The narrator of Alice Walker's short story, "Everyday
Use," is the mother of two daughters, Maggie and Dee (a.k.a. Wangero Leewanika
Kemanjo). In the beginning of the story, Mama seems to primarily feel sadness for her
Maggie, who is the youngest and is badly scarred from a house fire ten or twelve years
ago. By the end of the story, Mama's tone suggests that she feels pride, rather than
sorrow, for her youngest child.
Throughout the course of
the story, Dee returns to her family home and attempts to take possession of all of the
family heirlooms she can find, even though she does not appreciate the true beauty of
them. Dee does not see the value of the labor and love that went into each piece;
instead, she feels that she deserves to own them because she believes herself to be
superior to her mother and little sister.
When Dee becomes
angry at her mother for refusing to give her quilts that are promised to Maggie, Mama
recognizes the ability of Maggie to produce something just as beautiful from her own
handiwork. Maggie does not intend to view the pieces as art, but as what they were
intended, which is a mindset that pays true tribute to the integrity of the quilts and
the history of their origins.
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