Geological location is one of the main influences in someone’s culture. Their location can change their appearance, personality, and almost every other factor in that person’s life. In the short story “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker, Maggie and Mama’s culture are shaped and molded by their environment into a mix of African and American countryside. This mixture creates one of the main conflicts in the story, when Dee, the other daughter who moved away and went to college, comes back to town. Dee is exposed to a different environment which caused her to lose her connection to the American countryside. This makes Dee think and act differently throughout the story. Dee, Maggie and Mama’s geological location affects the way they act around others,
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When Dee and Hakim-a-barber arrive, Dee is dressed in bright and colorful clothing. Her hair stands up like a sheep’s and she has earrings that hang down to her shoulders. Hakim-a-barber has long hair that covers his forehead in a since of African American pride (Kathleen Wilson). These outfits suggest that they have become part of the African Civil rights movement or another form of African Pride. Dee caries herself with a lack of humbleness throughout the story. As Dee walks around the house saying she wants all the family’s items not for use but for personal fulfillment. Dee feels a since of entitlement in that she alone deserves the family heirlooms. She says that herself and not Maggie could not even get close to understanding them as well as her. The selfishness that Dee radiates when wanting the quilts is the result of her thinking that she is more important than everyone else. When Maggie enters the room, Maggie is lenient in the argument over the quilts. She says that she can “member Grandma Dee without them” (Walker 938) This can be portrayed in the way that Maggie is saying Dee has lost her way in remembering their family’s past. That Dee is no longer connected to their family and that she is too worried about preserving the African heritage instead of the meaning of family. Susan Farrell agrees stating, “They point out that Dee is rejecting her family heritage and …show more content…
Mama and Maggie who share their environment with each other have a sentimental connection to the items. They both relate the belongings to who made them, which helps them remember their dead family members easier. This is also said by Kathleen Wilson who said, “Maggie is attached to the quilts because they make her think of Grandma Dee” (Kathleen Wilson). Dee on the other hand, wants these items for herself and not the family connection they have. This is because of how long she has lived in the city and lost connection to everyone not in her immediate family. Another way Mama and Maggie treat the family’s belongings is by using them how they were intended to be used. Mama and Maggie put the items to “Everyday Use” as they were made to be. Dee wanted to hang these items up and use this as a conversational piece. This could be attributed to the fact that Dee’s city life might hold many parties or an abundance of company over at her house. These old and worn artifacts could be used to gain popularity among other city dwellers (Cowart 84). Mama and Maggie do not get many visitors in the country so these items being used for anything other than their original purpose would be
When Dee and Hakim-a-barber arrive, Dee is dressed in bright and colorful clothing. Her hair stands up like a sheep’s and she has earrings that hang down to her shoulders. Hakim-a-barber has long hair that covers his forehead in a since of African American pride (Kathleen Wilson). These outfits suggest that they have become part of the African Civil rights movement or another form of African Pride. Dee caries herself with a lack of humbleness throughout the story. As Dee walks around the house saying she wants all the family’s items not for use but for personal fulfillment. Dee feels a since of entitlement in that she alone deserves the family heirlooms. She says that herself and not Maggie could not even get close to understanding them as well as her. The selfishness that Dee radiates when wanting the quilts is the result of her thinking that she is more important than everyone else. When Maggie enters the room, Maggie is lenient in the argument over the quilts. She says that she can “member Grandma Dee without them” (Walker 938) This can be portrayed in the way that Maggie is saying Dee has lost her way in remembering their family’s past. That Dee is no longer connected to their family and that she is too worried about preserving the African heritage instead of the meaning of family. Susan Farrell agrees stating, “They point out that Dee is rejecting her family heritage and …show more content…
Mama and Maggie who share their environment with each other have a sentimental connection to the items. They both relate the belongings to who made them, which helps them remember their dead family members easier. This is also said by Kathleen Wilson who said, “Maggie is attached to the quilts because they make her think of Grandma Dee” (Kathleen Wilson). Dee on the other hand, wants these items for herself and not the family connection they have. This is because of how long she has lived in the city and lost connection to everyone not in her immediate family. Another way Mama and Maggie treat the family’s belongings is by using them how they were intended to be used. Mama and Maggie put the items to “Everyday Use” as they were made to be. Dee wanted to hang these items up and use this as a conversational piece. This could be attributed to the fact that Dee’s city life might hold many parties or an abundance of company over at her house. These old and worn artifacts could be used to gain popularity among other city dwellers (Cowart 84). Mama and Maggie do not get many visitors in the country so these items being used for anything other than their original purpose would be