Maggie is not as attractive as Dee. She is thin and an awkward girl. Her mother says "good looks pass her by." Furthermore, she carries herself like someone who has low self-esteem, which her mother describes as "chin on chest, eyes on ground." Maggie has characteristics like her mother, she is an example that heritage in both knowledge and form passes from one generation to another. Mama is a full-bodied woman who does the needed upkeep if their home and wears overalls daily because she does not care about her appearance compared to her eldest daughter. Dee, on the other hand, is an attractive woman in college. Mama describes Dee as having, "nice hair and a full figure." Dee takes lots of pride in her appearance, she dresses in fashionable clothes.
Besides their appearances, Maggie and Dee have unique personalities. When Maggie is first introduced in the story, she is nervous about her sister's visit. Dee's arrival makes Maggie so uncomfortable, that she tries to leave the house. Maggie was also intimidated by her sister Dee, when she was afraid to confront her sister about the quilts. Maggie gives in and says that Dee may have the quilts because she is not use to "winning." But unlike Maggie, Dee is bold. When she was a young girl, she was never afraid to express herself. When her mother named her Dee, she hated the objects around her for the lack of beauty and style; but when she became a member of the Nation of Islam and changed her name to Wangero, she sees the quilts as a part of her heritage. The family artifacts are very important to Maggie and Dee, but for completely different reasons. Maggie values the family quilts for their sentiment and usefulness. She learned how to quilt from her grandmother and aunt who made the quilts. Her mother had been saving the quilts for Maggie to use after she wed. Maggie hints that she sees the quilts as a reminder of her grandmother and aunt. Dee also values the family quilts. After going off to college brought Dee to a new awareness of her heritage. She returned home wearing ethnic clothes and, explaining to her mother that her changed name and clothes was a way to disassociate herself "from the people who oppress [her]."
Without a doubt Maggie and Dee are two sisters who have turned out very different. Dee believes that she can appreciate the value of the quilts more than Maggie, who will "be backward enough to put them to everyday use." But at no time in the story did Dee ever reveal her mother and sister her use of the family objects. And Maggie has a connection of heritage with the quilt that Mama knows. Mama knows that "It was Grandma Dee and Big Bee who taught [Maggie] how to quilt." Because of Maggie's connection, Mama takes the quilts from Dee who "held the quilts securely in her arms, stroking them closely to her bosom," and gave them to Maggie.
In the end, the objects described in the story, by Mama, were used to boost the idea of the story. Which is an everyday item may have different meanings to different types of people. At which Walker used common items to symbolize the story's focus on the beauty, value of plain objects and average people, over that which is stylish and useless. So Mama she decides who receives the quilts, based upon the appearance, personalities and the knowledge of the family artifacts.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In Alice Walker’s short story, Everyday Use, there are many characters with contrasting personalities. There are two sisters named Dee and Maggie who are polar opposites in both appearance and character. Dee is more upstanding and proud, while Maggie is humble and respectful, so they don’t get along. Although most of Dee’s and Maggie’s characteristics contrast so much, they do share some of characteristics.…
- 64 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
Maggie is physically and mentally scarred. Physically because the fire that had took place at the old house and mentally because of the opportunities that were given to her sister. Her older sister Dee was beautiful and confident and she had gotten to go to college and live life. Maggie is highly self-conscious. In “Everyday Use”, her mother compared the way she walked to that of a lame dog that had been run over by a car. Ever since the fire, Maggie had begun to walk with her chin on chest, eyes on the ground and feet in a shuffle. She had communication apprehension when it came to pretty much talking to anyone. Maggie had to accept the country life and endured a much more difficult youth than Dee. Despite her personality, Maggie still lived a justly satisfied and concrete life. She goes on sharing everyday chores between her and her mother. In the end, Maggie is just a modest girl living a submissive…
- 867 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
This form of redemption takes place as an epiphany: You realize that what can save you isn't out there, but has been nearby all along, beside you, even in you, but never noticed, never heard, or never given a second thought” (Whitsitt 43). One instance of Dee’s attitude and loss of heritage is when they are all about to eat and she notices the hand-stitched quilts, which belong to Maggie, and demands that they be given to her. The attitude she has about wanting the quilts shows that she is a selfish person, and she obviously has no respect for her sister or mother or she wouldn’t have caused such an altercation. The quilts can symbolize many different events, but the true meaning of the quilts can only be decided from the readers’ past experiences. “The story shifts abruptly to the past tense immediately after Dee declares that she has changed her name. Up until now, Mama has been caught in the tension between her annoyance with Dee and her instinctive desire to be "the way my daughter would want me to be." Yet when Dee goes so far as to disown her family identity, Mama reaches a watershed”(Tuten…
- 634 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
She hasn’t had much formal education but has learned the traditional ways of her heritage from family. This is shown because of her ability to relate to certain pieces of fabric that was sewn into the quilts. Maggie is a shy individual and very self-conscious about her appearance because of her scars from a fire long ago so her look remains traditional unchanged and unaffected. Maggie feels that the quilts should be used everyday and cherished. But she recognizes what her heritage is unlike her sister Dee/Wangero.…
- 469 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Dee, the eldest daughter, has ventured from the rural world she grew up in but never felt a part of. The story is set in the context of her returning home for the first time since she left for college. Maggie the younger daughter has never left home. As the story unfolds Dee's motives become apparent. She has come home to retrieve objects from her former life that are meaningful to her. She plans to incorporate them into her décor. Mama relates her sad attempt to find value in her family and claim her inheritance.…
- 1185 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
She thinks to herself, “I didn’t want to bring up how I has offered Dee (Wangero) a quilt when she went away to college. Then she had told me they were old-fashioned, out of style”(320). The mother is in disbelief at Dee, who only wants to use her heritage as something for show and tell. Those same blankets she had once refused she now wanted because they fit her own aesthetic, and not at all for the value and meaning behind those quilts. The mother then decides to do something unheard of and, “hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snactched the quilts out of Miss Wangero’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap”(321). The mom has chosen her true heritage over the false, glamorized one that her eldest daughter has decided to create. She gives the quilts to Maggie because in her heart she knows that Miss Wangero does not deserve them, that Maggie can truly appreciate them and know who she is and where she’s come…
- 695 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
She shows more interest in sticking to the roots of where their family traditions began. She also was able to catch more physical interactions with Mama than Dee was able to. Maggie does not try to draw any more attention to herself than she needs. She has also developed a full understanding of the quilt making, which is a very important skill she currently holds over…
- 617 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Foremost, after Dee stops for a visit, Mama and Maggie can see that she is a different woman. She changes her name and believes that her understanding of heritage is what heritage is truly about. She enters the house and tries to take the quilts that are very important to Mama and Maggie, seeing that she believes she has to have it to support her “culture.” The text reads, “‘But they’re priceless!’ she was saying now, furiously; for she has a temper” (Walker 59). Here, Dee’s character getting furious because she is not receiving the quilts shows how much she has culture misunderstood. She believes in her immature mind that she has to obtain the quilts to support her with her heritage when she does not. As a result of her selfishness and corrupted views, it is clear to see that she does not understand what tradition is truly about. Later in the story, it is evident that Maggie has a full understanding of what heritage actually is because of what she so selflessly does. After Mama tells Dee she cannot have the quilts, maturely, Maggie allows Dee have the quilts. The story reads,”’She can have them, Mama,’ she said, like somebody used to never winning anything, or having anything reserved for her. ‘I can ‘member Grandma Dee without the quilts’”(Walker 59). This event portrayed here by Walker surely shows how mature and wise Maggie is. She understands that the quilts do not mean anything about heritage and that she can hold on to her grandmother without them. This event surely portrays the theme of a person does not have to possess worldly items to remember where they came…
- 578 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In “Everyday Use”, Alice Walker depicts many differences between culture and present day life by using Dee and Mama. Dee is a materialistic girl that lives for a modern and innovative way of life. She only sees her African roots and culture as an appeal. Mama is Dee’s mother, who is an African woman that knows the significance of their heritage and appreciates the importanc of what it means to them. These two characters consistently have conflicting ideas on how they should incorperate their heritage in modern life. This was shown when Dee asked for the quilts that were made from generation to generation from Mama. Those quilts even dated back to the Civil War. The quilts are important because they are one of Mama and their family’s few treasures and Dee wanted to hang them up on the wall like a museum piece. At the same time Mama actually promisesd Maggie, Dee’s sister, the quilts. Maggie gives the quilts to Dee but Mama snatches the quilts from Dee’s hands to prevent her from taking them and hangs them. Mama and Maggie value the quits because they remind of family while Dee only cares for its artistic value. At the end of the story, Dee leaves with her boyfriend to college while Mama and Maggie simply cannot stop her and watch her depart. This scene shows just how much Mama wants Dee to appreciate her heritage but just cannot stop Dee’s…
- 718 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Walker finds her voice through her homelife as a child and what she had to overcome. (Cummings 1). Even though Maggie, Dee, and Mama lived through poverty, they did not have to be “Born into a world marked by racism, sexism, and poverty” as the article “Alice Walker” describes (Cummings 1). In the short story, Maggie and Dee were able to go to school to learn skills such as reading unlike Mama (Walker 21). Walker experienced school, she just had to overcome different more severe obstacles. In the short story “Everyday Use,” Mama has two daughters who develop conflict with the family quilts and who will receive them, although in reality, Walker has at least seven children. Walker may have changed the gender of the children to give a more realistic outlook to her stories because boys are not going to fight over the quilt as much as Dee was over Maggie because they won’t see as much value in them as the sisters did. A newspaper article explains, “Walker stresses not only the importance of language but also the destructive effects of its misuse” (Tuten 125). Along with language, Walker stresses heritage and culture in her short story “Everyday Use” through her use of the quilts from her ancestors. Through Walker’s writings, and her personal experiences and life, there are many differences throughout both of…
- 467 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Early in the story, the narrator describes Maggie. Although she loves her sister, Maggie acts nervous and ashamed around Dee. With burns and scars tracing her body, Maggie does not feel confident around Dee; she feels inferior. When Dee arrives at the house, Maggie gets afraid and tries to return to the house. She is uneducated, which makes her self-conscious. Maggie…
- 579 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Walker allows the reader to see the story from Mama's point of view granting the ability to view both sides of how Maggie and Dee express their heritage. From the lines of the story Mama states," Pressed us to her with the serious way she read, to shove us away at just the moment, like dimwits...Often I fought off the temptation to shake her."(Walker 154), demonstrating her negative view of Dee. From Mama's point of view, Dee is yet to understand the true meaning of heritage shown by her lack of appreciation for her family. Mama grows to dislike how Dee treats her family and how she automatically believes she is superior due to the fact that she receives an education as the other members did not have this opportunity. From Mama's stand point in this story the reader is able to see the attributes that she does not like about Dee, and understand her decisions later in the narrative for these reasons. On the other side of the siblings, Mama's perspective reveals Maggie's short comings by pointing out how she is overly submissive and shy. The reader can clearly see that Mama grows to favor Maggie due to how quiet and compassionate she was growing up learning things from Grandma Dee as she grew. Maggie grows up in the shadow of Dee, but only because of how Dee would always take away the attention which leads Maggie to grow up more…
- 1094 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
Have you ever not seen eye to eye with your mother? In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use”, we are shown how many of the choices we make and the things we value create our identity. This story focuses on two characters, mama and her daughter Dee (Wangero), who struggle to see the same way about their heritage. Dee wants the things made by her grandmother, to not admire it as an artifact, but rather to remake it. She wants to take them, and change them to match her lifestyle as it is today. She loves them for the way they look. Mama, on the other hand, views the things from her mother as artifacts. She loves the items more than how they look. She admires the quilts because of their everyday use. Transformations take place between these characters. Dee’s transformation is more external than it is internal. She shows her transformation in the way she speaks, the clothes she wears, and her judgement. Mama’s transformation is more internal. She begins to see Dee’s real thoughts, and she stands up against her. When she takes the quilts away from Dee, she doesn’t only stand up for herself, but Maggie, as…
- 809 Words
- 4 Pages
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 -
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