Introduction
Individual authors’ literary works allow readers to evaluate specific social, religious, and other aspects of human life from the perspective of writers themselves. Discussions about important values, at the same time, have a different style of presentation and can have both complex forms and structures and simple and short formats. One of such small pieces is the story Everyday Use by Alice Walker, the American writer. The author resorts to an ironic style of storytelling but hides a deep meaning behind humorous dialogues and situations that make one smile. The analysis of the story of an African-American woman and her two daughters who are forced to cope with emerging challenges individually shows that Everyday Use has several different storylines. The key issue raised by Walker is the elder sister’s desire to know her heritage and the indifference of the other family members to this topic. The complex relationship between the mother and her daughters is another topic that is also explored from a social perspective. The pursuit of cultural heritage is a personal choice, and the distinctive interpretation of this problem by the characters is the basis of the story.
Characters’ Distinctive Views on Life
The complexity of the interaction among the characters in Everyday Use is a factor that underlines their distinctive views and proves that within the same family, values can be different. The daughters of Mrs. Johnson, an African American mother, or Mama, are Dee (the elder) and Maggie (the younger). The mother often recalls her children’s childhood, and in one scene, she mentions how hard it was for her to see Dee’s superiority over Maggie (Walker 27). Such an upbringing approach is wittingly wrong since the woman deliberately singles out one of her daughters and focuses on their inequality in the family. However, despite her concerns about parenting, Mrs. Johnson is not prone to deep reflection. She has dreams that cause her anxiety, but instead of thinking about their nature and causes, she seeks to explain them simply, without going into reasoning (Walker 25). One cannot state that the woman does not love her children. Nevertheless, she perceives their growing up distinctively and realizes that their childhood was in the atmosphere of tension and constant concessions and compromises.
In an effort to learn about her cultural heritage, Dee decides to leave her home, which is her conscious and logical choice. As the elder daughter, she strove to meet the high expectations placed on her by her mother, but she also wanted to make independent decisions. Her meeting with close relatives and their acquaintance with Dee’s fiancé confirms that neither Mrs. Johnson nor Maggie was ready for the transformation that happened to Dee. Under the influence of personal beliefs and outlook on life, the elder daughter has changed, and her relatives notice this. Living in a big city has made her more arrogant and self-confident. The situations when Dee tries to convey their cultural heritage to the mother and sister look more comical than serious. As Walker notes, the relatives do not understand her and perceive her as a stranger (33). As a result, one can assume that Dee has managed to find out what she was striving for, but she has failed to convey this to her family.
Dee’s return to home is an episode that reflects distinctive interpretations of the cultural heritage by family members. Both Mrs. Johnson and Maggie are stunned when the elder sister informs them of the name change and argues that she does not like “being named after the people who oppress me” (Walker 35). This attitude worries her relatives, and the episode in which Dee is forced to give in to Maggie and give her quilts is the author’s technique that emphasizes the change in the characters’ views (Walker 37). Dee has achieved what she wanted since childhood, but her behavior looks feigned and unnatural. She, perhaps, is comfortable in such an image of a hysterical and arrogant lady, which, nevertheless, does not contribute to her rapprochement with close relatives, but, conversely, separates them even more. As a result, the reader may conclude that distinctive interpretations of cultural heritage are not always intended to indicate correct and incorrect positions. With sincere and honest intentions, a person can offend loved ones, and the example described in Everyday Use proves that a distinctive view of one’s background can cause controversy.
Causes of the Characters’ Conflict
The conflict based on the characters’ different views on the importance of cultural heritage is central to this story. Conventionally, one can single out two sides: Mrs. Johnson and Maggie as those who are indifferent to their background and Dee who wants to fill in the gaps of her past. After realizing her dream, the elder sister intends to convey to her loved ones what they, in her opinion, do not understand, but this attempt fails and aggravates the misunderstanding. Walker shows the situation in such a way that the reader can take one of two positions (36). Dee does not share the loved one’s worldview of her mother and sister, and the latters are not ready to communicate with the person for whom history is more important than family. This choice is evident in the characters’ individual actions and their interaction. Dee’s meeting with her family puts everything in its place: Mrs. Johnson takes the elder daughter’s quilt rudely and hands it over to Maggie (Walker 37). Such an act is a symbol that can be interpreted as the final position that the mother takes in the conflict.
Another reason for the conflict that explains the current misunderstanding and difference in views is selfishness. Mrs. Johnson has never wanted to know the story of their family better. At the same time, she is not ready to betray her loved ones and abandon her daughters for a lofty goal. Dee, in turn, seeks to learn more about her cultural background, but in her attempts, she distances herself from her mother and sister. By offering to organize an exhibition of family relics, she shows that she is not interested in mundane issues (Walker 36). She strives to achieve high goals instead of forging friendly relationships with Maggie and her mother. The two sides disagree on what is important and what is secondary, and this difference is critical. The embarrassment at the meeting gives way to the anger that both Dee and Mrs. Johnson feel. Thus, the selfish attitude of the older sister, who does not accept the refusal of loved ones, aggravates the conflict. Therefore, searching for cultural heritage may be interpreted as an excuse that increases the family members’ hostility towards one another.
Cultural Heritage as a Matter of Contention
Despite Dee’s selfishness and her unwillingness to put up with the passivity of her family, the topic of cultural heritage is a significant factor causing contradictions among the loved ones. Mrs. Johnson and her elder daughter understand this concept distinctively. For Dee, exploring the past is an attempt to change and become a member of high society. Walker emphasizes that the girl learns about the trend for self-identity, and she liked this topic so much that she begins to do everything possible to imitate people with the same interests (33). Some of the phrases she says contradict her past views and show a new Dee in a comical way. For instance, earlier, she considered their family quilts “old-fashioned, out of style,” but upon returning home, she intends to pick them up for her exhibition because she sees cultural value in them (Walker 37). Such a transformation is not to the liking of her mother who, despite her conservatism, has never shown such obvious shifts of interests. Therefore, the concept of heritage that Dee perceives fanatically and sharply is a stumbling block and a matter of contention in Walker’s Everyday Use.
Disagreements on the basis of cultural heritage alienate relatives from one another, and this applies not only to the mother and elder daughter but also to the younger one. Not wanting to put up with Dee’s obsessive fascination with exploring the past, Mrs. Johnson intends to shield Maggie from this influence. According to Walker, the mother sees the elder daughter’s attitude as aggressive and is not prepared to accept any arguments in favor of such an infatuation (37). Moreover, no consensus has been reached between Mama and Dee. When saying goodbye, the elder daughter gives parting words to her younger sister: “you ought to try to make something of yourself too, Maggie” (Walker 38). By saying this, she implies that their mother has never given them an opportunity to express their interests freely, which ultimately led to conflict. Maggie is not ready to accept the two sides openly, but she stays with Mama, and they both have a good time after Dee’s departure. The conflict has not become a point of no return in the family relationship, but the marker of cultural heritage has affected the loved one’s interaction negatively.
When discussing whether Dee and Mama can reconcile and improve their relationship or not, one should pay attention to Mrs. Johnson’s interaction with Maggie. The younger daughter feels maternal love and care, which is essential to her. Being under the dominance of her elder sister for most of her life, Maggie can be alone with Mama and share her position towards Dee by relying not on common sense but on personal experience. She knows that her mother will support her; moreover, she has never romanticized the concepts of cultural heritage and self-identity as her older sister did. She is not too upset when Dee wants to pick up the quilts: “she can have them, Mama” (Walker 37). Therefore, when analyzing the likely outcome of the conflict, one can assume that Maggie will hold the same views as before in order to please Mama and maintain her favor and love for herself.
The Characters’ Images as a Literary Technique
Everyday Use is a story in which the characters’ images help the author realize the writing goal and achieve the intended effect. For instance, Dee’s position as a dominant elder sister who seeks to explore her culture and history is in line with the mores of the era in which the story was written. Walker writes that even at a young age, “Dee wanted nice things,” which reflects her open and daring character (26). The elder daughter’s struggle for the right to know her heritage has developed over time into arrogance towards her loved ones, and Mrs. Johnson, being a superficial but experienced woman, notices this. The change of the name after moving to the city is the factor that proves that Dee is not a true supporter of maintaining her identity. Otherwise, she would not only leave her real name but would be proud of it. The influence of modern mores has affected her, and the premises of the conflict conceived before she left her home become apparent at the end of the story.
Since childhood, Maggie has not been as egocentric as her elder sister. When Dee arrives with her fiancé, Hakim-a-barber, the reader may notice that the younger sister and this man are similar in behavior: they are both quiet and submissive (Walker 34). Maggie’s willingness to be submissive is the author’s trick that complements Dee’s character as the one who is not ready to give up her habits, and the choice of her future husband is proof. Such symbolism as a means of literary expression demonstrates the author’s desire to show the difference between the characters and their worldview, including their attitude to modern trends. Thus, the image of Maggie is a contrast to an arrogant and daring Dee.
Finally, Mama can be described as opposing Dee from the perspective of her worldview. Mrs. Johnson is a conservative person and does not seek to change anything. Conversely, she is satisfied with the current mode of life, and Dee’s behavior is not clear to her. She does not show obvious aggression towards her elder daughter, but she also does not understand her passion for cultural heritage. It is this factor that becomes key, and the thesis of the dual interpretation of this trend by family members is confirmed. If Dee showed more respect for her family members and did not express her position so obsessively, Mama might perceive her fascination with history as a temporary interest. However, the woman cannot come to terms with how Dee has changed. That is why the story ends with Dee leaving, and the conflict seems to be unsettled (Walker 38). Thus, the role of each character is a symbol that the author uses to reflect the purpose of the story.
Conclusion
The characters of Everyday Use perceive the concept of cultural heritage distinctively, and their relationship forms the basis of conflict in the story. Each of the family members plays an individual role in the narrative, and their images are the author’s technique to convey the trends of the era of writing the story and different views on self-identity. The prerequisites for the conflict between Dee and Mrs. Johnson originated in childhood, and the dominant role of the elder daughter over the younger one has been preserved. Arrogance and unwillingness to put up with the conservatism of her loved ones have become the factors that separated Dee from her sister and mother, and the concept of cultural heritage is a matter of contention.
Work Cited
Walker, Alice. Everyday Use. Rutgers University Press, 1994.