The Symbolism Of Heritage In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

Improved Essays
The story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker tells of a family, Mama, Dee, and Maggie, who battle over their heritage. Maggie and Mama know what the true definition of heritage is, yet Dee does not. The heritage of this family is shown through a main symbol: the quilts made by Mama and other family members. This symbol helps the reader come to realize what heritage means to Dee and what it means for the rest of the family. “Everyday Use” starts out with Mama talking about her yard and how well she has prepared in for Dee’s arrival. Mama wants this to impress Dee. She wants her to be comfortable in the yard as she says, “A yard like this is more comfortable than most people know. It is not just a yard” (363). The yard symbolizes comfort and safety …show more content…
Dee thinks that by changing her name to a more African name she is connecting with her true heritage. However as Mama explains, is the exact opposite of what she is doing, because her actual name, Dee has been passed down by many people within the family and has a great meaning in the family. In addition, Dee thinks that because the quilts her family has made are so precious they should be hung on walls, when the true reason the quilts were made was for everyday use. Mama and Maggie realize heritage is what their family has passed down to them, not what their name is or what they wear and how they dress. Dee is just trying to fit in with what she thinks is right. This is shown when Mama recalls that she asked Dee if she would like a quilt when going away to college, and Dee had said no because the quilts were "outdated," yet now suddenly they mean so much to her. The story ends with Dee thinking she knows everything about her true heritage and that Mama and Maggie are very wrong. The two accept how Dee feels and let her leave because they realize the irony in the situation and know that they are the ones who truly know what heritage

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The point of view in the story “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker plays a big part. Throughout the story, one of Mama’s daughters came to visit. The way Mama and Maggie see her is not in a very pleasant way. In fact, they are scared to tell her no when it comes to anything. From Mama’s perspective Dee seems like this rude, stuck up, spoiled child because she had the opportunity to go out and expand her education, while Mama and Maggie continued to live their lives on the farm.…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The main conflict of the story "Everyday Use" is that Dee wants the quilt to flaunt it with her friends, still her mother wants to give the quilt to Maggie her sister, simply, because she believes Maggie will make use of it every day, not just flaunting their legacy every day. The mother at last has had enough of Dee’s conceit/vanity and being self-centered. She informs Dee that she can’t have the quits on account of, they belong to Maggie. Sadden about the news, Dee goes on to say that Maggie will overuse the quilts by using them every day, and ruin them. Her sister in an effort rationalize about the situation offers Dee other quilts that her mother has made, but Dee pays her no attention.…

    • 127 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Furthermore, Dee writes to Mama that she will come and visit them no matter wherever they chose to live but will never bring her friends (#72). Dee is overtly self-conscious and does not want anyone to see where she truly comes from. She is not ready to openly embrace her mother the way she is. Dee is not able to truly accept her family and reciprocate the love she has…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Literature Essay Thesis Proposal In “Everyday Use”, Alice Walker tells the story of Dee, Mama, and Maggie who all come from the same culture, yet they express their culture in different ways. Dee expresses her culture by rebranding herself and wanting to have artifacts of her heritage, unlike Mama and Maggie they lived in their traditional settings of their culture every day. The Ideas Walker wants the readers to know is that each of these characters have opposing views on what their culture means to them, and if they can look past these differences.…

    • 972 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To show Mama the damage her favoritism has caused both her daughters. That is when Mama has a light bulb moment about the favoritism she’s shown to Dee all these years. She openly takes up for Maggie and refuses to give Dee something that she wants. Not only does Mama verbally say the word “no” but Mama embraces Maggie which shocks her. That seems to alter the visit and Dee is ready to leave after that.…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Merriam-Webster dictionary defines heritage as “the traditions, achievements, beliefs, etc., that are part of the history of a group or nation (Merriam-Webster).” Our heritage can affect who we are and how we define ourselves. Sometimes our heritage can be redefined with new generations. Each person can perceive their heritage differently.…

    • 1251 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To Mama, the patches on the quilts symbolize the generations of her family’s history. Additionally, the garments represent a new beginning for Maggie, who sees the quilts as something that symbolizes her past, and a…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mama ended the argument by ripping the quilts from Dee’s hands and giving them to Maggie. Mama had a feeling brought on by the constant suppression of Maggie and the empowerment of Dee. Both Maggie and Dee love their family dearly. But, even though the sisters share a lot of love for their family, they express that love in different ways.…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Reading Everyday Use, the reader is able to understand precisely why Mama wants so badly for Maggie to have the quilts. Mama seems to have favored Dee a bit more since Maggie is shyer and more reserved than Dee is. After reuniting and seeing how much her daughter has changed, she snaps out of it and realizes Maggie is the one who can truly appreciate and honor their…

    • 1356 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Alice Walker’s short story, “Everyday Use” presents a pragmatic perspective of heritage and family. Taking place during the civil rights movement, while centering on the experiences of an African American family, the setting has great relevance in constructing underlying themes. This short story composes a theme which examines social structures part in shaping a person’s identity. Moreover, acknowledging family’s role as a social structure, as well as Walker’s background, will contribute to further analyzing this theme.…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the 1970’s the African Americans made changes in their lives. They decided to finally live out their heritage instead of being ashamed for it. Alice walker’s acquainting short story “Everyday Use” exposes the misunderstanding of some of the 1970’s black society for its heritage through the character of Dee by her prideful and arrogant attitude. When Dee was younger she was not proud to come from her black heritage.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Basics of Living In the short story “Everyday Uses” by Alice Walker she uses everyday objects or scenarios that people are faced with even in today’s society in her story. This story has everything in a nut shell , it mainly talks about cultural heritage ; however she also talks about race , tradition , family , education , and even how to stand up for one’s self . In this paper it will be shown how those 5 things can still be related in today’s society .Everybody has some experience or exposure to one of those themes. Race is one of society’s way of grouping humans into a large and distinct group according to their cultural, genetic, anatomical, historical, ethnic, religious, geographical, linguistic, and/or social association.…

    • 1357 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Secondly, it is an ironic way to say that Dee will not remember the grandmother without the quilt, which means the family is not in Dee’s heart really. Dee just realizes the importance of those old stuff to show her African root after she attends to…

    • 1266 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Because of the little education received by Mama, she is determined to work hard so that she is able to provide for her family. She describes her appearance by explaining, “In real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands (Walker 403). Along with Mama, Grandma Dee is also a hardworking woman, carefully hand making the two family quilts. Dee elaborates on the importance of her grandmother’s hand sewn quilts by saying, “She did all this stitching by hand. Imagine!”…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Heritage: Maggie vs. Dee In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use”, Maggie and Dee are two sisters who grow up in the same home but somehow end up with completely different lives. Maggie stays with her mother and gets engaged to a local man, while Dee goes off to college and seemingly learns about her heritage. A major theme in the story is the meaning of heritage. Both sisters displayed knowledge of their heritage, but only one truly knows the meaning.…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays