A Comparison Of Dee And Maggie In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

Heritage is a patrimony with various understanding. It is a word which describes the formality, traditions, style, and conventions of a particular group of people passed down through the years. The interpretations mentioned previously are as individual as the types of people that comprise the groups, and with each, a varying definition arises. This assertion holds true for the two characters Dee (Wangero) and Maggie in the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. Even though they were sisters, Dee and Maggie had always been seemingly different. Maggie felt that Dee had all of the advantages. She was prettier, older, lighter- skinned with “ nicer hair and a fuller figure,” everything that Maggie wanted to be. They were not only different in physical aspects, but also in their …show more content…
This viewpoint was evident in the fact that she changed or “Africanized” her name from Dee to Wangero. She even questioned her mother as to where her old “dead” name came from. After being told that it was passed down from Grandma Dee to Aunt Dicie to her, she was not satisfied with that; rather she saw it as a name given to the family from the white man. She had obviously adopted some of the views of the Muslim religion and wished to familiarize herself more with the customs of her own personal. Maggie and her mother’s view of “heritage” was not a stark contrast to Wangero’s but a variation instead. Their view was more narrow. It dealt with the heritage of their particular family. The mother was greatly fond of the butter churn which Stash had whittled from a tree. Likewise, Maggie treasured the quilts from Grandma Dee. They had a great deal of sentimental value to Maggie because Grandma Dee was the person who taught her to quilt. By holding on to those quilt. Maggie had a way to remember Grandma