Ms. Nguyen
English 1301
November 10th, 2011
Literacy Analysis: “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
Alice Walker was born on February 9th, 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia. She was the youngest of eight children in a family of poor black sharecroppers. Upon reaching adulthood, she worked to become a social worker, teacher, and lecturer. However, she is best known for her literature. Although most famous for her best-selling novel, “The Color Purple,” she is more involved in poems and essays than actual novel-writing. As a young person, she took part in several 1960’s civil rights movements, which suggests that she is a very passionate, justice-oriented woman. Being a black southerner herself, the majority of her stories are centered on black individuals or families in the south. This is the theme that “Everyday Use” takes. Through her signature setting, Walker uses personality differences to show that animosity brews in most, if not all, families, especially when one family member is selfish and gives no room for others to have any attention.
An obvious way to search for explanations of animosity between siblings is to look at each person’s childhood. In “Everyday Use,” Walker introduces two sisters: Dee and Maggie. Dee was blessed with an education, the only person clearly literate in her immediate family. She often read to her mother and sister and is portrayed to have had a domineering sense of literary pride over them. She was also a very attractive young woman, described to have a “full figure, light skin, and nice hair” and to be “very light” (375). Among these gifts, she was also popular with her friends. They all looked up to her, the text tells us, and worshipped her because she was so… perfect. Maggie, unfortunately, was not blessed with such skills. An unintelligent girl with poor eyesight, Maggie struggled to read and only attended school briefly, if ever. As a young girl, she was caught in a house fire with her mother and as a result has burn scars up and down her arms and legs; causing her to be shameful about her appearance and to walk around in the manner of a “lame animal… perhaps a dog run over by some careless person… (375).” She was a very quiet person, with few friends, and stayed close to home; always satisfied with what was given to her and willing to help. But, Dee’s dominate personality often caused her to be in the shadows. This causes Maggie to be afraid, in awe of, and in the least bit bitter, with her sister. Such drastic differences in upbringing and appearance often brew bitterness between the less fortunate and the fortunate. While it may not show at first, the former may grow up with a sense of injustice and anger, feeling as if they were cheating by Providence, their parents, and even by their sibling.
Walker goes on to portray the two sister’s differences in an even more elaborate way. She describes Dee’s personality as very demeaning, confrontational, selfish, and yet somehow endearing to some. She mentions in her introduction that Maggie views Dee as the kind of person “…that ‘no’ was a word the world never learned to say to her.” Dee was an elaborate show girl, in a way; always dressing to have attention put upon her and always acting in a way that would criticize and yet draw people to her. In a word, Dee’s personality could be described as “extroverted,” because of her social, talkative, domineering personality. Maggie, on the other hand, was very introverted. She desired to stay at home with her mother and help out around the house. In the story, she was engaged to a nice young man named John Thomas who was nothing special; but was someone who would love her and take care of her. She could be described as one who “settled,” always thankful to be given anything and eager to expel conflict in her family. While Maggie never showed frustration with her sister, one cannot help to think that she was thankful when Dee left her home after what probably seemed like an excruciatingly long visit. Peace seemed to be established when the troublemaker left the residence. Surely, this was how Maggie felt about Dee’s visit when it was over. These personality differences provide a source of sympathy towards Maggie, an emotion that Walker clearly attempts to stir up in readers. But that’s not the only emotion that Walker attempts to tug at; she also manipulates the reader’s anger by presenting Dee’s personality as such a drastic opposition, almost bully-like to an introverted personality such as Maggie’s.
As a final comparison, Walker discusses the differences between Dee’s and Maggie’s demands and attitudes about their heritage. Nearly from the moment Dee arrives at her mother’s home, she begins to demand that certain things be given to her. “I knew there was something I wanted to ask you if I could have” (377). She declares before her mother can reply. She goes on to ask for several household items, convinced that her heritage would remain true if only she could have the items that reminded her of it. While she was too busy collecting “museum pieces” that represented her heritage, Maggie was in the midst of actually living out her heritage. Maggie didn’t need symbolism to remind her of her history; she lived her heritage from day to day and was constantly reminded through her lifestyle of who she was. When Dee demands the quilts that were made from her grandmother’s dresses, which were promised to Maggie; Maggie attempted to give them to her to disperse the conflict that was developing. I imagine we’re all thankful when the story ends with their mother’s refusal to take the quilts away from Maggie and give them to Dee. However, it is saddening to see that Dee is so caught up in the symbolic heritage of certain items that she can’t incorporate them into her life, for everyday use. This is the most focused upon difference between her and Maggie. Walker attempts to portray that the differences between Dee and Maggie do not only result in character flaws, but also in the irreplaceable lack of the true meaning of a person’s heritage. Because of Dee’s self-absorbed lifestyle and personality, she took no time to invest in her heritage. As a result, she is obsessed with the material value of her heritage rather than the emotions and memories associated with it. This is largely the result of her refusal to invest time in her family. Walker proves through this example of Dee’s estrangement that in order to understand your heritage and where you come from, you must put aside your own life for a while and take the time to invest in your family and history.
The story “Everyday Use” discusses many differences between sisters Maggie and Dee, including their looks, personality, intelligence, and social popularity. Through the differences between the sisters, Walker conveys the inner fact that families often struggle with an unbalanced family, where one member has significantly more gifts and talents than the others. Unfortunately, this often results in a domineering personality by that individual, which in turn results in the acrimony between that person and their fellow family members. It can also result in the more gifted member missing out on the important things in life because of their obsession with themselves, their obsession with their perspective of life. They don’t take enough time to really consider the important things, and are thus trained only by their own knowledge. This malevolence between siblings and lack of understanding by the gifted child are important points that Walker emphasizes throughout her text through differences between Dee and Maggie. Walker’s creative use of title significance along with her valid points about sibling animosity and misunderstanding induced by self-consumption makes this article a very thought-provoking, interesting article; one well worth reading.
Works Cited
- Alice Walker. “Everyday Use.” In Love and Trouble. Mariner Books. 19 May 2003.
- “Alice Walker.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 10 November 2011. Web. 10 November 2011.
- No authors listed. “Alice Walker biography.” Biography.com. A&E Television Networks. 2011. Web. 10 November 2011. < http://www.biography.com/people/alice-walker-9521939>
