One can see this in the way she handles the situation with her daughter Dee. In the end, Dee wants to take her grandmother's quilts to "display them". She says '"these are all pieces of dresses grandma used to wear. She did all the stitching my hand. Imagine!"
At the first time we read this story we didn’t get what Alice Walker means with “Everyday Use” and what it has to do with the story. But then we made a conclusion that the author refers to the quilt which both Dee and Maggie wanted. Dee planned to hang them, but not to know the history that comes with it, so that she could show them off to her friends what her heritage was and be proud because the quilts were "all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear. She did all this stitching by hand." (Walker, ) which symbolize an important part of heritage to Dee-while back when she was growing up, she said they were “old-fashioned, out of style”.
ENG 1102 July 27, 2014 Word count: 1014 Heritage in an Everyday Quilt In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” as the narrator, Mrs. Johnson’s perspective changes from the beginning of the story to the end, at first favoring Dee and eventually favoring Maggie instead. Why does Mrs. Johnson end up favoring Maggie over Dee by the end of the story? What does their heritage have to do with the story? To Mrs. Johnson, each daughter defines heritage to her in a different way. All entwined together with her family quilts, each their own ideas of what heritage means to them through the quilts.
The women of the time made quilts that were put to "everyday use" that were then passed down from generation to generation. The quilts during this time were used to symbolize the love of the slave’s mothers and the things they had to go through just to make the quilts. A lot of times every square in a quilt symbolizes something of its own. One square may symbolize the love of a person and the other may symbolize the death of another. Each quilt is prepared differently which gives it a since of purpose.
And the story begins as follows, “I will wait for her in the yard that Maggie and I made so clean and wavy yesterday afternoon. A yard like this is more comfortable than most people know. (Walker 6)” Right away, Mrs. Johnson gives us the illusion that she is anticipating somebody important, someone she has high value for, and really wants to impress. Truth is Mrs. Johnson has been awaiting Dee’s approval for her entire life. In the story Mrs. Johnson has a day dream, where she is on a live television show, hosted by someone like Johnny Carson, and she looks very attractive (nothing like her real appearance) and her daughter Dee embraces her with a warm smile and pins an
Throughout the story, we can learn from Mama’s description that she plays an active role in preserving her family heritage. The churn top, dasher, and the quilts which Mama values a lot, are her family legacies. Mentioning her ancestors for quite a few times in the story, Mama’s concern for her heritage is reflected. When she reveals her disappointment in Dee for changing her name and explains to her “You know as well as me you was named after your aunt Dicie”, her concern for family heritage is again illustrated. Appointing a character with so much interest and involvement to her family heritage as a narrator of the story, Walker’s hints on the theme of the story is obvious.
On one side of the argument, Dee is fighting to preserve the quilts so they may be passed down through future generations. On the other side of the argument, Maggie would like to put the quilt to everyday use. Maggie is right in believing that heritage should be used in our everyday lives, that it should be accepted and appreciated, and that your heritage is something to be proud of. It is obvious that Maggie deserves the quilts, not Dee. Maggie deserves the quilts because they were hers to begin with.
Process Paper #4 The Century Quilt serves to connect the speaker’s life to her diverse background. First of all, the quilt brings her back to her youthful days. The speaker describes her dreams of “wrapping [herself] at play with [the blanket’s] folds and [play] chieftains and princesses.” This quilt connects her to her past and thus to her family. She reminisces about her first blanket, which serves as a doorway to her past experiences and emotions. She wants a blanket to “have good dreams for a hundred years.” The speaker makes a connection with Meema, who “dreams of her yellow sisters” and “about Mama.” She recalls her father coming home from his store and the family cranking up the pianola.
“Everyday Use” The theme of “Everyday Use” is that sometimes you miss the bigger meaning of aspects of life when you focus on the material world. This theme is supported by imagery and symbolism in the story. The quilts symbolize family bonds. In paragraph 55 the story says that “[the quilts] had been pieced by Grandma Dee and then Big Dee and me had hung them on the quilt frames on the front porch and quilted them.” We are also told that “Big Dee” and “Grandma Dee” taught Maggie how to quilt. These things recognize the bonding that happens between family members as an heirloom, such as the quilts, is passed down through generations.
Dee on the other hand says she will appreciate them as a piece of family history, but in reality she wants to hang them on the walls like a piece of art. Dee lives in a demanding, sophisticated way of life as to where Maggie and Mama are still simple and humble and appreciate things for what they are and what they mean to the family. Mama finally stands up to Dee and instead of giving her the quilts like she has always given her everything she’s ever wanted, she tells her she promised the quilts to Maggie and she is not breaking that