By juxtaposing the sympathetic character, Maggie, with her deep knowledge and respect for her family members and their traditions and stories, and the misguided Dee, with her lack of understanding of her family's importance in terms of her heritage, Walker shows that familial heritage is as, if not more, important as one's racial heritage. Dee is anxious to embrace her racial heritage, changing her name so that she is not named for her oppressors, but she fails to internalize the fact that her name is a family name. She is named after generations of strong and respected women in her own family, but she isn't interested in those stories because they do not fulfill her need to have artifacts of her history. She cares about material objects more than she cares to learn family traditions, like quilting, or family stories, like who made what, when, and why. Maggie, with her humble knowledge of these things actually honors her heritage more than Dee can conceive.
Alice Walker examines the themes of family conflict and how individual family members understand their relationship with heredity differently. In the story, Dee is ashamed of her family and looks down on her mother and Maggie for their lack of material wealth and success. She views Mama and Maggie as backward rural folks who do not fully appreciate their African heritage. She ends up changing her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo and attempts to take her family's traditional handmade quilts in order to display them in her home.
Maggie is intimidated by her successful, attractive sister, and Mama recognizes that she is not as intelligent or accomplished as Dee. Despite Dee's natural advantages and accomplishments, Mama and Maggie have a deeper and genuine appreciation of their family's heritage and cultural roots. Their differences are revealed by Mama's interpretation of Dee's name, which has been passed down through generations, as well as their feelings towards the traditional quilts. Dee criticizes Maggie for putting the quilts to "everyday use" and believes they should be displayed as cultural pieces of art.
Walker sympathizes with Maggie and Mama's characters and suggests that their interpretation and appreciation for their heritage is more genuine and sincere than Dee's. In regards to family conflict, she illustrates that differences can exist and there are a variety of ways in which people can honor and value their heritage. Family members can also disagree about various things and it is often required for someone to step outside of their character to restore order.
Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" is about a rural African American family involved in a struggle over interpersonal roles.
The narrator is the mother of the family. The two daughters are Dee and Maggie.
Maggie suffers with burn wounds from a fire in her youth. These injuries have affected her self esteem, particularly with regard to her sister Dee. Dee is the outgoing sister, and at the time of the story she is home from college for a brief visit.
College has changed Dee. She views her sister and mother as hopelessly backward, and treats their household items like museum pieces. When she asks for a particular quilt, one that has been in the family for years, Maggie is disappointed, because it is supposed to be hers when she marries. However, in her timidity, she agrees to let Dee have it.
The narrator-mother, however, has had enough of Dee's uppity attitude and finally stands up to her, telling her that the quilt will stay with Maggie.
The theme is that family members can lose track of each other's needs and desires. Dee cares nothing for the family's daily needs, and so does not see the value of the quilt in terms of its "everyday use." Sometimes a person, like the mother in this story, has to step out of character to set things right again.
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