Mama: Characters in “Everyday Use”
- Comment on Mama’s dreams, a character in “Everyday Use”. What could it tell us about the characters and the themes of the story?
Characters in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker grapple with the complexities of heritage and identity, as the narrative unfolds through the contrasting perspectives of Dee, Maggie, and their mother. Mama dreams about her daughter in the second paragraph. It seems to be a full irony that runs throughout the story and culminates at the end. However, she vacillates in her dreams as she has not that kind of relationship with Dee, her educated daughter, which should have been between a mother and a daughter. She thinks that it may be that “Dee is embracing me with tears in her eyes” or that she may “taunt” her but it does not happen on TV shows. However, her dream is that both, she and her daughter, are like stars which happens in the case of successful children who are interviewed. In fact, her daughter is stylish and wants her mother to be “a hundred pounds lighter” with “glistening” hair, but she does not like this. It tells that there is going to be a conflict between both of them as she dreams differently from the reality.
- Identify the physical descriptions of the three women in the story. Count their personality traits. How do each of them symbolize and what?
Mama
She is the narrator of the story. She is a strong, sturdy, and hardworking lady of more than 50, who has done every manual job reserved for men. She knows that she is heavy and her “fats” keep her hot in the severe winter. She is as strong that once she hits a bull calf with a hammer and cuts it to “chill before nightfall” which shows her strength.
- She is gentle and motherly. She shows it when she saves her daughter Maggie from fire.
- She worked like a horse that she bred up both of them and also got Dee educated with the help of the Church.
- She is also somewhat stern that she does not allow Dee to take the quilt that she has made for Maggie.
- She is quite honest when she tells about her daughter Maggie how she looks and her limitations.
- She does like the superior manners of her daughter Dee.
Mama symbolizes a patronizing character who has done everything to make her daughters live a comfortable life. She is the epitome of unconditional but fair maternal love for her unequal daughters.
Maggie: Characters in “Everyday Use”
Maggie is a little girl who has “burn scars” on her face. She is a light figure but with a gait like a “lame animal” perhaps due to her injury. As she could not get an opportunity to get an education like her sister, she holds Dee in “awe” and feels “envy” but at the same time, she also loves her sister as she gives her quilts at the end.
- She is an innocent figure who does not understand the meanings of possessions as she gives quilts to her sister.
- She is dependent on her mama for everything.
- She is a meek and shy girl and hardly gets involved in other activities.
- She is a victim of loneliness.
She is a symbol of innocent, purity, and nervousness who even knows how to sacrifice for her near and dear ones. It is clear from the way she gives quilts to her sister and holds her in reverence.
Dee: Characters in “Everyday Use”
Dee is all style and newness for mama and Maggie as she is an educated girl who has “made it” to the top through an opportunity provided to her by her mama and the church. Therefore, she knows the style and has adopted one at the very young age of 16. However, she has forgotten everything that she belongs to a poor family and that her family is poor. She asserts her education so much that it makes her mother and sister hate education at all.
- Dee is arrogant and wants her mother and sister to respect her merely because she is educated.
- She feels jealous of her sister and makes life topsy-turvy at home, considering them merely human beings and cultural antiques instead of her own relations.
- She is overconfident and insensitive as she does not see that her sister has nothing and that quilts will make her life easy.
- She has rejected her inheritance by changing her name.
Dee is a symbol of pride in the family, but she is also a symbol of pseudo-educated persons who forget their real heritage and adopts style only for the sake of style. She represents a new generation of the modern era.
- What is the importance of the quilt in the story? What does it represent? What does it mean to Dee, Mama and Maggie? Do these three women differ from one another in relation to their perception of the quilt? If yes, in what way?
Quilt and Characters in “Everyday Use”
Quilts are symbols of property, prize, and inheritance in the story which have been handed down to the other generation. For Maggie and mama, they are a property and a thing of use. They know that they have only such pieces of property to feel proud of that they have something. However, Dee tries to get them merely as decoration pieces with the excuse that she would preserve this inheritance. The quilts, in fact, represent a whole family history but they mean different things to all three. For mother, they are a real legacy that she is handing over to Maggie. For Maggie, they are things of everyday use to benefit from. However, for Dee, they are a prize, a gift, and a thing to preserve and feel pride at.
Works Cited: Characters in “Everyday Use”
Walker, Alice. Everyday Use. Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, 2004.
Relevant Questions about Characters in “Everyday Use”
- How do the characters in “Everyday Use,” especially the character of Dee, reflect the theme of cultural identity and heritage in the story?
- In “Everyday Use,” how do the characters, particularly Maggie, evolve or change throughout the narrative, and what role do they play in conveying the story’s message?
- What is the significance of the names of the characters in “Everyday Use,” and how do these names contribute to the overall themes of the story?
