Characterization In Everyday Use

Strong, intricate characters are the very basis of every successful story or novel. It’s no wonder that the authors of these stories create powerful characters that evolve as the reader progresses through the story. For these reasons, characterization plays a tremendous role in not only the development of the story, but also the continued interest of the reader. As the readers, in order to achieve the full effect of characterization, we must pay close attention to the detail the author reveals about his or her characters in the way he or she presents them. We often miss the hidden meanings that these characters possess, which is why it’s crucial to dive deep into the character’s personalities and behaviors. Characterization helps the author …show more content…
Walker presents various aspects of her characters to establish how they develop throughout the story. Maggie, for example, can be classified as a developing character because of her personality/behavior change that is noticed as the story progresses. At the beginning of “Everyday Use,” Maggie “thinks her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand, that “no” is a word the world never learned to say to her” (Arp 166). However, at the end of the work, Maggie says, “She can have them, Mama. I can ‘member Grandma Dee without the quilts” in response to Dee’s lack of respect for the family’s heritage. By this transition, Maggie is presented as a developing character as she finally stands up against her sister at the end of the story when at the beginning, she distances herself from Dee. Not only does how the characters change have an effect on the purpose of the story, the complexity (or simplicity) of the character’s personality contributes heavily towards the meaning of the …show more content…
It is especially important to have solid characterization in literary fiction as this type of fiction “offers an exciting opportunity to observe human nature in all its complexity and multiplicity” (Arp 162). Even though round, developing characters are more interesting to read about, all types of characters add to the significance of a story. In “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker’s use of round, developing, flat, and static characters offer profound characterization that further expands the horizons of the story. But the question may remain, why should the reader care about the type of characterization of a story? Well, had it not been for Maggie, who developed more confidence as the story progressed, Dee (Wangero) would not have been put in her place, and knocked down from her pedestal. Without characterization, or any other literary element, the cohesiveness of piece of work would simply not