In the short stories Everyday Use by Alice Walker and I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen, both authors focus on the relationships between mothers and daughters. They both focus on mothers that are concerned about their daughters. Both authors emphasize the roles of these mothers and the problems that occur in their relationships. These stories are told through the mother’s point of view. Olsen shows how the mother doesn’t have much control over how her daughter Emily is raised, and the guilt that came along with that. Walker shows how traditions and education in the family has caused conflicts between Mama and Dee. The mothers in each story question how their daughters turn out the way that they do. In Everyday Use, the mother is described as a hardworking woman, who is fully capable of doing a man’s job. Mama works all day long outside and only has a second grade education. However, her daughter, Dee, is able to go off to college and Mama is jealous of her high education and the intellect she shows on her visits home. Education seems to have the biggest effect on their relationship. …show more content…
For example, the Mama says, “I promised to give them quilts to Maggie, for when she marries John Thomas” (160). Favoritism caused a conflict between the two, and their differences in education separated their views. Dee lived a completely different lifestyle than Mama ever did and she was opposite of Maggie in every way. Dee says that Mama doesn’t understand their heritage and says to Maggie, “You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It’s really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live you’d never know it” (161). This also shows that Dee only despises her mother, but can still see the innocence within