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Quilts In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

753 Words4 Pages

Many people only notice the physical aspects of gifts while overlooking their sentimental value. “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, is a story about the importance of family heritage. The story begins with Mama and Maggie waiting for Dee’s return from the city. Upon Dee’s arrival, her family is surprised by her name change into Wangero and her sudden interest in her family’s sacred quilts that had been passed on for generations. Mama had promised to give the quilts to Maggie on her wedding, but Dee aggressively insists on having them so she can hang them on the wall. This angers Mama as Dee is not appreciating the full value of the quilts so she decides to pass on the quilts to Maggie for her own everyday use. Mama made the right decision in entrusting the sacred quilts to the care of Maggie instead of Dee. …show more content…

For example, Mama understood how much Maggie values the quilts so she “‘promised to give them quilts to Maggie, for when she marries John Thomas”’(119). The quilts are valued tremendously by Mama and she entrusts Maggie to value them just as much when she promises to give the quilts to Maggie when she marries. Mama entrusts that Maggie will not only value the quilts, but that she will play her role in the family heritage by passing the quilts onto the next generation. In addition, Maggie has also shown a great desire in wanting the quilts as shown when Mama and Dee are in a dispute over who receives the quilts, “I heard something fall in the kitchen, and a minute later the kitchen

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Despite her strictness, Mama loves Maggie more than her oldest daughter Dee. Mama is also protective of Maggies feelings. When Dee wanted the quilts, Mama fought for Maggie. Mama also knew that Maggie was somewhat intimidated by Dee. So she kept her promise of giving Maggie the

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Fabrics are the point of the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, in which Dee (Wangero) attempts to persuade her mother that she, and not her sister Maggie, should have the quilts made by her grandmother, aunt, and mother. Two strategies Wangero uses for persuasion are repetition and diction to convince her mother that the quilts Grandma Dee had stitched should belong to Wangero, and not Maggie. These strategies

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In some families, it is a tradition to pass along items from generation to generation, ranging anywhere from a piece of jewelry, to, like in Marilyn Nelson’s poem, “The Century Quilt,” a blanket. Because the blanket is not passed along to her, the speaker decides to make her own quilt. In “The Century Quilt,” Marilyn Nelson uses imagery, symbolism, and theme to signify the importance of the quilt in the speaker’s life. Imagery was heavily used in the poem to present to the readers a description of the quilt and how it related to the speaker’s life. In lines 15-17, (Six Van Dyke brown squares…the yellowbrown of Mama’s cheeks,” the speaker provides us with a vivid description of the squares of the quilt she has made.

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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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She loves them for the way they look. Mama, on the other hand, views the things from her mother as artifacts. She loves the items more than how they look. She admires the quilts because of their everyday use. Transformations take place between these characters.

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In the short story, “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker creates a conflict between Maggie and Dee for the belongings made by their relatives whether they should be kept to use in their house or kept to admire as antiques with Dee to last longer. Walker made items to have symbolism to be used as an everyday thing, but with Dee returning from college she believes she should keep items from being demolished and placed as an item in a museum for observation of her heritage. Walker in the story shows how Maggie and her mother use the quilt as a tradition that has been passed down by every generation in their family by putting them to use. The mother’s purpose towards the quilt is to pass it down by teaching how to quilt so that it could be quilted if

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Mama, Dee, and Maggie do not have the most ideal family relationship, but Maggie and Mama are creating a stronger bond after Maggie told Mama Dee can have the quilts because she can “’member Grandma Dee without the quilts” (Walker 153). Not only does Maggie cherish the quilts because of their background, but she also knows how to quilt, thus giving her the ability to carry on that heritage. This makes Mama realize Maggie is

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When Dee practically demands the quilts promised to Maggie, Maggie automatically forfeits them without complaint. She never takes the time to battle her sister and she doesn't lose her composure. She, akin to a defenseless child, gives in to the pressure of Dee. "She can have them, [the quilts] Mama,” She is far more worried about keeping the peace and hiding from the commotion than defending what belongs to her. This professes Maggie to be a very complacent and scared girl, especially in the face of her sister Dee.

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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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The mother, Maggie, and Dee all have different views on their meaning of heritage. Dee seems more interested in material things, rather than having a true appreciation of her heritage and the value of the quilts. Maggie wants the quilts for sentimental value and as a representation of who she is and her past. She realizes the true value of the quilts, unlike Dee. In the story, Maggie states, “She can have them Mama, I can ‘member Grandma Dee without the quilts” (l77), meaning she understands her heritage and the value of the

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Mama promised the quilt to Maggie. Mama wanted to ensure the family treasure would be used for everyday purposes and not put on display. Mama’s beliefs and decisions in the story were compelling and added to the complexity of the relationships between the characters. Mama, Maggie and Dee wanted to preserve the family heritage, but in different

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This new outlook on her life caused Dee to place different values on the items with which she had grown up. She wanted to take the items as things to put on display like art hanging on a wall. Dee even wanted the cherished quilts to “hang them” (Walker, 1973) instead of using them as blankets. As she saw it, to use the quilts for their original purpose would destroy them, or as she said, “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they 'd be in rags” (Walker, 1973).

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(Nancy Tuten) agrees by saying, "Mama's distaste for Dee's egotism is tempered by her desire to be respected by her daughter.” The Mom’s character changes during the quilt scene, as she realizes that Maggie shares the appreciation of culture and heritage, and Dee's appreciation is entirely different from theirs. During the quilt scene, Dee is demanding Mom to give her the quilts, and Mom says, "when I looked at her like that something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet.” In other words the daughter who she has always thought so highly of knew little of their culture and had little appreciation for their heritage. Walker creates the “mom” character to help defend her point, which is the importance of upholding the values and traditions in the African American

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‘Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!’ She said. ‘She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.’ … ‘But, they're priceless!’ ” (172).

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As she looks at her quilts, Mama remembers that a certain patch came from her grandfather's paisley shirts, that some pieces came from dresses that Grandma Dee wore 50 years earlier, and even that there was a very small piece of her great-grandfather's Civil War uniform. From this, we can all see how and why they mean so much to her. To Dee, the quilts are a quaint "primitive" art. To Mama and Maggie, they represent more than that. They are family memories, very personal and very special mementos of loved ones who are gone.

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