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Everyday Use

            The four main characters of this story are the author, the authors daughters Dee (Wangero) and Maggie, and Hakim-a-barber. All of these characters have different values on the cultural artifacts in the story. .
             When Dee came back home for the evening as they were eating supper she pointed out the butter churn and the dasher that she wanted them. She only wanted them to use as decorations in her fancy home. That's all they were to her was decorations. But to the author they showed the hard work and the labor they used to do to make the butter for the wooden handle had finger grooves sunken in it showing just how hard they had to churn. It also meant a great deal to her because Uncle Buddy whittled it out of a tree. Dee really did have great value for the table benches that were made when they couldn't afford chairs. She was delighted that they still used them. The food really didn't have a great value to the author or Maggie because they were so used to eating it everyday. But Dee really did love the food, it seems as if she had missed it the way she talked about how good the sweet potatoes and the chitlins and cornbread was. On the other hand Hakim-a-barber didn't have much ap!.
             preciation for the food because he said he didn't eat collards and pork was unclean. The two quilts mentioned in the story were very special to the author for they were made from scraps of Grandma Dee's dresses over fifty years ago. She had full intentions of giving them to Maggie after she married so keep them a special heirloom in the family. Dee on the other hand came to the house and just took them saying that Maggie would have no appreciation for them and that they were meant to be hung on display because they were worth so much. .
             Hakim-a-barber really couldn't have much appreciation for anything there at the house because he had never been exposed to any of it before. He seemed to act like everything was dirty and old-fashioned.


Essays Related to Everyday Use

1. Everyday use

Symbolic Meaning of the title "Everyday Use" and how it relates to the theme in Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" The short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker is narrated by "Big Dee" a black woman in the south who is faced with the decision to give away two quilts to one of her daughters. ... Dee argues that Maggie would not appreciate the quilts and that "She"d probably be backwards enough to put them to everyday use." ... Everyday use is what the quilts were intended for when they were made, although they carried such deep underlying meaning. ... The "quilt is a metaphor...

  • Word Count: 403
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography

2. Everyday Use

Everyday Use is a deep story that is categorized in my mind as great. ... The story Everyday Use could have been viewed in many other ways than the way in which I viewed it. ... When you read a short story such as Everyday Use you can compare it to everything else that you have read. ... A large theme in Everyday Use is the mother-daughter relationship. There are great uses of mother-daughter relationships in countless other stories so why is Everyday Use any better those other stories? ...

  • Word Count: 901
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Everyday Use

"Everyday Use", by Alice Walker, shows how education can ruin one's sense of family values. ... In "Everyday Use", education destroys Dee's sense of family values. "Everyday Use" is about the dissension that arises between a mother and daughter after the daughter becomes educated. ... They were put to everyday use and Dee wanted them simply to go as decorations. ... Dee got very upset, arguing that Maggie would "be backward enough to put them to everyday use." ...

  • Word Count: 639
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Everyday Use

Everyday Use In the short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker the title ties into the issues about the quilts. ... Dee feels she deserves them more because she won't put them to everyday use. ... From down the line Grandma Dee and Big Dee created their quilts for everyday use and that's what Maggie wants to continue. Dee actually is putting the quilts to everyday use also by having them displayed for their appearance. ...

  • Word Count: 648
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Everyday Use

Everyday Life Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" tells the story of how a mother can become emotionally unattached from her oldest daughter after years of separation. ... She also begins gathering things around the house that are everyday tools for Mama and Maggie (the younger daughter) which she will use as decoration in her own home. ... Both of the examples above can be used to help illustrate the theme of heritage, which can pose a social or a cultural conflict for everyone, especially the characters in this story. ... But this is not a rare case of cultural and social conflicts leading t...

  • Word Count: 462
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Everyday use

Everyday Use Everyday Use contrasts two generations to define a lost heritage. Dee, who is home from college, decides that she has a sudden interest in her ancestry. Dee comes home to her mother and her sister, Maggie. The mother has a very realistic and objective view of herself. She admits tha...

  • Word Count: 431
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Everyday use

Everyday Use Everyday Use contrasts two generations to define a lost heritage. Dee, who is home from college, decides that she has a sudden interest in her ancestry. Dee comes home to her mother and her sister, Maggie. The mother has a very realistic and objective view of herself. She admits tha...

  • Word Count: 431
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Everyday use

Everyday Use Everyday Use contrasts two generations to define a lost heritage. Dee, who is home from college, decides that she has a sudden interest in her ancestry. Dee comes home to her mother and her sister, Maggie. The mother has a very realistic and objective view of herself. She admits tha...

  • Word Count: 431
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Everyday Use

"Everyday Use" In her story, "Everyday Use," Alice Walker is focusing on the importance and true value of culture in our society through the use of an African American family which consist of 2 daughters and their mother. ... She was so use to giving in to Dee she said "I can "member Grandma Dee without the quilts", just so Dee could have them. ... She attended college in Augusta and used her knowledge to look down on her mother and sister treating them like dimwits. ... Their mother is saving the quilts for Maggie to use after she gets married. ... Dee believes she will a...

  • Word Count: 550
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

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