Everyday Use Irony - 761 Words (2023)

analytical

Everyday Use ends with Dee leaving, not with the quilts, thus making room for the new bond between Mama and Maggie. Dee may believe that she has won in some way because she is the educated sister who appreciates her heritage, but the reader sees it is in fact Maggie who has become victorious by having her way of life validated by Mama’s support and Dee’s envy. Maggie’s system of values is redeemed by creating a new relationship, with herself, in which she is no longer silenced and can truly appreciate the beauty of her home even in its everyday use. While there is little growth seen from the experience on Dee’s side, we know that Maggie is forever changed, giving her more power than she ever had. There is still and will always be a struggle between her and her sister, but Maggie now knows she does not need redemption from Dee, nor anyone else, because it is she who carries the importance of the past into the future.

In the story “Everyday Use” Walker weaves us into the lives of Momma, Dee, and Maggie, an underprivileged family in rural Georgia. Momma is described as a loving, hard working woman who cares more about her family’s welfare than her appearance. The conflict comes along with Momma’s two daughters Dee and Maggie whose personalities are as different as night and day. Dee, the younger, is an attractive, full figured, light skinned young lady with ample creativity when it comes to getting what she wants and feels she needs. Maggie on the other hand, is darker skinned, homely and scarred from the fire that destroyed the family’s first house. Throughout the story we are told about Maggie’s timid and withdrawn behavior. Her own mother described her as “. . . a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car . . . That is the way my Maggie walks . . . chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire.” (Handout, Walker) She is constantly overpowered by her dominant sister who “held life in the palm of one hand, that “no” is a word the world never learned to say to her” (Handout, Walker). It seems as if Walker herself find Maggie inferior, seeing as how she is a minor character in the story. Things begin to turn around for Maggie towards the end when she receives the family’s...

From the fashionable, expensive clothing that the character Dee in Alice Walker’s "Everyday Use" wears, the girl seems almost immediately to be a person of great value and importance. It may seem, too, at first glance, that Dee’s mother and sister, Maggie, in their tin-roof house and shabby clothing, are of little or no worth in "Everyday Use." The story ironically shows, under more careful thought, that the very outer characteristics which deem Dee the more valuable character are the ones which prove that the mother and Maggie have the more powerful inner worth.

When Dee returns and announces that she would be using a new name in order to reflect her African heritage her Mom becomes annoyed and starts to find her attitude ridiculous. After Dee tells her Mom that she no longer goes by Dee, Mom replies, “What happened to ‘Dee’?”(488). The fact the Mom asks about these changes exemplifies this annoyance she has with Dee. When Dee explains she changed her name because she’s oppressed her Mom shows that she finds the attitude ridiculous by pointing out it is a family tradition spanning more than 4 generations. When Dee starts asking to have the items that her Mom and Maggie need for everyday use with the intent to appreciate it as art, it only furthers how much she irritates her Mom. Dee had been offered one of the quilts before she went to college Dee thought they were, “old-fashioned, out of style.”(490). It’s after Maggie agrees to give Dee the quilts that her Mom realizes that she has always given Dee everything she wanted even at Maggie’s expense. Mother had an epiphany about how to handle the situation, shown when she says, “Something hit me on top of the head”, “just like when I’m in church and the spirit of God touches me”(492). Dee’s attitude had annoyed the Mom so much she had this realization. For once the Mom decides to stand up against

In the commencement of "Everyday Use" Dee is styled as lively and Maggie as unclear by their own mother but towards the end of the story reader comes to know that Maggie has inner strength and a heartiest feelings for the people in her own family; whereas Dee appears quite uninformed and confuse about the real meaning of heritage and its worth. (Robins Elizabeth, 2010). The Mama character finds that the best way to protect the essence of the quilts is to end risks and confusions as depicted in Maggie’s eternal “care.” The mockery of this is not disagreeable but emotional which preserve the substances and take them out of everyday use because they consider it as disrespectful because it disrespects the objects’ intended. However the usage of heritage things in daily life is very important because it keeps the history of family

The twenties, a time marred by prohibition and television's implantations, were widely known as a time of struggles such as the Great Depression and the beginning of what later became known as women's rights. However, presumably the greatest struggle was that of ‘colored' people. Because of limited resources, limited speech, and limited economic opportunities many ‘colored' people sought ways to escape ‘everyday' life and the hardships they often faced. One of these ways came by beginning to express themselves more freely. In addition, as a result, the Harlem Renaissance formed. In "Everyday Use", Alice Walker, one of the frontrunners of the Harlem Renaissance, tells the story of an oppressed and under-privileged African American family with differing values on what it means to live, or more importantly, of one who struggles with understanding of their present life in relation to the traditions of their ancestors and culture. The audience is introduced to both girls at the beginning of the story. From the narrator's vivid description of the girls, the reader quickly forms a distinction between the two daughters. The way Maggie walks is compared to that of "a dog run over by a careless rich person" (453). However, Dee is described as "lighter than Maggie, with nice hair and a fuller figure" (454). Just from the physical description, the readers can infer that Dee is the "prettier" of the two. Though they are totally opposites in physical features, both girls share a central theme. Alice Walker uses something as simple as a quilt to develop the central theme. This theme is that both daughters, Dee and Maggie, are confused about the meaning of their heritage. However, Dee's confusion is a result of her not wanting to acc...

Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," explores Dee and Maggie's opposing views about their heritage by conveying symbolism through their actions. Maggie is reminded of her heritage throughout everyday life. Her daily chores consist of churning milk, helping mama skin hogs on the bench which is the same table her ancestors built, and working in the pasture. On the other hand, Dee moved to the city where she attends college. It is obvious throughout the story; Dee does not appreciate her heritage. When Dee comes back to visit Mama and Maggie she announces that she has changed her name to Wangero. Dee states "I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me" (89). Her stopping the tradition of the name Dee, which goes back as far as mama can remember, tells the reader that Dee does not value her heritage. Another symbolism of her lack of appreciation for her heritage demonstrated through her actions is when Dee asks Mama if she can have the churn top to use it as a ce...

When two children are brought up by the same parent in the same environment, one might logically conclude that these children will be very similar, or at least have comparable qualities. In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," however, this is not the case. The only thing Maggie and Dee share in common is the fact that they were both raised by the same woman in the same home. They differ in appearance, personality, and ideas that concern the family artifacts.

Mrs. Johnson, the mother, is described as, “a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands” (6). She tells some of her capabilities including, “I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man. . .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” (6). This description informs readers that Mrs. Johnson has learned all the ways and traditions of her ancestors and knows how to survive from day to day. She and Maggie’s lives in the small home represent a simple, unsophisticated way of life. Dee, on the other hand is described as, “[light-skinned], with nicer hair and a fuller figure” who “wanted nice things” and “had a style of her own” (7). The clothes Dee wears and the phrases she uses to greet her mother and sister show that she has no real understanding of her background and where she comes from. This shows Dee to be materialistic, complex, and lead a life where heritage is looked upon as a trend and not for what it really represents.

After evaluating the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, I came to the conclusion that the narrator made the right choice of giving her daughter, Maggie, the family quilts. Dee (Wangero), her older sister was qualified for the quilts as well, but in my opinion Maggie is more deserving. Throughout the story, the differences between the narrator’s two daughters are shown in different ways. The older daughter, Dee (Wangero), is educated and outgoing, whereas Maggie is shy and a homebody. I agree with the narrator’s decision because of Maggie’s good intentions for the quilts and her innocent behavior. In my opinion Dee (Wangero) is partially superficial and always gets what she wants.

In her story "Everyday Use," a mother and her younger daughter, Maggie, await the visit from Dee, the older daughter, who has grown away from the family and become part of a more mainstream Americanized generation of blacks. Walker's short story examines how concepts of racial identity vary from generation to generation. Dee has become involved in the Black Consciousness movement, and has changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, because, as she states, "I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me." Her mother reminds her that she was named after her aunt Dicie, but Dee refuses to relent. She then begins to collect items from around the house—the butter churn, some quilts—items that the narrator and Maggie use every day, to use as display pieces: "I can use the churn top as a centerpiece for the alcove table … and I'll think of something artistic to do with

Like most peoples families there is a dynamic of people involved, although all from the same environment and teachings, it is ultimately an accumulation of personal experiences that shape us and defines how we perceive our existence. “Everyday Use” is a story of conflict of right and wrong and also family values. Walkers’ narrator, “Mama”, struggles with her disrespectful daughter ‘Dee”. Though “Mama” was quoted to have worked hard like a man to send her to school gratitude is never mentioned. “Clearly, Dee privileges language over silence, as she demonstrates in her determination to be educated and in the importance she places on her name” (Tuten). Since “Dee” had been out of the house and to school in the city she had lost touch with where she came from and had little respect for the family heritage. Maggie having been burned in a house fire had learned to love the shelter that only a family can provide. Being burned makes you like no one else, everywhere you go you feel eyes looking. Since she had not been out of the house and had the time to learn the value of family she regarded the quilts as a part of her heritage.

“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is about a mother with two daughters, Dee and Maggie. The mother and two daughters are very poor and are of different color than people surrounding them. Dee and Maggie are very opposite each other. Dee is pretty and is somewhat intelligent, she also had the privilege of going to school. Maggie is not so smart, and she is going to be getting married to an earnest face guy named John Thomas. The relationship that the narrator and Maggie have is very gentle, but also simple because their personalities are very much alike. In “Everyday Use”, Dee and the narrator would argue more than the narrator and Maggie. One of the arguments was about Dee taking the quilts, the narrator, “looked at her like that something hit

Walker's view is very clear at the end of the story. By Dee wanting to hang the family heirloom on the wall to look at from a distance, she is alienating herself from her family heritage. That is exactly what Walker thinks is the wrong thing to do. Walker would prefer the quilts to be used and integrated into daily life, like Maggie and her mother prefer. The same idea applies to all of the other household items that Dee has her eye on: the churn top, the dasher, and the benches for the table that her daddy made. They all are a part of life for Maggie and her mother. Walker believes that the only value that they hold for Dee is that they would be good trinkets to show off in her house. By using the quilts in this symbolic way, Walker is making the point that family heirlooms can only have meaning if they remain connected to the culture they sprang from - in essence, to be put to "Everyday Use."

When two sisters are raised in the same house, with the same parents, and in the same environment, one will normally conclude that the two will be similar. But, in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” this is clearly not the case. Even though they are sisters raised from the same mother, in the same environment, Maggie and Dee are, actually, very different from each other, complete opposites. And, within the story, Alice uses Maggie and Dee’s differences to portray the significance for their two opposing ways for appreciating their heritage and the use of their family’s heirlooms.