Characterization Analysis on Alice Walker's "Everyday Use"

In the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, the author demonstrates and contrasts the difference between superficial and genuine ways of expressing ones heritage by juxtaposing the motivations and personalities of the two sisters Maggie and Dee Johnson, catalyzed by their mother’s realization of their growing independence from her. The story follows from the memorable recollections of their mother through the day that a long-foreseen schism separates one daughter from her mother and sister.

The story follows a chain of events through the eyes of the mother, an unnamed narrator, through which the reader experiences a series of observations about her daughters and the events around her that characterize her daughters. The first mention of one of the daughters, Maggie, reveals that she has “burn scars down her arms and legs” (91) and that she views her sister, who is (at this point in the story) unnamed, with a combination of “envy and awe.” (91) According to the mother, Maggie feels as if her sister has always “held life . . . in the palm of one hand.” (91) This immediately sets up a dynamic tension between the sisters felt by their mother, and through the mother, the reader. Soon afterwards, the mother (narrator) falls into a daydream where herself and her other daughter, now revealed to be named Dee, are “suddenly brought together” (91) and their affections exchanged with one another. This shows that there is already a kind of separation between the mother and Dee, and between Dee and her sister Maggie.

The juxtaposition between Dee and Maggie is further accentuated by their physical appearance. Maggie, because of her burns, is described as her mother as being comparable to a “lame animal” (92), while Dee is described as having a “fuller figure” (92) than Maggie. This comparison to lame and fit animals further develops the characterization of the daughters. Lame animals, being unable to really walk or function correctly, are more dependent on their mothers than animals who are physically fit. This comparison mirrors the personalities of the two girls perfectly. Dee, being the outspoken and successful of the two, has both the personality and the physical ability to walk away from her mother (both in the literal and metaphorical sense). Maggie on the other hand cannot. She is burned and dependent on her mother, and is compared to an animal who is lame and cannot walk. This development of characterization both physically and psychologically of the sisters shows their respective dependancy levels on their mother, and the thickness of their personal ties to their own family heritage.

The climax of the story happens when Dee returns home as a grown woman, only to find that Maggie still lives under the protection of their mother. When Dee arrives, Maggie makes an attempt to “dash for the house” (93) in order to hide from her sister and the other company that arrived with her. The mother intervenes, however, and tells Maggie to stay with her. A short while later, we discover that Dee has now changed her name to Wangero because she does not wish to be named after “people who oppress [her]” (94). Oddly enough, the mother comments on how the only people who have held that name before her were female ancestors of her own family. This further deepens the feeling that Dee wishes to break away from her original family ties. After dinner, Dee is noted to have rummaged around her mother’s hope chest at the bottom of her bed. Here she finds two old quilts, both of which were made up of a patchwork of their ancestors clothing. Dee wishes to have these quilts for herself, and requests that they be given to her. Her mother insists, however, that the quilts be given to Maggie instead. Dee desperately wants the quilts because she believes that they are an important part of her heritage, and ironically the heritage that she intends to leave behind. The mother insists that she takes another quilt, but Dee has her sights set on the antique quilts that her relatives made. She wishes to hang them up as decoration in her new house in order to remember her heritage, and Dee insists that they are priceless. She also becomes extremely angry with her mother when her mother refuses to give her the quilt, and instead promises them to be for Maggie. Dee says that Maggie will simply use the quilts until “they’d be in rags” (95), and that they should be preserved. Maggie on the other hand agrees meekly to let her sister have the blankets, stating that she can “[remember her] grandma . . . without the quilts.” (95) Their mother resists, however, stating that the quilts will belong to Maggie. This enrages Dee, who promptly leaves.

This ending scene is interesting due to the characterization of the sisters Dee and Maggie throughout the story. At the same time, Dee is shown to have grown up and left the house behind and looked to preserve her heritage by preserving a quilt made by her ancestors. Contrarily, Maggie is the sister who, because of her burns, has never really left the house and continues to live with her mother, and looks to use the quilts in the everyday fashion for which they were constructed in the first place. This is how the author creates her theme that true heritage must be LIVED, not just remembered. This is personified by Dee, who is growing apart from and leaving her family. Because she is leaving the family, she looks towards more superficial ways of remembering her heritage, such as hanging antique quilts on the wall and refusing to use them. Maggie on the other hand, lives at home with her mother, fully enveloped by her culture and heritage, and therefor does not put as much weight on the physical quilts. She lives the heritage, so she does not need the quilts in order to feel connected to her past. For Maggie, her heritage is in everyday use, hence the name of the short story, and so she feels comfortable with using the quilt everyday. Dee, who has in essence forsaken her heritage for newer and more different things, vies to come into possession of the family quilts, in order to remember her heritage and feel connected to her past.