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Loyalty In Alice Walker's Everyday Use

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Mohandas Gandhi once suggested, “Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.” A disagreement is defined as lack of consensus or approval. In the short story Everyday Use by Alice Walker, two sisters Maggie and Dee, tend to disagree. Siblings often disagree due to being treated differently by others and simply by having different personalities. These disagreements and differences often lead to conflict. Siblings can disagree for a number of different reasons one of them being the way that they are treated by others. For example, in the story the older sister Dee has moved away from her family resulting in her receiving more attention when she comes home to visit. This is reflected when the narrator acknowledges, “She thinks …show more content…

For instance, when Maggie was younger, she was burned in a fire impacting her behavior and causing her to be shy and timid. This is described when Mama expresses, “Maggie attempts to make a dash for the house, in her shuffling way, but I stay her with my hand” (72). Mama that Maggie is shy and tries to avoid both public and social situations as much as possible. On the other hand, Dee is a very outspoken person with her family. Readers can see this when the narrator emphasises, “At sixteen she had a sense of style her own; and she knew who she was”(72). The fact that she doesn’t care what people think about her reflects her extroverted, outspoken personality. All in all, the differences between the two girls causes them to have opposing opinions leading to conflicts. In conclusion, disagreements can form between siblings, due to differences in personality and they way they are treated by others. Both different opinions and the views of society impact siblings thoughts on each other. When Everyday use was written in 1973, ancestors’ possessions were more valued by family members than they are now. Sibling rivalry is important because it has existed for generations and is still relevant today. Over time sibling rivalry has developed on multiple scales, but in the end, society needs to accept how individuals express themselves and show

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This is clear because all people can, have, and will feel jealousy whereas topics like religion can only apply to readers that aren’t secular. Additionally, this lesson is essential to modern society. It is especially important for people with siblings because siblinghood is a constant battle to see who gets more attention, who receives better luxuries, and who does better in life. Those who learn from this lesson might make better relations with their siblings who can help them face the

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Throughout one’s life, one tends to adapt to the traditions of their family, and gain a significant bond with their loved ones, including their siblings. However, that connection a person gains can either be diminished or forgotten due to a sense of different mindsets between family members. The two stories “The Rich Brother” by Tobias Wolff and “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin indicate that sibling rivalry occurs when each member does not understand or acknowledge their sibling’s perspective, and this builds a wall barrier between the siblings.

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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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Finally, Conley argues that the pecking order within the family is the cause for sibling inequality. Different siblings have roles that in the family that are of more importance than the rest of his brother/sisters. This creates a pecking order of sorts in the family, and sets the stage for inequality. Conley uses a combination of ethos and logos to support his own opinion on the matter of sibling differences. By using these main points up above Conley constructs an argument that tries to get to the bottom of the really sources of sibling inequality by pulling and stitching together

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The point of view in the story “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker plays a big part. Throughout the story, one of Mama’s daughters came to visit. The way Mama and Maggie see her is not in a very pleasant way. In fact, they are scared to tell her no when it comes to anything. From Mama’s perspective Dee seems like this rude, stuck up, spoiled child because she had the opportunity to go out and expand her education, while Mama and Maggie continued to live their lives on the farm.

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A. & Louw, A. E. (2014) also mentions that sibling disputes and their settlement may be viewed as opportunities in socialisation: they learn how to fight, to disagree and compromise within a safe environment. This is seen in the movie when the children come together at the top of the lighthouse to find ways to work together and break up their parents and to go back to their previous lives. The children were together in their safe environment and even agreeing to work together for their own happiness. Eventually the children became attached to each other due to working together. At the end, after they caused a big fight between their parents and they wanted to slit up, the children worked together to keep them together.

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Siblings have a bond that ties them to one another for their whole lives, whether they live together or hundred miles apart. There are some situations though that split up a sibling relationship like divorce or foster care. Foster care can be the glue to hold the children's future together, but it is the knife that cuts siblings apart. The splitting of siblings especially in foster care can be traumatic and detrimental to those children. Due to regulations of age or number of children allowed in a foster home, siblings must be split up which can cause behavioral, psychological, relationship issues with one or all of the siblings.

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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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Mama always dreamed that she will be in a show with her daughter Dee and Dee will be thanking mama of all what she’s done for her, but she knows it won’t happen. Maggie is smaller than Dee and she is always nerves and very shy, when she was a child their house got burned at that time she was very scared maybe that’s what makes her nerves and shy and that also hides her personality what she looks from the inside she hides it from the outside. Maggie lives at home with mama, she never spends time in the outer world she always stays at home and mama protects

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This point of view contributes to this story is multiple ways. Mama narrating this story helps to give the reader insight into the past of the characters. Mama was there for everything that happened in the lives of her two daughters, Dee and Maggie. She knows their personalities and how they feel about their heritage and lives. As a result of Mama’s knowledge of these important details, Mama is able to add a contrast between the past and the present.

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For some of my family the search for individuality is an ongoing process. In fact, my family and the family in “Everyday Use” share similarities and differences when it comes to actions of young people, the treatment of children, and relationships between family members. Firstly, the young people in my family and in the short story share similarities and differences when it comes to our actions. Dee, known as Wangero, and I have some similarities.

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Throughout the story Mama describes both of the girls and how she feels about their differences, even though they are sisters and grew up in the same house. Maggie and Dee are different in their

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