Everyday Use Quilts Analysis

Merriam-Webster defines heirloom as “a piece property that descends to the heir as an inseparable part of an inheritance of real property” or “something of special value handed down from one generation to another.” Heirlooms can be anything from priceless family jewels or even gravy trays. In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” quilts, passed down as heirlooms, have different meanings for different family members. The quilts represents discord between the family as they all have different symbolic meanings for Mama, Dee (Wangero), and Maggie. For Mama, she envisions generations of family before her and it represents her standing up for Maggie. For Dee (Wangero), it is about the appearance of caring about her heritage. For Maggie, the quilts represent her relationship with her grandmother. The quilts represent the family that came before Mama. For her, she can literally see “scraps of dressed Grandma Dee had worn fifty or more years ago… Grandpa Jarrell’s Paisley shirts… [and] a blue piece from Great Grandpa Ezra’s uniform he wore in the Civil War” and she can see them vividly (938). For her family heritage obviously means something …show more content…
Maggie, being more of a homebody, is humble and demure. After the fire that destroyed their old home, Maggie, left with scarred hands, gives the impression of “a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car” (934). Just as Mama is almost ready to give the quilts over to Dee (Wangero), Mama sees the “dopey, hangdog look” on Maggie’s face and realizes what these very quilts mean to her (938). “It was [her] Grandma Dee and Big Dee who taught her how to quilt” after all (938). The quilts mean so much more to Maggie than just objects. With those quilts, Maggie remembers learning how to quilt with her Grandma Dee and even Big Dee and Maggie herself becomes part of the heirlooms as she begins to quilt