Everyday Use By Alice Walker Character Analysis

In the short story “Everyday Use,” author Alice Walker allows the difference between two sisters, Maggie and Dee/Wangero to illustrate the theme heritage. As the story progresses, it reveals an African American family living in a small home with some sort of struggles. Dee, the eldest daughter, is a very intellectual young woman who lacks understanding in her family’s heritage because of her embarrassment of Maggie and Mama. Contrary to Dee, Maggie is not smart, but yet she understands her family’s background and is grateful of it. Sisters, Dee and Maggie differ in ideas of heritage. They are both born to the same mother, but with different appearances, personalities, and values of their background. To begin with, before Dee leaves home, she does not relate to her mother and sister in no way, shape or form. While Maggie possesses burn wounds and is very thin and her mother is big boned, Dee is

That is the way Maggie walks” (316 Walker). Maggie is unattractive and reminds you of someone with low self-esteem. Maggie is intimidated by her sister. She is not able to confront her sister on why she wants the quilts. As a result, she gives in to her sister’s request and tells her mom, “She can have them” (321 Walker). The quilts have a different value for each daughter. In Maggie case, “it was Grandma Dee and Big Dee who taught her how to quilt”, her mother promised her the quilts after she was married, and because they were meant to be used and appreciated. Maggie hints that she thinks of the quilts as a reminder of her aunt and grandmother when she says, “I can ‘member Grandma Dee without the quilts” (321 Walker). Dee/Wangero sees the quilts as “priceless” (320 Walker). Before she went away for school, her mother offered her a quilt, but she said “they were old-fashioned, out of style” (320