In the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker the author conveys the meaning of heritage between two sisters Dee and Maggie. Both have chose to live their lives differently and depending on what heritage means to you, the reader can relate to one or the other. In Dee’s case she chooses to leave her home behind in order to go to school and make the best of herself sacrificing her family, in comparison to Maggie who chooses to stay close to home with her mother. The quilt, the family heirloom brings a concern of doubt towards the mother on what heritage means to her and easily decides whom to past it on too. Dee and Maggie are examples of heritage through their points of views, personality traits, and relationships. Giving us a sense that there is no right or wrong perceptive of heritage but how you view it. Although both sisters are expressed in the short story, Dee’s views of heritage stand out the most. From the beginning we get a sense of the unattachment towards her old home, which was destroyed by a fire years before. Her mother wanted to ask her, "Why don't you do a dance around the ashes?" expressing Dee's distaste for the home ( ). Most people …show more content…
She has little to no connection to her Africa heritage, which makes it meaningless and false. Mama and Dee’s ideas of “heritage” are very different. For mama the family heirlooms are the true symbols of their family’s origins but Dee cant stay in the past. She views them, as objects to hang like a museum and not as the people who made and used them. Mama comes to the conclusion that Maggie and not Dee should have the quilts. Maggie would have the sense of respect by using them as intended and pass it on to future generations. When Dee argues at the end of the story that Mama and Dee don’t understand their heritage, ironically it would have been Dee whom didn’t understand hers and opted for a new