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Everyday Use Symbolism

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04 September 20XX Character Analysis: Everyday Use
“Everyday Use” is a story written by Alice Walker in 1973 and was initially published under her Love and Trouble collection of short stories. “Everyday Use” takes place in the late 1960s to early 1970s when African Americans struggled for equal rights and treatment. This story features Dee, also known as Wangero, visiting her mother and younger sister, Maggie. While Dee plays a major role in this story, Maggie holds a significant part of the story through her personality, her relationship with her sister, and her symbolism.
Everyday Use starts with a short background summary about Ma, Dee, and Maggie as Alice Walker describes the family's early …show more content…

In Everyday Use, Maggie is often used to contrast with her sister. Dee is often portrayed as more of a beautiful and smart person while Maggie is depicted as ugly and shy. Maggie looks up to her sister and even tries to win her acceptance by allowing her to have the old quilts. There is also jealousy in this relationship as Maggie feels as if Deed has been gifted in life with her beauty, intelligence, and confidence. However, despite Dee’s more favorable outward appearance she has a harsh personality and cares very little for her family. Dee is often very selfish and only cares for her needs, and in contrast, Maggie is a very kind-hearted person who deeply cares about the people around her despite her shy …show more content…

In the story, Maggie symbolizes purity as, unlike her sister, is unselfish and kind-hearted. As previously stated, the symbolism of Maggie and her selflessness contrast with the symbolism of Dee. Maggie also has symbolism for her extensive knowledge of her family in heritage. During Dee’s visit, Dee questions which family member crafted a piece of furniture and Maggie replies with the history of the item as well as who made it. Maggie’s knowledge of her family's history symbolizes the respect she has for her heritage while her sister, Dee, runs from her family and uses antique furniture to impress others. Maggie’s quilts can also symbolize the respect she has for culture. According to Alice Walker, the quits were sewn by Dee and Maggie's grandmother, and while Dee only wants the quilts to show them off, Ma chose to give them to Maggie because she knows she will respect and use them. There is also symbolism in their old home including the fire that burned it down and Maggie in the process. The house fire symbolizes the family being separated or destroyed, as evidenced by how Dee treats her family and why Maggie often seeks her sister's approval. Despite this, while fire symbolizes destruction, it also symbolizes purification, which Alice Walker uses to show Maggie's kind-hearted and caring nature as she is uncorrupted by selfishness. By this, Maggie's pride and her thoughtful actions

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Reading this story, from Mama’s point of view, limits our ability to understand the viewpoints of the other characters involved. Mama describes Maggie as being “simple and not very bright”, but she may just be very introverted and if you heard this story from Maggie’s vantage point, she may come across as very caring and wise beyond her years due to the tragedies she experienced in losing her home to fire and in being burned. Also, in Dee’s defense she has the right to feel proud in regards to her education and “making it” in the outside world. Her personality is flamboyant and she is portrayed as being highly motivated which contrasts sharply with Mama and Maggie’s personalities. Mama may be misunderstanding her actions due to their very

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In the story Everyday Use, there is conflict between the two main characters Maggie and Dee. The two sisters are arguing over their Grandma 's quilt. Maggie feels that she deserves the quilt because she will cherish it and make great use out of it, unlike her sister who only wants to frame it in order to remember her heritage. Dee is not used to being told "no" and she has always got everything she has ever asked for, which is why she puts up a fight for the quilt. Dee then goes on to explain to her family on page 172, how she is changing her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo.

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Maggie in Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use” plays the role of being the nervous and ugly sister of the story, however she is the child with the good heart. Maggie was nervous ashamed of her scars “Maggie was nervous… she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs”. Living in a house with a pretty sister and being the ugly sister with scars could be the reason why she picked up on a timid personality, being ‘ashamed’ of her own skin shaping her in a way that she degraded herself from everybody else. Maggie was not this way before the fire, her mother stated, as it is quoted that she had adopted to a certain walk ever since the fire.

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She doesn 't know how hard life is with her sister and mother. Dee only cares about what she wants and she talks down on her family. She believes her sister could not use the quilts in a way she thought they should be used. " Maggie can 't appreciate these quilts!" she said.

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Maggie is also oppressed by society and Dee, and, though to a further degree than her mother, her view of herself attacks her equality compared to the rest of the world. The subject is immediately introduced. The story begins with Maggie and her mother waiting for Dee. They waste their time in order to be available to Dee as soon as Dee

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The narrator and her children feel the quilts symbolize generations of war and poverty that their family endured over the years. On the other hand, not all family members share the same appreciation for the quilts. Adopting a different culture after going to college the oldest daughter, Dee, appreciates the quilt for being part of her legacy. She can't believe that the quilt was handmade. "These are all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear.

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Sarnowski describes Maggie by stating, “She ekes out an existence on the family farm and has neither the intelligence nor the physical attributes of Dee/Wangero” (Sarnowski 278). This statement shows that Maggie lives a conservative type of farm life, and due to this lifestyle, she is less intelligent than her sister. This statement also shows how the character Maggie is described in a sense as inferior to Dee because of her lack of education and physical attributes. Maggie’s traditionalist ways show, however, when she tells her mother, “"She can have them, Mama,” … "I can 'member Grandma Dee without the quilts"” (Walker 6).

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“Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts! She said. “she’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.” (walker). This shows that dee really wants the quilts but not for the reason her mother wants.

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Therefore, many of the items which Dee and Maggie see in the course of the story have radically different meanings. Dee, having had the advantage of leaving home to go to college, had her life changed by the lifestyle she was introduced to in the city. When she came home again, her view of the items which Maggie and her mother considered as everyday use items had taken on a whole new meaning to her, she now saw them as artifacts instead of things which were useful.

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The story goes beyond these traits to deal mainly with the way in which the two sisters value their heritage. Maggie knows nothing but her heritage, for she has never left home. On the other hand, Dee seems to have

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Maggie has a very bad relationship with her bigger sister Dee with jealousy and hatred. Mama always thinks that Maggie lives an unfair life but Maggie never said that. “Maggie asked me mama when Dee ever had friends” (Walker, 317, 14), this quote shows how Maggie is jalousie from Dee, actually dee has friends. When Maggie sees stuff she doesn’t like she hides it and doesn’t talk but when she knew that Dee wanted to take the quilt that mama promised to give her she dropped the plates and smashes the kitchen door very hard.

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She is spoiled, and she is a mean kind of spoiled, and does not like to be told anything. According to Mama, Maggie thinks that Dee has never heard the word “no” (109). Also, she thinks she knows everything. As for me I am spoiled. I

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Maggie did not go to school, does not dress in colorful attention-getting African garb, and does not have a fancy boyfriend, but she does slam a door which indicates her feelings about the quilts and butter churn her sister has come to claim out from under her feet. The temper has flared, and Maggie gets her quilts. In conclusion, the story seems to tell how different Maggie and Dee were from each other; with few comparisons between the two girls to suggest that they had anything in

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