The story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is about an African American family –mother and her two daughters. One of the daughters whose name is Maggie is very shy and quite. We do not know why, perhaps I believe it may have something to do with the accident she was in when the house went on fire and left her with severe burns. She lives with her mother. The second daughter Dee is perfect in the eyes of her mother (the story is being told by her). She got the looks, the personality, and the brain. The mother describes herself as more of a manly type. She has no education and does manly jobs as well. It seems like the mother likes Dee more than Maggie. Both girls are getting married soon and Dee wanted the quilts that her mother had. Unfortunately for her those quilts were promised to her sister Maggie. After a slight argument mother took the guilt’s and gave it to Maggie right after hugging her. This was the first time she had hugged her.
Why did Dee wanted the quilts so much. Was it because she has changed so much that she wanted to have something remind her of her heritage? Maggie showed a strong side of herself at the end. She wasn’t shy or scared anymore. Maybe because for the first time her mother came to her defense and showed that she is too her daughter.
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I think sometimes people want things just because they can't have it. dee may be jealous of Maggie, that she is getting the quilts and therefore wants them for herself. i also feel that she has always gotten what she wanted from her mother and now that she asked for something, even though Maggie had been promised it, she figured that she would get it.
To say that the mother thought Dee was "perfect" and that she liked Dee better than Maggie may be too easy a reading. If you look closely, the mother's relationhip with Dee is quite conflicted, and she is actually much closer to Maggie, in character. Consider the dreams she has involving Dee, and also the final scene (Maggie and the mother on the porch as Dee leaves). Also, connsider the contrast between Dee and Maggie as characters. This should lead to a discussion of one of the important themes of the story, which is, yes, heritage. But, again, this concept is ambiguous in the story. Through the interactions among the three main characters, Walker explores the complex and perhaps contradictory noitions of "heritage." There are, at any rate, at least two perspectives on heritage that the story presents. One represented best by Dee, and the other be Maggie and her mother.
Consider especially scenes--the dialogue and character interaction--involing the butter churn and the quilt. Also consider the symbolic value of these itmes, as they relate to concepts of heritage. Consider also the story's title.
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