Maggie And Maggie In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

Improved Essays
In the story, “Everyday Use” there is a sister named Maggie and a sister name Dee. The sisters seem to have different personalities. Maggie who helped her mother prepare to clean the yard for the arrival of her sister who was at college in Augusta. Momma says “Sometimes I dream a dream in which Dee and I are suddenly brought together on TV program of this sort” (l.19-20). Maggie and Dee's mom who describes herself as a”large big-boned women with rough, man-working hands” (l.26) . Maggie who is not as smart as Dee seems to be more like her mom who didn't get the education she wish to receive. “Sometimes Maggie reads to me. She stumbles along good-naturally but can't see well. She knows she is not bright” (l. 77-78). Although they

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Everyday Use In Alice Walker’s story Everyday Use, a mother prepares for her daughter Dee to visit, but when Dee arrives, a clash of ideals and tradition are brought up. The mother imagines what most people would consider a family reunion, the mother and daughter crying and glad to see each other, however reality steps up and shows that Dee has become a different person who has changed mentally and who traditionally making the relationship between mother and Maggie strenuous. Alice Walker’s rhetorical strategy consists of comfort versus appearance and a differing take on tradition.…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dee who is the oldest sister is more confident and believes she is better than the living in which she endured. Mama takes this as Dee is rejecting her origin and her heritage. I agree with Mama because throughout the story Dee shows that she is ungrateful, but I also think that mother is overprotective of Maggie. Maggie can be much stronger if she wants to and can speak her mind, but I believe that the mother shelters her too much to where Maggie never had a chance to speak up on her…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use,” the central conflict between the members of the Johnson family⸺Mama, Dee (Wangero), and Maggie⸺is complex. However, the character who clearly fulfills the role of the antagonist is Dee, Mama’s eldest daughter. Dee is a swan among a family of ducks: she possesses a beauty, an intelligence, and a sort of dominance over everyone around her. All of these are qualities which have not graced Mama and Maggie. Naturally, Dee is an object of jealousy in her family.…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sisters from Story Everyday Use Alice Walker in her short story Everyday Use, published in 1973, brought us into house of Mrs. Johnson, black women living in the rural part of country. We are visiting her in the same time as her older daughter Dee. Through the mother’s eyes we see how her two daughters, although born and raised in the same house are different. They are different not only in their appearance, but also in their approach to life, family, everyday objects even their heritage. Unlike Dee, Maggie still lives in her mother’s house.…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Both author’s of the stories “ The Red Convertible” and “Everyday Use” show the relationship of two different siblings. In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, you meet two siblings that are the complete opposite: Dee and Maggie. Dee is very selfish, egocentrics, and vain. As for Maggie, she is level headed, timid, and mellow. These sisters have a nonexistent relationship and could not compare to the story, “ The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich.…

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When Dee arrived to her mother’s house to visit, she returned as a completely different person in which her mother did not really admire and Maggie still envied. “Dee next. A dress down to the ground, in this hot weather. A dress so loud it hurts my eyes. There are yellows and oranges enough to throw back the light of the sun.”…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, has a way of developing Dee’s character through indirect presentation which provides meaning to the story. Dee demonstrates on how she is greedy, by taking the quilts and saying they were hers, when she said they were originally out of style. Indirect Presentation develops Dee’s character, because it shows how greedy she is and how when her mom said she couldn’t have them, she got mad which shows how she usually gets her way all the time.. Early in their lives, her mother “offered Dee (Wangero) a quilt when she went away to college. Then she told me they were old-fashioned,out of style”.…

    • 193 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One would rightfully assume two sisters raised by the same mother in the same household would be quite similar to each other but this is most definitely not the case in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. It is clear that the sisters in the story, Maggie and Dee, are complete contrasts of each other. To begin, the most obvious difference between the two is their appearances. Maggie is a fragile, awkward girl who seems to have little to no self-esteem. In the beginning of the story, their mother says that “good looks passed by her (Maggie)”…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Her two daughters are Dee and Maggie. Maggie is a shy girl who always gives in to her sister and adores her sister so much. She lives with her mama. Her family thinks that later on in her life, Maggie will marry John Thomas, a not good looking guy. On the other hand, Dee does not live with her mama.…

    • 1121 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

    In contrast, Maggie is obviously upset. She shuffles around awkwardly as if awaiting the arrival of a grand goddess. Through the actions and thoughts of Mother the audience gains an extremely flawed picture of Dee. Because Mother is extremely self-conscious around Dee she indirectly perceives many of Dee qualities in a negative light. Dee’s ambition is perceived as “demanding” and when Dee tries to use her education to help Maggie it…

    • 1478 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Author of “Everyday Use” is Alice Walker, in “Everyday Use” she uses mother-daughter conflicts to describe her own beliefs about how should people honor their heritage , as heritage is very important, because it gives us a sense of belonging and provide us with insight on where we come from .The conflicts Alice walker discussed in her story are; over a family’s home, her daughter changing her name, and some heirloom quilts. In the beginning of the story , a conflict over a family’s home occurred. Maggie and Mama loved their previous home, which was burned down, but Dee didn’t care about it and showed no emotion .When Dee came to visit her…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Have you ever ask what made you who you are? Life experiences is what forge our personality, builds our way of think, be and act. Anecdotes in life can change our way of living in a good way or in a bad way. In story “Everyday Use” by walker is about this daughter who returned from college feeling superior to her Mama and sister Maggie, just coming back for the purpose of take away their belongings. The character who impacted me is Maggie and what reflects what made her who she is.…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Despite the fact that narrative perspective is generally considered a fundamental element in narrative comprehension, its effect on how we get immersed into reading, identify with fictional characters, and how much we like the story remains unclear,” (How narrative perspective influences reading). According to this statement, the point of view determines a lot for characters. This is why switching from telling the story from Mama’s point of view to Dee’s or Maggie’s point of view would make such a difference. Dee comes off a little harsh in some parts of the story. For example towards the end of the story when Mama tells her no for the first time, Dee leaves and says, “Your heritage,’ she said, and then she turned to Maggie, kissed her, and said, ‘You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie.…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Opinions, personalities, religion, feelings are things that are similar and different in many families. Because of these things they make a person unique, and then that persons can become a family feeling, and that makes that family unique. One unique family is Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” In this story the family 's relationship revolves around their heritage, with difficulties along the lines. My family is similar in some ways, but mostly different when it comes to mothers, siblings, and righteousness.…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays