Alice Walker Everyday Use Analysis

Characters in the story “everyday use” by Alice walker are based on an ordinary African American family heritage. it is about two sisters Maggie and Dee who are raised by a single mother, one of them went to school and got an education, while the other one stays home, where she helps her mother chores around the house. The story begins with mama and Maggie waiting for Dee’s. Mama, the narrator of the story, describes herself as a "large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands” (Walker 553) She does not paint an attractive picture of herself, however she goes on to list the many things she can do. Like the items in the setting around her, she seems more interested in practicality, and less interested in aesthetics. Mama fantasizes about reunion scenes on television programs in which a successful daughter embraces the parents who have made her success possible. Mama imagines reuniting with Dee the same way, where Dee shows up with emotions, but it didn’t quite go the way it happens on television. When Dee arrived she was not the person Mama hoped to see. She had another name and she was married to a Muslim, so she had become a Muslim herself which made her see all the old items as a part of her heritage. Dee had moved away to attend a college in Augusta. She was the only one from her family to receive that level of education.
Each one lacks in areas that the other seems to possess. The two sisters did not share a bond throughout any part of their life. In fact they did not even say anything to each other until Dee was leaving. There is a communication problem between these two. Dee intimidates Maggie with her fierce ways of getting her point across. Maggie being the shyer of the two does not have a whole lot to say in order to defend her. She depends on Mama to fight her battles who in fact helps her try to appreciate her life a little bit and accept who she