Fike 1
Haley Fike
English 102
Mrs. Tesenair
8 February 2017
Transformations in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
“Everyday Use” is a short story written by Alice Walker about a mother-daughter power struggle. Protagonist Mama clashes with daughter and antagonist Dee over heritage. One weekend, Dee comes home from college to visit her younger sister Maggie and mother. She drags along her boyfriend Asalamalakim, also known as Hakim-a-Barber, who immediately makes the wrong impression by refusing to eat the food Mama has prepared. Dee also tells her mother she has changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo to better reflect her African descent. Because Dee is a family name, Mama is a little disappointed, but does not argue with Dee over the trivial …show more content…
Her intimidating manner pushes Maggie away and makes Mama less authoritative. Mama describes the tone Dee uses as “sweet as a bird”. This tone likely influenced Mama to let her have whatever she wished for. However, the sweetest tone in the world and most aggressive presence could not shake Mama’s epiphany. Maggie reluctantly tells Mama to let Dee have her quilts, but Mama gets hit with a powerful feeling. She describes, “When I looked at her (Maggie) like that something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet. Just like when I’m in church and the spirit of God touches me and I get happy and shout,” which seems to prove that Mama has made the right call by standing up to Dee (556). She snatches the quilts out of Dee’s hands and gives them to the rightful owner, Maggie. Dee claims Maggie does not deserve them because she will use the quilts instead of preserving them. Mama agrees with Maggie that the quilts are made to be used, not simply for décor. This ticks off spoiled Dee, and she immediately leaves. Mama knows she has done the right thing by finally turning down one of Dee’s many requests. This is the defining moment of Mama and proves that she is in
Haley Fike
English 102
Mrs. Tesenair
8 February 2017
Transformations in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
“Everyday Use” is a short story written by Alice Walker about a mother-daughter power struggle. Protagonist Mama clashes with daughter and antagonist Dee over heritage. One weekend, Dee comes home from college to visit her younger sister Maggie and mother. She drags along her boyfriend Asalamalakim, also known as Hakim-a-Barber, who immediately makes the wrong impression by refusing to eat the food Mama has prepared. Dee also tells her mother she has changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo to better reflect her African descent. Because Dee is a family name, Mama is a little disappointed, but does not argue with Dee over the trivial …show more content…
Her intimidating manner pushes Maggie away and makes Mama less authoritative. Mama describes the tone Dee uses as “sweet as a bird”. This tone likely influenced Mama to let her have whatever she wished for. However, the sweetest tone in the world and most aggressive presence could not shake Mama’s epiphany. Maggie reluctantly tells Mama to let Dee have her quilts, but Mama gets hit with a powerful feeling. She describes, “When I looked at her (Maggie) like that something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet. Just like when I’m in church and the spirit of God touches me and I get happy and shout,” which seems to prove that Mama has made the right call by standing up to Dee (556). She snatches the quilts out of Dee’s hands and gives them to the rightful owner, Maggie. Dee claims Maggie does not deserve them because she will use the quilts instead of preserving them. Mama agrees with Maggie that the quilts are made to be used, not simply for décor. This ticks off spoiled Dee, and she immediately leaves. Mama knows she has done the right thing by finally turning down one of Dee’s many requests. This is the defining moment of Mama and proves that she is in