The short story, Everyday Use by Alice Walker, is narrated from the perspective of Mama, a “big boned women with rough, man working hands”. It beings with Mama and Maggie, the youngest daughter, anxiously awaiting the arrival of her eldest daughter, Dee who moved away for school in Augusta. Dee is a confident, outgoing and ambitious soul, sophisticated by her education. Unlike the rest of her family, Dee is determined to make something of her life. She believes she is destined for bigger things beyond the small town her mama and sister are held prisoners to.
When Dee finally arrives, Mama and Maggie expect to greet a glamorous and sophisticated women, but instead, are introduced to Dee’s new husband, Hakim-a-barber, and then further shocked when Dee announces that she changed her name to Wangero in an attempt to fight the white folk that have oppressed her. Eventually, after a little chit chat, everybody sits down to eat.
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Dee asks Mama if she can take it home with her to use to decorate her own apartment. Mama reluctantly agrees. As the evening carries on, Dee continues to search the house for quirky antiques to decorate her apartment with when she stumbles upon two handmade quilts. Dee asks her Mama if it’s okay to take the quilts back her apartment in Augusta. Mama hesitates, uncertain as to which daughter should have the quilt. Maggie, quiet and reserve, desperately wanted the quilts too. Mama eventually makes the decision to give the quilts to Maggie. Mama’s decision causes an uproar with Dee, who begins to cry that she deserves them more as Maggie will not preserve them. Maggie nearly gives into Dee’s demands, possibly because she too feels she does not deserve them, but is stopped by Mama, who stands her ground. Eventually, Dee gives up and marches out of the house