Preview

Everyday Use Maggie Character Analysis Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
570 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Everyday Use Maggie Character Analysis Essay
Samantha McCoy
English 1102
Ms. Bell
6/17/2015
Maggie Character Analysis

Today I will be writing a character analysis on Maggie from the short story Everyday Use by Alice Walker. Maggie is a quiet and shy individual that is always being looked down upon by other people. Throughout the story she is shown to have “no confidence or self-esteem. One occurrence that motivates her is the burn scars she got from the house fire several years ago. “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs.” (69) Because of the burns she has become very self-conscious and ashamed. “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.” (71) Since the fire Maggie became introverted and shy. “Sometimes Maggie reads to me. She stumbles along good-naturedly but can’t see well. She knows she is not bright.” (71) Because of her inability to see well she is not very bright. “I did something I never had done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into my room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap. Maggie just sat there on my bed with her mouth open.” (76) Maggie is shocked
…show more content…
“Flat character tend to stay the same throughout a story.” (55) Throughout the story Maggie doesn’t change at the beginning she is quiet and shy and in the end she still is. “Some writers try to distinguish the flat ones by giving each a single odd physical feature or mannerism.” (55) One of Maggie’s odd feature is the fact that she is unable to see well and another is the burn scars she got from the house fire years ago. “In most fiction minor characters tend to be flat instead of round.” (55) Maggie has a minor role in the story compared to her sister Dee’s and mother’s and therefore makes her a minor

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Maggie was very angry with Caleb for ruining her life! She can’t walk normal, and she had to attend therapy every week to heal her leg. She couldn’t bear the pain she have since a car accident occurs. People were making fun of her for walking so weird, and she feels lonely. Before she…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    I know it’s that way with me….” “…Roberta lifted her head up from the tabletop and covered her face with her palms. When she took them away she really was crying. “Oh shit, Twyla. Shit, shit, shit. What happened the hell happened to Maggie?” Roberta holds on to a guilt and also has an understanding of Maggie. She feels bad for never helping Maggie when she would get picked on but yet she knows she was too young to help. She also understands what life must have been like fro Maggie because she was a mute, older black woman. She understood her struggle but she could only imagine Maggie’s pain. Who could Maggie call on in her time of need or who could she tell when she needed help. She true symbol of a black woman without a voice. None of this could Twyla understand and she never understood the big…

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    When leaving Maggie’s mother’s mobile home, Maggie turns around and say, “I’m a fighter mama.” There are many reasons as to why Maggie would've said that to her mom for numerous reasons. The first reason, would be that Maggie’s father had passed away, leaving Maggie with her mother and sister, but unfortunately they didn’t care much about her making her feel alone and abandoned. . Maggie basically had to fend for herself and she tried to get by on her own since her family couldn’t care less. Secondly, since Maggie’s family didn’t care much she had to find odd jobs to help support her through her daily life, like becoming a waiter at an old diner. Within that Maggie struggle day in and out with eating and house expenses. Lastly, even though Maggie felt alone, she kept on pushing and exceeding to the very end of her life. In conclusion, Maggie said those words because all her life was a struggle to survive and become the very best fighter there was.…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sometimes people have to bring others down to bring themselves up and make them feel like they’re worth something. Maggie grew up poor and did not want to ever return to that lifestyle. She knew that big daddy was going to die and wasn’t sure if she was going to reap any of the benefits so this brought about self-conflict and how she was going to avoid her old poverty background. She also knew that that Gooper and Mae, Brick’s brother and sister-in-law, had children which was something that she longed for. She was finding all these issues within herself and it made her self-esteem drop. She wanted to feel loved, she wanted attention, and she wanted a wealthy, prosperous life of her own with her husband. Because she felt like these needs weren’t being met she had to find comfort from somewhere, so this is where she turns to skipper. Skipper was always around and was the closest thing to Brick so she took it upon herself to sleep with him. She says in act I “…you got a spinal injury–couldn’t play the Thanksgiving game in Chicago, watched it on TV from a traction bed in Toledo. I joined Skipper. The Dixie Stars lost because poor skipper was drunk. We drank together that night all night in the bar…” (43). She had no regards of anyone’s feelings but her own and she just wanted to make sure that her needs and wants were satisfied. Sleeping with Skipper brought comfort and security to her and this is what she felt she…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" is the story of a woman, referred to as Mama, and her two daughters, Maggie and Dee. Mama and Maggie live together in their small home in a rural area. Dee has gone to college in a big city and is coming for a visit. Maggie is painfully self conscious, "chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle" with scars on her body from a house fire. Dee has always been scornful of her family's simple way of living and has been greatly influenced by her time away. Walker uses Maggie to explore the ideas of a family's heritage and history and, by contrasting her with Dee, voices a concern that in our search for our roots perhaps we are losing important aspects of our heritage.…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Maggie and Wangero (Dee) are sisters. Maggie still lives with their mother in the family home. Wangero has moved on and lives in the city. Wangero has changed her name from Dee to get more in touch with her heritage. After years of shunning her African American background, Wangero now wants to embrace it. Wangero is used to getting her way. Her mother has never not given her everything she‘s asked for. She’s educated, clothed, and has grown into an attractive young woman. Maggie on the other hand is still living on the farm. She didn’t receive the same opportunities as her sister. A fire has left her scared, more than just physically. She is more introverted then Wangero. She’s not used to getting her way but still plodding through life with the expectations of a future. She knows her life will be servitude to her future husband John Thomas. Life has just passed her by when it comes to the values that her sister Wangero holds dear.…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, the story is about two sisters and a mother. Despite the family being poor, the mother works hard to provide for the both of her daughters. Dee is the eldest daughter and despises where she came from. Dee later on gains an education, attends college, and obtains a degree. In the story she is going through an identity crisis and changes her name to "Wanegro." On the other hand, Maggie is a shy young girl. At such a young age, she is still suffering from a tragic event. Maggie is intimidated by Dee; solely since Dee carries many accomplishments and her appearance. Soon after, Dee remembers the quilts made by her grandmother. She attempts to obtain the quilts and her mother decides to give the quilts to Maggie. The quilts are a symbol of customs in their family. In many different cultures there are a variety of customs that follow along with the generations. The short story exposes that the two sisters are attempting to reach the same goal, but in unlike methods.…

    • 784 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Maggie is a very religious person and Kenan portrays this trait of hers right off the bat. For example, in the beginning of the story Maggie Williams is at church bright and early Sunday morning like she is every time. The only difference in this one particular Sunday is the fact that her son came to visit her with a plus one. Maggie was first thrown off by the fact that the person he brought to church was a white man, but she was completely appalled when she found out his friend, Gabriel, had not been to church in around ten years. She feels like Gabriel is now the reason that Edward does not go to church as frequently as he should and the reason that he has barely come home to visit her. Maggie at this point is not Gabriel’s biggest fan at the moment but soon that will all…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eveyday Use

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Maggie's quiet backward nature on examination is a portrait of a person who receives from life whatever is given but is ashamed of the scars she received in the fire that destroyed their first home. She hides her thin body in a pink skirt and red blouse. Since the fire, she shuffles as she walks, "chin on her chest, eyes on the ground. Dee had a style of her own; and knew what style was. Style is the key to Dee's life. Like the sunglasses she puts on before she leaves, style is the color of glass Dee sees life through. She is blessed with looks, nice hair and a full figure.…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mama describes herself by saying, “In real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands.” She is a hard working woman taking care of both her daughters. She was not well educated. Mama explains her educational background saying, “I never had an education myself. After second grade the school was closed down. Don’t ask me why: in 1927 colored asked fewer questions than they do now.” Mama did not have the privilege to an education like Dee because of racial differences in the past. She also knows the true meaning of her heritage and would not allow Dee to take the quilts. Mama understands that her heritage is not dead and is forever living and asks her daughter, “What would you do with them?” Mama knew that Dee would treat the quilts as if it was something to preserve. Mama describes Maggie’s shyness and lack of confidence by stating, “Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him? That is the way my Maggie walks. 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.” The house fire has impacted Maggie’s life tremendously compared to her sister Dee. She is kind- hearted and is usually over looked as described…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alice Walker Heritage

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages

    At the beginning of the story, Maggie, the narrator’s daughter, shows signs of the scars from slavery. By doing this when we are first introduced to Maggie, it shows that this is going to be a conflict through the story. First, she has scars…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The personality of a person is based on their characteristics and qualities. Maggie is a shy and insecure girl because of her appearance, for example, “Showing just enough of her thin body enveloped in pink skirt and red blouse for me to know she’s there” (Walker 52). Maggie is also a small not so much attractive girl with a burn scar on her cheek, which in my opinion probably contributes to her shy personality. In contrast, Dee is a very attractive and appealing girl with a horrible personality, “Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure” (Walker 53). Because she has always gotten everything she’s wanted, when her mom finally tells her “No,” Dee has a temper tantrum and storms away. While at one point in the story, Maggie was willing to let Dee have the quilts just to stop all the argument, another testament of her humble…

    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyday Use Symbolism

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Walker uses descriptive diction to give a realistic, detailed vision of the characters. “In real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man working hands. In the winter I wear flannel nightgowns to bed and overalls during the day. I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man. My fat keeps me hot in zero weather. I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing; I can eat pork liver cooked over the open fire minutes after it comes steaming from the hog. One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain between the eyes with a sledge hammer and had the meat hung up to chill before nightfall.” (Walker 50). But, she also includes “But of course all this does not show on television. I am the way my daughter would want me to be: a hundred pounds lighter, my skins like an uncooked barley pancake. My hair glistens in the hot bright lights.” (Walker 52). These statement made by the narrator is significant because it reinforces the authors constant sense of realism throughout the story. Walker also includes, “How long ago was it that the other 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. Her eyes seemed stretched open, blazed open by the flames reflected in them” (Walker 53). This adds to the characterization of Maggie, explaining what happened to her that made her into the timid way she is. Walker also relied upon literary techniques in the story. Robert Matunda states that Walker employs phonological processes, patterns of word formation; the syntactical features that Walker uses to negotiate with her readers including, negation, verb-deletion, tense-variation. Walker’s use of these elements give the story a more technical and logical taste for the audience, though still implying a…

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Maggie’s story is told through the eyes of Scrap, the gym keeper at Frankie Dunn’s gym. In the end it is revealed that Scrap is writing a letter to Dunn’s daughter with whom Dunn had tried without success to regain contact with. Although it wasn’t revealed until the end of the film, I thought that this was a powerful way for the story to be told. Scrap was close to Maggie and especially close to Frankie and told their story with such passion and respect that was passed on to the audience. Through the chronological series of events that unfolded, a relationship between the audience and the character was strongly developed.…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyday Use Analysis

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Maggie is the very shy and polite one out of her and Dee. Maggie was the character that lived with mama, during the story it says that Maggie was burned in a house fire. This character is a character that would just blend into the background because of how shy she was, she wouldn’t talk to much; so she would rather just blend in with the surroundings. Maggie was a foil character because her and mama didn't change nothing throughout the six years that passed, while Dee did change a lot; throughout those six years. Maggie is a good hearted kid, she would rather let Dee have the quilts that were promised to her, instead of fighting over them.…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics