“Everyday Use” is a short story authored by Alice Walker and published in the year 1973. The story in the book is narrated by an African American woman known as Mama. Mama and her two daughters Maggie and Dee live in the Deep South. The story brings out the existing difference between Mrs. Johnson (Mama) and her two daughters who have diverse personalities. Maggie is young and shy but still values tradition. On the other hand, Wangero also known as Dee is very successful and educated. Dee, however, does not value tradition as she scorns her roots.
Walker portrayed Dee as a selfish and proud person, who discarded her heritage openly. There is a conflict of interest between Dee and her sister Maggie over family possessions. The best example is at dinner when Dee asks for a butter chair. She believed it was a way of showing respect to the uncles and also to her heritage since the dish was made of wood gotten from the family tree. However, Dee’s intentions with the butter chair were self-centered.
Another scenario that depicts a conflict of interest is when Dee demands Mama’s quilts in the name of appreciating her heritage. The quilts should however be given to Maggie since she has an understanding and appreciates the connection of quilts to the family. Dee does not understand the importance of quilts, and she may resolve to sell them or throw them away when she goes back to college. However, at the end of the story, we see Mama struggling with the decision on whom to give the family quilt.
“Everyday Use” teaches a great lesson on family inheritance, and who is fit to receive it. The story centers around stitches quilt which is a symbol for true inheritance. Mama, Dee, and Maggie are used as a symbol for African American tradition and culture.
The three characters depict and enable us to understand one of the major weaknesses that most African Americans faced which was an identity crisis and struggle. Dee characterizes misguidance and confusion that young Americans underwent in the late sixties and seventies.
Dee is the source of all conflicts in the story since she is never satisfied with what the family is offering her. First and foremost, Dee was never content by the rural world she was raised in; she never felt part of the society from which she comes. Dee considered herself to be beyond the quality of life that her sister and mother lived. She made this clear when she tried to take the family quilt that Mama had promised Maggie.
According to Dee “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts…. She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use” (Walker, 12). Dee thinks that using the quilt for a different purpose other than its original intent is respecting the family heritage. This, however, is not the case since her desire to display the quilts is not different from white capitalism. She will sell the quilts as they act as ethnic artwork for whites. In a real sense, Dee is an epithet of the struggle for unifying identity, since she does not recognize her role in the society where she comes from.
Maggie, on the other hand, is generous and simple. She is a bearer of true value, sacredness, and tradition. Maggie can be considered to be brighter than her sister Dee even though she is not learned. This is because Maggie understands the true meaning of value and heritage. Despite being looked down upon by Dee, she preserves the ancestral importance of quilts which is a utilitarian necessity. Cultural significance is reinforced by Walker in “Everyday Use” when Mama showed courage by refusing to allow Dee to have her ways through pretense. She represents an African American society that has a custom of passing on heritage without dwindling between generations.
Mama represents most African American mothers who are not educated but have excellent character. Mama is proud of her nature and heritage, and that is why there is no single day that she has ever complained about where she comes from. She respects and loves her ancestors, and this is evident in how she treats her quilts. The quilt act as a direct connection between Mama and her ancestors and that is why; it is of great importance and value to her.
In conclusion, “Everyday Use” is a short story that represents social dilemmas and dynamics among African Americans, it elaborates on those people who look down on their pasts and their own less fortunate peers, and instead of seeking fortune and fame in a capitalists world. Those who depart from traditional black Africans’ culture become ashamed of their humble background after their progress. However, they hold on to culture by trying to keep their antiques, souvenirs, and artifacts. Dee goes back to pick her article which is quite ironic since she was delighted when their house got burned down.
Dee generally depicts identity struggles and misguidance that took place in the seventies. On the other hand, Mama and Maggie fully comprehend the importance of preserving culture. Walker was eager to make African Americans respect and be proud of their cultural heritage. She also challenged them to respect the culture and heritage of others.
Works cited
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use” Literature: An introduction to reading and writing, 10th edition, New York: Pearson Longman: 2012. Print.