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The Influence Of Sisters In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

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Why do sisters have different personalities? Sisters have different personalities because their complete opposite. Sisters sometimes have conflict no matter the topic. Sisters with different personalities make their relationship special. This connects to the story ‘’Everyday Use’’ by Alice Walker, which focuses on two sisters. Dee is the older sister and Maggie is the younger sister. Both Dee and Maggie are the complete opposite. Dee is the good looking sister. She is smart, confident, educated and deeply determined while Maggie is unattractive, not smart, shy, uneducated and not driven. Birth order can influence many aspects of one’s personality. Sibling rivalry is more common than people realize. The role parents have with their child’s personality. The conflict between sisters can be …show more content…

The competition you have with your sibling can bring out the best out of you. According to research experts sibling rivalry is one of the most harmful and least addressed issues in a family. You know a sibling rivalry when you see it. For example, you would see it between Dee and Maggie. The two sisters have to compete for their mother’s love. On which sister should get the quilt. When Dee comes back home and wants the quilt but it is promised to Maggie. The quilt is a symbol of the family heritage and symbol of materialism. Dee wants the quilt so she can use it in her home as a decoration. Dee argues that the quilt would be used and she would provide it with protection as it hangs on the wall. Dee rejects her family heritage and while Maggie embraces her heritage. Mama wants the quilt to be used as a cover by her child. She labels the quilt as having been meant to be used as an everyday use. She gives it to Maggie and it boosts her sense of self-worth. Maggie is chosen over Dee. This fuels the sibling rivalry between Dee and Maggie because in the beginning Maggie was jealous of Dee and eventually Dee became jealous of

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213 Words | 1 Pages

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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Dee thinks that because she has received more education and made something of herself she knows best which makes her much different than her sister. Maggie is so humble and kind that she accepts defeat and does not even defend herself. For example, "... she said, like somebody used to never winning anything, or having anything reserved for

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664 Words | 3 Pages

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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381 Words | 2 Pages

unemotional interactions between the two characters when they meet. When Dee arrives at the house she doesn’t run to her mother and say she misses her. Instead she walks slowly and gives her mother a

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498 Words | 2 Pages

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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1032 Words | 5 Pages

This shows, unlike her sister Maggie, Dee’s perception of the quilts are strictly aesthetic and artistic pieces that reflect African Heritage. Dee never considers they may represent oppression themselves and it makes her seem as though she wants them solely just to show off. In addition, Ross goes on to state, “Her admiration for them now seems to reflect a cultural trend toward valuing handmade objects, rather than any sincere interest in her “heritage.” After all, when she was offered a quilt before she went away to college, she rejected it as “old-fashioned, out of style” (Ross 1-2).

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1338 Words | 6 Pages

“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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211 Words | 1 Pages

In response to Caleb: I do not agree with, or understand your statement completely. I realise we have the right to choose where we live (as stated in your paragraph), however, I don't think this issue is completely related to urban sprawl. Urban sprawl means the uncontrolled expansion of urban areas; expanding these areas by building roads and cities. Without the control of these developments, farm lands and natural areas will be destroyed and used up; resulting in a domino effect of destruction for our environment. In my opinion, I believe that there should be limitations on land use control against urban sprawl.

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869 Words | 4 Pages

Ms. Johnson didn't have an education, yet she knew the value of the quilts and she didn’t let a few words from Dee change her decision of giving the quilts to Maggie. Dee leaves her mother’s house quite upset and tells her sister, “You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It’s really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live you’d never know it” (Walker 12).

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980 Words | 4 Pages

Dee has broken away from her family and has adopted a life on her own, even having a partner by the name of Hakeem-a-barber and changing her name from Dee to Wangero, even though she was named after her Aunt Dee. Dee forgot about her culture and wants the family quilt for the having it as part of the trend. Maggie

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629 Words | 3 Pages

With determined ambitions and education resulted in a lack of sensibility in heritage, history, and self identity, which only family can implement. Dee presents herself almost as a weird, intimidating individual foreign to what her family has ever known. The conflict that Mama and Maggie are confronted with is that Dee is does not care about anything but herself. When being rejected to have possession of the quilts Dee stated “But they’re priceless! She was saying now, furiously; for she has a temper.”.

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610 Words | 3 Pages

(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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721 Words | 3 Pages

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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1186 Words | 5 Pages

An old Vietnamese proverb says that ¨brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet¨(Siblings). One can never fully forget a sibling nor can one fully deny the love shared. Siblings may fight, but they will make up because their love overshadows their hate. Siblings are so close that they know each others weak points and may exploit them at times, but will protect them when outsiders interfere. Siblings often bring out the best and worst in each other.

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1026 Words | 5 Pages

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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