titles for everyday use essay

A Summary and Analysis of Alice Walker’s ‘Everyday Use’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Everyday Use’ is one of the most popular and widely studied short stories by Alice Walker. It was first published in Harper’s Magazine in 1973 before being collected in Walker’s short-story collection In Love and Trouble .

Walker uses ‘Everyday Use’ to explore different attitudes towards Black American culture and heritage.

‘Everyday Use’: plot summary

The story is narrated in the first person by Mrs Johnson, a largeAfrican-American woman who has two daughters, Dee (the older of the two) and Maggie (the younger). Whereas Maggie, who is somewhat weak and lacking in confidence, shares many of her mother’s views, Dee is rather different.

Mrs Johnson tells us how she and the local church put together the funds to send Dee away to school to get an education. When Dee returned, she would read stories to her mother and sister. Mrs Johnson tells us she never had much of an education as her school was shut down, and although Maggie can read, her eyesight is poor and, according to her mother, is not especially clever.

Mrs Johnson also tells us how their previous house recently burned down: a house, she tells us, which Dee had never liked. Dee hasn’t yet visited her mother and sister in the new house, but she has said that when she does come she will not bring her friends with her, implying she is ashamed of where her family lives.

However, Mrs Johnson then describes Dee’s first visit to the new house. She turns up with her new partner, a short and stocky Muslim man, whom Mrs Johnson refers to as ‘Asalamalakim’, after the Muslim greeting the man speaks when he arrives (a corruption of ‘salaam aleikum’ or ‘ As-salamu alaykum ’). He later tells Mrs Johnson to call him Hakim-a-barber.

Dee then tells her mother that she is no longer known as Dee, but prefers to be called Wangero Lee-wanika Kemanjo, because she no longer wishes to bear a name derived from the white people who oppressed her and other African Americans. Her mother points out that Dee was named after her aunt, Dicie, but Dee is convinced that the name originally came from their white oppressors.

Dee/Wangero now starts to examine the objects in the house which belonged to her grandmother (who was also known as Dee), saying which ones she intends to take for herself. When Mrs Johnson tells her she is keeping the quilts for when Maggie marries John Thomas, Dee responds that her sister is so ‘backward’ she’d probably put the special quilts to ‘everyday use’, thus wearing them out to ‘rags’ in a few years.

Although Maggie resignedly lets her older sister have the quilts, when Dee moves to take them for herself, Mrs Johnson is suddenly inspired to snatch them back from her and hold Maggie close to herself, refusing to give them up to Dee and telling her to take one of the other quilts instead.

Dee leaves with Hakim-a-barber, telling her mother and Maggie that they don’t understand their own heritage. She also tells Maggie to try to make something of herself rather than remaining home with their mother. After they’ve left, Maggie and her mother sit outside until it’s time to go indoors and retire to bed.

‘Everyday Use’: analysis

The central crux of Alice Walker’s story is the difference between Dee and her mother in their perspectives and attitudes. Where Mrs Johnson, the mother of the family, sees everything in terms of the immediate family and home, Dee (or Wangero, as she renames herself) is more interested in escaping this immediate environment.

She does this first by leaving the family home and becoming romantically involved with a man of African Muslim descent. She also looks deeper into her African roots in order to understand ‘where she comes from’, as the phrase has it: not just in terms of the family’s direct lineage of daughter, mother, grandmother, and so on (Mrs Johnson’s way of looking at it, as exemplified by their discussion over the origins of Dee’s name), but in a wider, and deeper sense of African-American history and belonging.

This departure from her mother’s set of values is most neatly embodied by her change of name, rejecting the family name Dee in favour of the African name Wangero Lee-wanika Kemanjo. Names, in fact, are very important in this story: Maggie is obviously known by a European name, and ‘Johnson’, the family name borne by ‘Mama’, and thus by her daughters, doubly reinforces (John and son) the stamp of male European power on their lives and history.

Dee, too, is very much a family name: not just because it is the name the family use for the elder daughter, but because it is a name borne by numerous female members of the family going back for generations. But Dee/Wangero suspects it is ultimately, or originally, of European extraction, and wants to distance herself from this. Dee’s rejection of the immediate family’s small and somewhat parochial attitude is also embodied by the fact that she reportedly hated their old house which had recently burned down.

‘Everyday Use’ was published in 1973, and Dee’s (or Wangero’s) search for her ancestral identity through African culture and language is something which was becoming more popular among African Americans in the wake of the US civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Indeed, a productive dialogue could be had between Dee’s outlook in ‘Everyday Use’ and the arguments put forward by prominent Black American writers and activists of the 1970s such as Audre Lorde, who often wrote – in her poem ‘ A Woman Speaks ’, for example – about the ancestral African power that Black American women carry, a link to their deeper roots which should be acknowledged and cultivated.

However, Walker does some interesting things in ‘Everyday Use’ which prevent the story from being wholly celebratory off Dee’s (Wangero’s) new-found sense of self. First, she had Mrs Johnson or ‘Mama’ narrate the story, so we only see Dee from her mother’s very different perspective: we only view Dee, or Wangero, from the outside, as it were.

Second, Dee/Wangero does not conduct herself in ways which are altogether commendable: she snatches the best quilts, determined to wrest them from her mother and sister and disregarding Maggie’s strong filial links to her aunt and grandmother who taught her how to quilt. The quilt thus becomes a symbol for Maggie’s link with the previous matriarchs of the family, which Dee is attempting to sever her from.

But she is not doing this out of kindness for Maggie, despite her speech to her younger sister at the end of the story. Instead, she seems to be motivated by more selfish reasons, and asserts her naturally dominant personality and ability to control her sister in order to get her way. The very title of Walker’s story, ‘Everyday Use’, can be analysed as a sign of Dee’s dismissive and patronising attitude towards her sister and mother: to her, they don’t even know how to use a good quilt properly and her sister would just put it out for everyday use.

We can also analyse Walker’s story in terms of its use of the epiphany : a literary whereby a character in a story has a sudden moment of consciousness, or a realisation. In ‘Everyday Use’, this occurs when Mrs Johnson, seeing Maggie prepared to give up her special bridal present to her sister, gathers the courage to stand her ground and to say no to Dee. She is clearly in awe of what Dee/Wangero has become, so this moment of self-assertion – though it is also done for Maggie, too – is even more significant.

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Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Literature › Analysis of Alice Walker’s Everyday Use

Analysis of Alice Walker’s Everyday Use

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on May 24, 2021

Probably Alice Walker ’s most frequently anthologized story, “Everyday Use” first appeared in Walker’s collection In Love and Trouble: Stories by Black Women. Walker explores in this story a divisive issue for African Americans, one that has concerned a number of writers, Lorraine Hansberry, for instance, in her play Raisin in the Sun (1959). The issue is generational as well as cultural: In leaving home and embracing their African heritage, must adults turn their backs on their African-American background and their more traditional family members? The issue, while specifically African-American, can also be viewed as a universal one in terms of modern youth who fail to understand the values of their ancestry and of their immediate family. Walker also raises the question of naming, a complicated one for African Americans, whose ancestors were named by slaveholders.

The first-person narrator of the story is Mrs. Johnson, mother of two daughters, Maggie and Dicie, nicknamed Dee. Addressing the readers as “you,” she draws us directly into the story while she and Maggie await a visit from Dee. With deft strokes, Walker has Mrs. Johnson reveal essential information about herself and her daughters. She realistically describes herself as a big-boned, slow-tongued woman with no education and a talent for hard work and outdoor chores. When their house burned down some 12 years previous, Maggie was severely burned. Comparing Maggie to a wounded animal, her mother explains that she thinks of herself as unattractive and slow-witted, yet she is good-natured too, and preparing to marry John Thomas, an honest local man. Dee, on the other hand, attractive, educated, and self-confident, has left her home (of which she was ashamed) to forge a new and successful life.

Alice Walker/Thoughtco

When she appears, garbed in African attire, along with her long-haired friend, Asalamalakim, Dee informs her family that her new name is Wangero Leewanika Kemanio . When she explains that she can no longer bear to use the name given to her by the whites who oppressed her, her mother tries to explain that she was named for her aunt, and that the name Dicie harkens back to pre–CIVIL WAR days. Dee’s failure to honor her own family history continues in her gentrified appropriation of her mother’s butter dish and churn, both of which have a history, but both of which Dee views as quaint artifacts that she can display in her home. When Dee asks for her grandmother’s quilts, however, Mrs. Johnson speaks up: Although Maggie is willing to let Dee have them because, with her goodness and fine memory, she needs no quilts to help her remember Grandma Dee, her mother announces firmly that she intends them as a wedding gift for Maggie. Mrs. Johnson approvingly tells Dee that Maggie will put them to “everyday use” rather than hanging them on a wall.

Dee leaves in a huff, telling Maggie she ought to make something of herself. With her departure, peace returns to the house, and Mrs. Johnson and Maggie sit comfortably together, enjoying each other’s company. Although readers can sympathize with Dee’s desire to improve her own situation and to feel pride in her African heritage, Walker also makes clear that in rejecting the African-American part of that heritage, she loses a great deal. Her mother and sister, despite the lack of the success that Dee enjoys, understand the significance of family. One hopes that the next child will not feel the need to choose one side or the other but will confidently embrace both.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” In Major Writers of Short Fiction: Stories and Commentary, edited by Ann Charters. Boston: St. Martin’s, 1993, 1,282–1,299.

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Everyday Use

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Heritage and the Everyday

Heritage, and its relationship to daily life, is the central question that Walker explores in “Everyday Use.” Through the eyes of Mama , and through the contrasting characters of Dee and Maggie , Walker offers two varying views of what family history, the past, and “heritage” really mean.

In Dee’s view, heritage is a kind of dead past, distanced from the present through nostalgia and aestheticization (which means reducing something to a symbol or piece…

Through Dee , “Everyday Use” explores how education affects the lives of people who come from uneducated communities, considering the benefits of an education as well as the tradeoffs.

Alice Walker clearly believes that education can be, in certain ways, helpful to individuals. For one, education can empower people financially and therefore materially. Dee’s education rewards her with the “nice things” she has desired since she was a child: gold earrings, a camera, sunglasses. The…

Objects, Symbolism, and Writing

As Mama narrates “Everyday Use,” she uses a multitude of objects and material goods to tell her story. Through Mama and her attention to objects, Walker investigates the meaning of materiality in fiction and explores the various ways they can be used for storytelling.

In the first place, material goods work in “Everyday Use” to stand in for and help describe characters’ identities. For example, Mama marks Dee ’s difference from the rest of her…

Racism, Resistance, and Sacrifice

Race structures the social and economic conditions of characters’ daily lives in “Everyday Use.” From the first few paragraphs, Walker makes it clear that the oppression of African-Americans is built into the society of the Deep South, where Mama and Maggie live. This injustice manifests itself in a multitude of ways, ranging from Mama’s inability to look “a strange white man in the eye” to her mentions of racialized violence, like the time when “the…

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“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker Critical Analysis Research Paper

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“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, which depicts the situation of a rural American south family, is one of the widely studied and regularly anthologized short stories. The story is set in a family house in a pasture and it is about an African-American mother, “Mama Johnson,” and her two daughters, Maggie and Dee.

Mama, who grew up during the early twentieth century, is the main character in the story since she narrates it. She is portrayed as struggling to embrace the culture of her daughter Dee. Dee got an advanced education in Augusta Georgia before moving to work in an urban set up. Maggie, who is portrayed as the less fortunate one, stayed with her mother while Dee was going to school. The author uses her talent in writing to illustrate the difficulties encountered by African-Americans, particularly those of the females.

Currently, there are marked similarities and differences between families living now and those who lived in the past. Although there may be disparity in setting, several family issues as well as situations are similar. In addition, most families still cherish and hold certain things sacred. An example of these is culture. In this present world, most households are still interested in knowing the background they came from.

This is inclusive to both parents and their children. However, it is important to note that the significance of culture to a family is varied. A number of people take the position that their actions are dictated by their ancestral traits. For instance, a person may perceive that he or she may have inherited a character trait such as being cunning from a past relative. Even though, some other individuals have not developed the interest of knowing their family backgrounds.

The representation of family backgrounds in “Everyday Use” is what makes this literary work unique and worthwhile. As Walker intertwines a story about the African culture and its role in one family’s life, she succeeds in portraying it differently through the eyes of Mama’s daughters.

Both Maggie and Dee (Wangero) have contrasting traits and both hold diverse viewpoints regarding the quilts. Mama serves the purpose of connecting her two daughters. Nevertheless, she is depicted to be closer to Maggie. This is because the two have similar behavioral traits.

Maggie and her mother hold the opinion that ones culture is based on a foundation of inherited objects as well as methods of thinking. On the other hand, Dee views culture as something that is no longer relevant in the modern society since it has been washed away by history.

The most central point is that the culture depicted in the short story is focused on learning and education. More so, the thoughts possessed by the different characters played a pivotal role in shaping the culture they depended on. Therefore, the varied viewpoints concerning African American culture result in the tension evident throughout the short story.

By the use of the technique of contrasting the characters and their opinions in the story, the author succeeds in demonstrating the significance of comprehending our present life in relation to the culture that our own people practiced in the past.

Through calculated descriptions and attitudes, the author illustrates the factors that have a say in the values of an individual’s heritage and culture. Walker shows that they cannot be symbolized through the possession of objects or mere appearances. She emphasizes that the lifestyle and attitudes of an individual are the ones capable of symbolizing them.

In the short story, the author personifies the various aspects of culture and heritage. She achieves this in portraying the contrast between Dee and her mother. Mrs. Johnson and Maggie can be said to represent the relationship between generations and culture that passed between them since their actions are based on traditions and what they learnt from their past ancestors.

The author also represents Maggie as a type of culture to her mother herself, and the traditions were passed to her through teaching. As Dee’s mother makes it clear to her, Maggie is conversant with her heritage, “She can always make some more; Maggie knows how to quilt” (Missy and Merickel, 454).

However, it is interesting that Dee does not take the initiative to know whether her sister is able to make quilt. Maggie demonstrates the trait of vulnerability. This makes her to be extremely uncomfortable through her inward and outward appearance. Maggie’s actions demonstrate how she is self-conscious. As Mama puts it, “She will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs” (Missy and Merickel, 449). Most of the time, Maggie liked to keep to herself and follow instructions.

In the story, both Mama and Maggie are portrayed to be living in a run-down home and both of them were not educated in schools. They claim to have received teaching by means of another tradition assisted by their ancestors. The learning they received from their surroundings is out of reach of the present day society. Although Mrs. Johnson had few intentions of pursuing further education just like her daughter, Dee, she only managed to reach second grade (Missy and Merickel, 451).

Nonetheless, she seems to be contented with her own education, which she had acquired from the ancestors. Maggie just adhered to what she was told, chose to stay where she was born, and envied his sister’s outward appearance. By living with her mother, she learnt the skills of life by means of the experiences of her ancestors. Her mother also taught her some traditions.

Culture through the traits of Dee is depicted in a different way from her mother and sister. Dee represents culture in the materialistic and complex context, which ought to be observed and looked upon, but not experienced. The way Dee handles herself is enough to shed more light on her perception about culture and heritage. As the story starts, the narrator takes time to tell the reader how the two sisters were different from one another.

Dee is described as “lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure” (Missy and Merickel, 450). Mama says that she is self-assured and beautiful. These attributes differentiates her from Maggie and Mrs. Johnson who were scared and rough respectively. Dee was known to portray a different character, “She wanted nice things. At sixteen she had a style of her own: and knew what style was” (Missy and Merickel, 450-451).

She pursued further education away from her homeland. This depicts her as wanting to reach to the society in order to be famous. Mama was aware of the determination of her daughter, “She was determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts. Her eyelids would not flicker for minutes at a time” (Missy and Merickel, 450-451).

During the visit, which stood for her misconception on heritage and culture, Dee endeavored to reconnect with her traditional roots (Cowart, 180). The visit took place during the period of emerging black awareness and empowerment. Since it had taken years before coming home, she embraced the new lingo and style that was demonstrated by the modernized black women then.

She accompanied herself with a partner called by an Islamic name, Asalamalakim. Moreover, she now prefers to be called Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo. Here, the reader gets a sense of the disappointing behavior of Dede to her close relations. One anticipates that she will come back to herself before the culmination of the short story in order to realize her mistake.

To welcome her daughter home, Mama has prepared various delicacies. Among the various foods prepared, Dee’s partner did not prefer to consume collards and regarded pork as not clean. However, the others consumed everything. After sometime, Dee started to trouble her mother with various questions pertaining to the household furnishings, their value, as well as their age. The household cherished pictures that were taken in front of the home.

The churn top, which was constructed by Dee’s late uncle, served a historical purpose in the household. Dee considers these items as part of her culture. However, she did not think of them in that perspective while she was growing up. Her perception then was meant to illustrate how she is rooted in her culture.

It was to give an indication to her family members as well as her to her so-called friends, “I can use the churn top as a centerpiece for the alcove table, and I’ll think of something artistic to do with the dasher” (Missy and Merickel, 453). Mrs. Johnson gave permission for her daughter to take these items because she did not consider them as valuable as the quilts.

The peak of the story comes when Dee demands the quilts from her mother. She preferred the old handmaid quilts to the ones stitched by machine. Since the quilts were promised to Maggie when she will eventually marry John Thomas, her mother tried to persuade her to go for the newer ones.

After these arguments, Dee becomes angry and childish, and cries out that her sister will not be able to appreciate the old quilts. She says that Maggie would probably be “backward enough to put them to everyday use!” (Missy and Merickel, 454).For this reason, the title of the story reads “Everyday Use.” By this statement, Walker presents her unique argument whether or not culture ought to be safeguarded and displayed or incorporated into everyday life. A reader can assume that the phrase “Everyday life” relates only to the argument about the quilt.

However, deeper reading within the short story reveals that it concerns people’s culture and heritage and how they make the decision to preserve it or not. In the story, the author developed a critique of postmodern ideals. She also illustrates the detachable nature of symbols. In proposing to hang the quilts, Wangero would be taking them away from their “everyday” use. Therefore, their embedded contextual meaning would be lost.

Mrs. Johnson stood by her decision. Thereafter, Dee and her supposed boyfriend or husband leaves the home. This illustrates another central theme in the story: standing up for the right thing no matter the consequences. This should not be just for oneself, but for others also.

This is demonstrated by the way Mama stood by her decision not to let Wangero go with the handmaid quilts. Mrs. Johnson understood how much Maggie valued the quilts. She also understood that Wangero simply wanted the family belongings so as to keep up with the new African fashion.

Moreover, Dee just wanted to be popular. That is why she even changed her name, which was not the case when she was growing up. As the two visitors leave, Dee laments that Mrs. Johnson does not understand her own heritage. Dee also proposes to her sister to strive to make something out of herself. Eventually, Mama and Maggie, relieved, gaze at the car as it leaves. They then spend time together dipping snuff and they become conscious of the fact that they are the ones enjoying their lives as well as their cherished heritage.

The misunderstanding that is evident between Dee and Maggie concerning the right ownership of the quilts and their use is essential to the theme of the story. By this, the author is “arguing that the responsibility for defining African-American heritage should not be left to the Black Power movement (White, para.16). Walker effectively argues that the Black Americans ought to take responsibility of their whole heritage, even the parts that seem to be hurting.

Mrs. Johnson symbolizes most of the African-Americans who did not know how to match their past with the civil rights movements that took place in the 1960s (Hoel, para.2). During that time, most Blacks were not at ease with the Black Power movement solution. The technique that the author uses to challenge the African-Americans to respect their heritage is what helps to define this piece of work as a literature of importance.

“Everyday Use” is an exact symbolization of the way of life of most Black Americans in the modern society. Among them, there are those who despise their history and pay less attention to their unprivileged peers. More so, they attempt to be popular and look for wealth in the capitalist world, which entails assertiveness and opportunism.

On the other hand, the rural south is slow and they esteem the importance of the family and culture. The conservative rural folks find it difficult to embrace the extremes of urbanism. At the same time, however, those who abandoned the traditional black culture are still trying to hold on it. They achieve this by having cultural artifacts, antiques, as well as souvenirs.

Walker uniquely presents this scenario in the short story, which is about African-American identity crisis and the place of their culture and values in the modern society.

Through the story, the author illustrates that it is impossible to change ones culture. This is because an individual’s culture and heritage are passed on from one generation to the next. It cannot be acquired or, worse still, picked up all of a sudden. Therefore, Walker’s point is clear: An individual who holds real heritage and culture is obliged to apply it each day of his or her life on earth.

Works Cited

Cowart, David.”Heritage and Declaration in Walker’s ‘Everyday Use.’” Studies in Short Fiction 33 (1996): 171-84. Print.

Hoel, Helga. “Personal names and heritage: Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use.”

Home. Online . Trondheim Cathedral School. 2009. Web.

Missy, James, and Alan, Merickel P. Reading Literature and writing argument , 3 ed. New York: Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

White, David. “ ‘Everyday Use’: Defining African-American Heritage .” Anniina’s Alice Walker Page . 2002. Web.

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Identity and Cultural Heritage in “Everyday Use”

Introduction, works cited.

Everyday Use is a short story written by African-American writer Alice Walker and published in 1973. Mrs. Johnson, an African-American woman and the main character of the story, lives in the suburbs of an unknown town in the Deep South and is a mother of two adult daughters. Johnson’s eldest child, Dee, is an educated, successful woman who brings her Muslim boyfriend to dinner at her mother’s house, where she lives with her younger daughter, Maggie. The lives of Mrs. Johnson and Maggie are presented in stark contrast to that of Dee. The author employs first-person narrative from the point of view of Mrs. Johnson in order to capture the main character’s thoughts and reflections on her life, the past events that happened to her family, and the fate of her two daughters. Despite being stingy with events, the book covers several important topics, such as American systemic racism and the search for one’s identity and cultural heritage through the characters of Mrs. Johnson, Dee, and Maggie.

To begin with, the character of Mrs. Johnson is an old-fashioned representative of the Greatest Generation having a hard time trying to connect with her progressive and literate daughter Dee. Mrs. Johnson did not receive formal education due to the closure of her school. However, she is proud of herself for being a self-sufficient woman being able to perform traditionally masculine tasks. Mrs. Johnson talks little about her childhood, although she mentions the attitude she used to experience as a person of color, by saying: “in 1927 colored asked fewer questions than they do now”. The author never mentions the father of Dee and Maggie, and hence, it can be assumed that Mrs. Johnson raised her children alone, which speaks volumes about her determination and independence (Yang). The old house where Dee and Maggie grew up had burnt down, and Mrs. Johnson and Maggie were forced to move to a house in poor condition with a tin roof and holes in walls instead of real windows (Walker 26). Living her whole life in poverty, surrounded by prejudices and systemic racism, Mrs. Johnson simply wants a better life for both of her daughters.

In turn, Dee is ashamed of her family and tries to distance herself from her past life. First of all, at the dinner, Dee announces her new name, which she believes is a more appropriate name for a woman with African roots (Walker). She resigns the name of Dee as it was given to her enslaved ancestors by white oppressors. However, she completely dismisses the fact that it is a part of her family’s history and cultural heritage (Zhiliang). Dee clearly looks down on her mother and sister; she is able to pursue higher education and uses this chance to break out of her family’s poverty cycle. Upon arrival at dinner, she takes an interest in the old quilts that her grandmother used to make herself by stitching pieces of clothes owned by her relatives and ancestors (Walker). Dee believes that the quilts should be stored safely as objects of high cultural importance, while her mother insists on employing the quilts for everyday use (Muttaleb). This clash of interests signifies Dee’s artificial interest in her national and family’s heritage as opposed to Mrs. Johnson, who values the traditions and treats the family’s history with respect.

The character of Dee is juxtaposed with Maggie, who is described as a less attractive, self-assured, and successful version of her older sister. Even her mother seems to not think highly of her: “Like good looks and money, quickness passed her by.” (Walker 27). While Dee enjoyed the house burning down as she hated it so much, Meggie was significantly more affected by the fire, both physically and mentally. Meggie’s arms and legs are mutilated by scars; she has trouble walking, reading, and seeing well – as a result, she seems to be constantly anxious and intimidated by any social interactions. One of the main traits that define her character is envy for her sister, whom she always looks at with awe and believes that she “held life always in the palm of one hand, that “no” is a word the world never learned to say to her.” (Walker 23). However, unlike Dee, Maggie stays true to her identity and cultural heritage – it is she who is chosen to inherit the old quilts as she was taught how to sew them herself and would be able to pass on this tradition.

For the author, the central conflict of the story is between the younger generation of well-brought African-Americans and the older generation who spent their entire life to ensure a better life for their children. The former, represented by Dee, employ their cultural heritage as traits of their identity they use to show off without ever submerging themselves into the meaning and traditions behind it. Instead, they use every opportunity to escape their families in favor of more modern and progressive Black youth culture – so does Maggie’s boyfriend, who shares similar views on his family’s and cultural values (Walker 30). On the other hand, Maggie, who might lack the ambition of her sister, proves herself on several occasions to be a modest, unhypocritical person who appreciates her mother, the life they lead, and the cultural heritage of their family (Yang). The author clearly sympathizes with the characters of both sisters as their story is partially inspired by the life of Alice Walker herself. Dee can be respected for her self-confidence, progressiveness, and a sense of purpose. However, the author’s position is that one cannot discover your true identity by hiding from their past and disrespecting their cultural heritage.

In conclusion, the key themes of the short story are the generational conflict between the characters of Mrs. Johnson and Dee and the problem of self-determination and identity in the context of one’s cultural heritage. The choice for the two sisters seems to be between the total separation from family, culture, and traditions and the ordinary dull life of lower-class African-American families. Nevertheless, the author suggests that it is Dee’s ego and ignorance that prevent her from becoming a better version of herself. Maggie, on the other hand, is unable to reach the level of academic and social life heights achieved by her sister, although it serves as a moral compass of the story when it comes to cultural heritage and family. The balance can be maintained if one is to stop being ashamed of their past and take full interest in their culture and family history instead of artificially utilizing its convenient parts for the sake of attention.

Muttaleb, Fuad Abdul. “The Characters of Children in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” and Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path”: A Comparative Study.” International Journal of Language and Literary Studies , vol. 3, no. 2, 2021, pp. 166-173.

Walker, Alice. Everyday use . Edited by Barbara T. Christian, Rutgers, 1994.

Yang, Xinyu. “Study on Black Woman Spirituality in Alice Walker’s Everyday Use.” Proceedings of the 2020 International Conference on Language, Communication and Culture Studies (ICLCCS 2020) , edited by Tatiana Volodina, Xi Zang and Runan Hou, Atlantis Press, 2021.

Zhiliang, Zhao. ““You Just Don’t Understand.”-A Postcolonial Reading of Everyday Use.” International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences , vol. 2, no. 5, 2017, pp. 9-15.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Everyday Use — “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker

"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker: Summary

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Published: May 4, 2021

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The essay explores Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" and delves into the themes of heritage and identity within the narrative. The story is narrated by Mama, a hardworking woman awaiting the return of her daughter, Dee, who has been away at school. Mama's younger daughter, Maggie, is also present but feels overshadowed by Dee's success and confidence.

Dee arrives with her boyfriend, Hakim-a-barber, and immediately shows an interest in family artifacts, such as a butter churn and some handmade quilts. She has changed her name to "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo" to distance herself from her family's history of oppression. The conflict arises when Dee insists on taking the family quilts, which Mama had promised to Maggie. Mama ultimately decides to give the quilts to Maggie, recognizing her appreciation for their heritage.

The essay highlights the contrasting views of heritage and identity between Dee, who seeks to display her roots as a form of art, and Maggie, who values the practical and emotional significance of these items. It underscores the idea that heritage is not just about preserving objects but also understanding the experiences and traditions passed down through generations. In the end, Mama's choice to give the quilts to Maggie reflects her belief that heritage should be used and cherished rather than put on display.

Depiction of Heritage and Identity in Walker's "Everyday Use"

Works cited:.

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• Dolmans, D. H., Wolfhagen, I. H., & Essed, G. G. (2005). Students' perceptions of relationships between some educational variables in the Maastricht medical curriculum. Medical Education, 39(5), 470-477.
• Global Health Workforce Alliance. (2016). A universal truth: No health without a workforce. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/workforcealliance/knowledge/resources/GHWA-a_universal_truth_report.pdf?ua=1
• Jain, R. (2017). Healthcare delivery in India: Challenges and opportunities. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 7(4), 87-91.
• Kumar, S., & Goyal, A. (2015). An analytical study of medical tourism: A review. Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management, 3(2), 37-44.
• National Institutes of Health. (2021). MedlinePlus: Medical encyclopedia.
• World Health Organization. (2021). WHO guidelines for the management of cancer pain in adults and children. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241550369
• World Health Organization. (2022). Global strategy on human resources for health: Workforce 2030. https://www.who.int/workforcealliance/knowledge/resources/HRHStrategyWorkforce2030.pdf?ua=1

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Everyday Use

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Analysis: “Everyday Use”

“Everyday Use” is in some ways a deceptively simple story. The family drama it depicts is likely familiar to readers; the contrast Walker establishes between Dee and Maggie , and in particular Dee’s ingratitude towards the family that has sacrificed for her, is reminiscent of Biblical stories like the parable of the Prodigal Son. What Walker does in “Everyday Use” is use this basic plotline to explore issues related to art, education, and in particular, African-American identity and heritage.

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