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Character Analysis: Everyday Use By Alice Walker

511 Words3 Pages

Different People Represent Different Things
In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, two sisters named Maggie and Dee are characterized through the eyes of their mother. Nevertheless, Maggie and Dee are both sisters, they are incompatible with how they act. This shows they’re two disparate people. When Dee comes home to visit her mother and sister, a conflict emerges over two antique quilts that were handed down from Grandmother Dee. This conflict reveals how Maggie and Dee have very different ideas on how to preserve their heritage.
Maggie and Dee never really had a good relationship with each other. Maggie is the timid and anxious one. In the beginning, Maggie and her mother wait for Dee to come and visit. Whenever Dee is around, Maggie tends to feel intimidated by her. Maggie always eyes her sister with envy and awe.“Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes” (Walker 315). …show more content…

She has changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo. Dee feels that her name came from slavery and wants to distance herself from that part of her past. Dee says, I couldn't bear it any longer being named after the people who oppress me” (318). This makes no sense because she was named after her aunt and her grandmother who did nothing to oppress her. Dee probably feels this way because she grew up impoverished and resented having to do without things. Momma observed that ¨Dee wanted nice things.¨ (316)
In this story, both sisters really wanted the antique quilts that Grandma Dee had made. However, they wanted it for different reasons. Dee only wanted the quilts to show off how nice it was. She is very careless of the quilts and thinks nothing of them. Maggie wanted the quilts for affectionate reasons. Mama realized that Maggie deserved the quilts more than Dee. The quilts were an important part of their heritage. They were very invaluable to the family. Maggie knew the true meaning of their heritage and Dee

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Dee and Maggie’s behavior did not change throughout the story, but Mama’s attitude proves to be drastically transformed by the end. As Dee is introduced towards the beginning, the author implies that Maggie thinks “her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand, that ‘no’ is a word the world never learned to say to her”. However, while Dee and Mama argue over the quilts, Mama claims, “I did something I never had done before: hugged maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero’s hands”. This action from Mama distinctly epitomizes her denial towards Dee. Mama’s rejection perfectly exemplifies her change, because in retrospect, Dee is portrayed as a girl who never had to think twice about

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Dee hated... “Being named after the people who oppress me” (318). Dee even changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo being who she wanted to be. She could be very ignorant when it came to things about herself and what she wanted. She does not comprehend that her sister does not have much and truly will require the coverlets. Wangero is unmindful all around; she comes off to her family as though she is superior to anything.

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This action Displayed tremendous selflessness while Dee actions presented self-centeredness and her selfishness. Joe believes, this was an attempt by Alice Walker to distinguish the level of egocentricity between the sisters to the audience. Maggie’s response to the quilts were motivated by her disappointing tone when she denied the quilts. Perhaps that is what pivoted Mama’s decision. Nonetheless, unlike Dee, Maggie learnt how to handcraft quilts of her own.

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She loves them for the way they look. Mama, on the other hand, views the things from her mother as artifacts. She loves the items more than how they look. She admires the quilts because of their everyday use. Transformations take place between these characters.

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She feels pity for her Maggie, who is very shy. Maggie experienced a traumatic event that her scars made her unconfident and unable to make any eye contact. Her sister Dee, on the contrary, is educated and confident. Mama with the help of the community did everything possible to raise money and send her to school. Dee appeared as a contrast to Maggie, she refused her name, renaming herself, Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, thus denying her heritage and family name.

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Mama ultimately decides that she wants to keep the quilts for their sentimental value and to pass them down to future generations. Mama makes an effort to counteroffer and convince Dee to take some other quilts that have less sentimental value. Dee declines, “No, I don't want those. They are stitched around the borders by machine,” and instead asks for “pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear,” (Walker 320). Her decision to keep them symbolizes her desire to maintain the family’s traditions and protect their history.

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This new outlook on her life caused Dee to place different values on the items with which she had grown up. She wanted to take the items as things to put on display like art hanging on a wall. Dee even wanted the cherished quilts to “hang them” (Walker, 1973) instead of using them as blankets. As she saw it, to use the quilts for their original purpose would destroy them, or as she said, “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they 'd be in rags” (Walker, 1973).

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In the story, “Everyday Use,” the oldest sister Dee redefines her views of her family’s heritage. Dee leaves her rural home to receive an education in the city, but when returning back home she has changed completely. Specifically, Dee changes her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo which creates difficulties for her mother. In the story Dee explains, “Couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me" (Walker 318). She views her past name as a reminder that African Americans are not given original names.

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