air to Mama’s description of her home. She said it with affection and pride:

A yard like this is more comfortable than most people know. It is not just a yard. It is like an extended living room. When the hard clay is swept clean as a floor and the fine sand around the edges lined with tiny, irregular grooves, anyone can come and sit and look up into the elm tree and wait for the breezes that never come inside the house (Walker, 1973, p. 284).

The simple life is favored over the sophisticated life of the urban dwellers. Based on the world view of Tuten someone has to preserve the best of yesteryears, when the world was all about the beauty of family and enjoying the slow-paced lifestyle. A world populated by people who are not pressured to buy the latest gadgets and be updated with the latest trend.

Tuten’s commentary is a criticism to the lifestyle chosen by Dee. Tuten condemned her using a strong word and she said that is superficial. In other words she implied that Dee is all about the outward appearance and yet unable to fathom and appreciate what is deep and real.

Tuten’s made some valid arguments but she must also consider the importance of progress. It is being overly romantic to keep on wishing that the old days will not pass away. Sooner or later change will overtake every country and every community. The well swept hard clay may be nice during summer but what will happen when there is heavy rain? Is it possible that Mama and Maggie will not be able to come out of the house because the place is all muddied and they can even walk to buy their food?

On the other extreme Susan Farrell disagrees with the worldview of Mama and Maggie and instead favored the forward-thinking attitude of Dee. Susan Farrell made an emphatic argument against those who try to put down Dee and she wrote: “We must remember from the beginning that the story is told by Mama; the perceptions are filtered through her mind and her views of her two daughters are not to be accepted uncritically” (Farrell, 1998, p.179).

This is in direct opposition to Tuten’s analysis of the short story. However, Farrell went to the extreme. It is difficult to understand why she turned a blind eye to the faults of Dee.

It has to be made clear that Farrel’s understanding of Alice Walker’s story is an acceptable argument. One has to question who had the correct worldview. It is no loner convenient to praise Mama and Maggie’s dedication to preserve traditions and to condemn Dee for her progressive thinking.

It has to be said that perhaps Dee was not materialistic but simply wanted to improve her life. She simply wanted progress over backwardness and chose improvement over stagnation. However, Farrell just like Tuten went to the extreme in their praise and condemnation of the main characters.

Both Mama and Dee needed to see the big picture. Mama cannot keep on postponing her date with the present reality. It is time for her kids to experience what it feels like to be educated. There is nothing wrong with the fact that Dee decided to go to school and desire for a better life. It is wrong for her in not encouraging Maggie to reach for the stars.

She seemed justified in her actions because of Maggie’s injuries but even with a disability a child must go to school. There is no indication that Maggie is retarded and so it begs the question why she is attached to her mother like a cat’s tail to a cat.

On the other hand Dee must learn to value family and traditions. She must value it the way Mama and Maggie values their family history and heritage. It seems that Dee can only manage to appreciate what they have on an intellectual level while Mama and Maggie were able to embrace what they went through and their past history from an emotional and spiritual level.

It can be argued that Alice Walker is suggesting that the qualities of Mama and Dee must be fused. This is perhaps the reason why she inserted Maggie in the story. Maggie does not hate Dee’s sophistication and learning, in fact she wants to be like Dee. But at the same time Maggie is sensitive enough to honor and respect her mother and their traditions.

Maggie is the embodiment of what is possible if Mama’s conservatism and Dee’s progressive mindset can be combined in one person. The only thing that Maggie needed to do is to get out of her shell and not use her injuries as an excuse to grow and mature as a person.

Conclusion

It is not correct to take sides to choose between Mama and Dee. Both of them are correct and both of them are wrong when it comes to specific areas of their lives and their worldview. Mama cannot force her daughters to be like her – uneducated and living in a mud hut. On the other hand it is wrong for Dee to reduce everything into an intellectual treatise.

She knew the value of the quilts from a historical and analytical perspective but she is unable to show her mother and sister how much she respects the spiritual and emotional value of those quilts. Both mother and daughters must learn to live in the modern world without forgetting where they came from.

Works Cited

Farrell, Susan. “Fight vs. Flight: A Re-evaluation of Dee in Alice Walker’s ‘Everydayuse’”.

Studies in Shrot Fiction. 35.2 (1998): 179. Academic Search Premier. Web.

Tuten, Nancy. “Alice Walker’s Everyday Use.” Explicator. 51.2 (1993): 125. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web.

Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Fiction: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Laurie Kirszner & Stephen Mandell. FL: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994.

Creating a unique character might seem vital to keep the reader engaged, yet, in fact it is much more important to make the protagonist relatable. Though Phoenix Jackson from “A Worn Path” and Mrs. Johnson from “Everyday Use” share quite a number of characteristics and traits, they are compelling and genuine, which makes them inspirational for the audience. Despite coming from different backgrounds and are placed in different settings, Phoenix Jackson and Mrs. Johnson share their character motivation, which makes them quite similar.

The similarities between the characters in question shine through as their stories unwrap. Specifically, as Phoenix Jackson continues her journey to her sick grandson, she demonstrates resilience and love for her family: “I bound to go on my way, mister” (Welty, 1941). Similarly, Mrs. Johnson as a character is motivated and empowered by the same idea: “I did something I never done before: hugged Maggie to me” (Walker, 1973). As a result, while Mrs. Johnson’s character serves to promote the importance of one’s history and legacy, and Phoenix Jackson represents the quintessence of loyalty and determination, both are linked by their allegiance to their family. Though Mrs. Johnson seems to be more restrained in her emotions, she eventually reconciles with her love for her daughter and concern for her well-being.

Though Phoenix Jackson and Mrs. Johnson’s backgrounds and settings are quite different, their motivation and, ultimately, development arcs, which makes them both relatable and compelling. Both characters share deep affection for their family members and can be characterized as practical and honest. Therefore, while minor differences in their backgrounds set them apart from each other, their desire to support their loved ones connects these characters.

References

Walker, A. (1973). “Everyday use.” Harper’s. Web.

Welty, E. (1941). “A worn path.” The Atlantic. Web.

There are two parent-child relationships in “Everyday Use.” The closer relationship is between the narrator and Maggie. The more distant and fractious relationship is between the narrator and Dee. The narrator is referred to as “Mama,” and a mama she is. She cares about each of her children, but is forced to make a decision to favor one over the other as the story’s conflict comes to a head. Should Mama give an old, antique quilt with value she and her daughter Dee do not understand to Dee, who appreciates the history and heredity it represents? Or should Mama give that quilt, as promised, to Maggie.

Dee has never been told no before, as stated by the narrator, so indeed this decision is filled with a palpable tension. Maggie is not very smart or pretty and renders pity from any reader. Dee is intelligent, bold, and self-involved—a character rich with the materials necessary to venture out into the world, but bad at maintaining the simplest of familial relationships. This short story turns out to be a hero’s tale of a mother who chooses to maintain a fair balance between her two, incredibly different daughters, by telling Dee no for the first time in her life, and staying true to her intention to hand the quilt down to her meek Maggie. This story is an example of how a parent’s love is often of a discerning nature. It makes the necessary choices between favoring the gifted, and the challenged, in as fair a manner as possible.

References

Walker, Alice. (1973). Everyday Use: For Your Grandmama. [Electronic Version]. African American Review: 1-8. Web.