‘Everyday Use’ is a short story by Alice Walker that was published in 1973. It shows the life of an African-American matriarchal family where a mother and her younger daughter hold values and ideas of their tradition that are different from those of the elder daughter. The story explores the themes of racism and heritage.
Everyday Use | Summary
The story starts in a first-person narrative, Mama. She waits for her daughter Dee, her eldest daughter, who is to visit her. While Mama waits, she imagines reconciling with her daughter on a television show hosted by a smiling, sporty man like Johnny Carson, who compliments her about her daughter. She comes back to reality as she thinks she can never be on a television show because she is a big-boned woman with working hands, she is muscular, and can kill a hog and knock a bull, and all these are not shown on television. Mama looks at Maggie, her younger daughter, as she appears in a pink skirt and red blouse, and it triggers in her the memories of her past, the troubled childhood of Dee and Maggie’s suffering when their house burned.
Dee always wanted to be free from poverty; she hated their old house and wanted more than their family could afford. Dee is charismatic, intelligent, and beautiful, but her education has come at the expense of her mother’s sacrifices. She has changed since then, from being hateful to condescending. She thinks that Dee is completely different from Maggie, who is a kind woman with burns on her skin due to the fire that burned their house, and they had to build a similar one.
Dee arrives at the house in a car with a young man whom Mama refers to as “Asalamalakim”. Dee introduces herself as “Wangero” as she has decided not to keep her oppressor’s name. Dee does not show much interest in connecting with her mother or sister but enjoys the food and the artifacts in the house. Asalamalakim cannot make any connection with Maggie, and their first meeting gets awkward. After dinner, Wangero rifles through Mama’s trunk. Wangero gets hold of two quilts that were pieced by Big Dee and Grandma Dee. She insists on taking them, but Mama tells her they are meant for Maggie. Wangero emotionally attacks her mother repeatedly, but Mama takes none of it. She snatches the two quilts from Wangero and puts them on Maggie’s lap. She tells Wangero to take one or two of the other quilts.
Wangero gets out of the house, criticizing Mama, who doesn’t understand her heritage, and Maggie makes something of herself. The story ends with Wangero and her companion, Hakim-a-barber or Asalamalakim as referred to by Mama, leaving in their car, and Mama and Maggie enjoy dinner till it is time to go to bed.
Everyday Use | Analysis
The story is in the form of a first-person narrative, and Mama, the narrator, awaits the visit of her eldest daughter, Dee, who has made it to the world. Her charisma, intelligence, beauty, and the sacrifices of her mother have made her stand proud in front of the world, which looks down on black people. But Dee has changed to a condescending person who doesn’t respect her heritage anymore, contrary to Mama, who is proud of everything she has.
Mama imagines a scenario of a reunion between her and Dee. The imagination reflects on the relationship between Dee and Mama. Mama imagines herself to be thin, with shiny hair and beautiful skin, the way Dee wants her to be, imagining her daughter’s desire. Dee hates the living conditions and circumstances of her family, and Mama wishes she could be the way her daughter wants. She later dismisses it because she cannot be on a show. Her body doesn’t meet the standards, as she is muscular and big-boned. She is capable of feeding her children and taking care of the matriarchal house. Her mentioning Dee’s childhood and growing up gives the readers an idea of the character, her condescending behavior, and her attitude towards her family and heritage. Mama never introduces herself using her name, but her identity is known through her physical appearance, her abilities, her life experience, and her position as the head of the family.
When Dee is introduced, it is clear to the readers that she is nearly separated from her family as well as her heritage. As Mama looks at Maggie, her younger daughter, she gets a flashback of their life’s difficulties and how Dee and Maggie were. She remembers how Maggie was never like Dee, always shy and timid, and Dee took no for an answer. Maggie got burned when their house caught fire, and Dee was pleased with the destruction as she always hated the house. Dee was greedy for everything more than her family could afford. Maggie adjusted to everything they had. But it isn’t Dee who will take up as the head of the family, but Maggie. Mama describes Dee as intelligent, confident, and beautiful, and Maggie as timid, withdrawn, kind, and self-conscious because of her scars. But Maggie isn’t detached from her tradition and her family like Dee.
Dee is selfish, greedy, and judgmental, and doesn’t seem to care about her family. Dee thinks that Maggie and Mama have chosen the life that they are living; they do not want to dream big. Mama and Maggie have not chosen the life they were born into, but they have accepted it, and Mama helped Dee with her sacrifices to let her create the new life she desired. And in return, she looks down on them and uses her education and change in lifestyle to condescend to her family.
Dee appears in a bright dress that Mama doesn’t like at first. Dee introduces herself as Wangero and mentions that she doesn’t want to have the name of people who oppress her. Mama is taken aback by this and tries to educate her regarding her lineage, but Dee doesn’t pay any heed to her. But the name that she has given to herself is just a superficial attempt to hide her past. Her superficiality and her hypocrisy are what create the story.
Dee, when she gets in the car, takes pictures of her mother, her house, and Maggie first, and greets her mother later, which clearly shows her priorities. She just takes photographs of the house, Mama, and Maggie as if they are artifacts to look at, materializing them. Her companion, Hakim-a-barber, has a Muslim name whose introduction and greetings make the meeting awkward. During dinner, Hakim-a-barber refuses to have pork as he thinks it’s dirty, as well as the collard greens, which indicates his refusal to involve himself in African tradition. Dee relishes her food not because of being homesick for so long, but as a tourist who’s tasting something new. Dee looks around the things in the house, not as something that she had spent time with, but she considers them as mere objects that can be used as showpieces in her house. She gets hold of two quilts pieced by her grandma Dee and Big Dee, and then Mama quilts them, hanging them on the front porch. Dee doesn’t take no for an answer and hence tries to convince Mama to take them. She doesn’t want to have the quilts because they signify her history and heritage, but she considers them artifacts.
Mama tells her she can have one or two of the other quilts, but she rejects the idea, repetitively telling Mama that she doesn’t understand. Mama later confesses she has kept them for Maggie when she marries John Thomas. She is furious as she thinks Maggie is backward enough to use them every day. Mama cannot bear her constant stubbornness and her insults toward Maggie, who is nothing but kind to Dee. Mama snatches the quilts, hugs Maggie, and later puts the quilts on Maggie’s lap. Mama had always thought her daughter to be incapable of her timidity, but she never harmed anyone. Mama takes Maggie’s side, and later Dee leaves, criticizing Mama that she doesn’t understanding her heritage. She mocks Maggie as well, telling her to make something of herself.
This last part is ironic as it is coming from Dee, who doesn’t understand her heritage and that it is not connected to objects but the family and memories.
Everyday Use | Themes
Heritage
The theme of heritage is shown through Mama and the contrasting qualities of Maggie and Dee.
Dee, when she arrives takes photographs of the house, Mama, and Maggie, and later greets Mama. She relishes her food at dinner like a foreigner trying something new. She insists on taking home a hand-carved butter churn as well as her grandmother’s quilts. And she doesn’t associate any of these with homesickness and love for her family, but rather materializes them. She wants to take them to decorate her house. She considers the things that belong to her family not as heritage but as artifacts. Heritage for her is idealized and has nothing to do with memories and the past.
Mama and Maggie have very different ideas of heritage. They do not consider the things in the house to be aesthetic objects like Dee, but rather something that can be used daily. They love, respect, and appreciate everything they have, their house, the handlooms, as well as everything they have learned from their ancestors. Dee wants to take the quilts and use them as showpieces, but Mama and Maggie intend to use them every day the way they are supposed to. Maggie has learned sewing from her grandmother, and in that way, she can pass on the tradition and keep it alive.
Dee considers heritage to be something that belongs to the past and the things that belonged to her grandmother should be only as pieces of art. She disrespects Mama and Maggie’s way of thinking and holding on to the heritage as they made a house similar to the one that burned years ago, as Mama worked in the farm and as they use the old things. But Mama and Maggie believe in keeping the heritage by putting things to regular use.
Racism
Mama simply accepts the racism that she faces in her life, which is evident when she tells that she did not go to school after second grade, as she states that in 1927, colored people asked fewer questions, which implies she wasn’t taught to be judgmental like Dee. Mama then mentions how her neighbor’s cows were poisoned, referring to the racist violence.
But Dee challenges racism. Mama tells how she doesn’t look into a white person’s eyes, but Dee would look anyone in the eye. Dee’s look refers to her deference towards white people. Dee takes a new name, “Wangero,” because she doesn’t want to keep the name of the oppressors. Dee doesn’t understand that “Dee” is the name given to her after her beloved aunt Dicie. To defy racism, she has to distance herself from the history of slavery and oppression.
Everyday Use | Characters
Mama
Mama is the narrator of the story. She is an African-American woman who resorts to simple living. She lives with her younger daughter, Maggie, and awaits her eldest daughter, Dee’s arrival. She gives in to all of Dee’s demands when Dee arrives. She provides her with everything she wants, her possessions, and is even willing to call her by her new name. But in the end, she, for the first time, stands up for herself and denies Dee giving her the quilts as she has decided to give them to Maggie, which shows her respect for the tradition of caring for Maggie.
Dee
Dee is the eldest daughter of Mama and the sister of Maggie, who is confident, assertive, and charismatic. As a child, she hated her house, their traditions, as well as their poverty, and Mama made sacrifices to educate her. She later becomes condescending, critical, and insulting to her Mama and their traditions. She appreciates the family handlooms, but only by considering them as materialistic objects to be used as showpieces.
Maggie
Maggie is the younger daughter and Dee’s sister, who is a kind, timid, and self-conscious woman. She is less educated and intelligent than her sister, but she understands the true meaning of heritage and respects the traditions.
Everyday Use |Title
The title ‘Everyday Use’ refers to the way Mama wants to use the quilt. The quilts are a sign of their heritage and hence shall be put to regular use and not be treated like artifacts used as showpieces. The whole conflict is based on the title and the conflict of the ideas between Mama, Maggie, and Dee.
About the Author
Alice Walker is an American poet, novelist, and social activist famous for portraying the life and culture of African Americans. She has won the National Book Award. She is the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel The Color Purple.
