Maggie starts off in the story as having very low self-esteem, Walker describes her as, “Walking with chin on her chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire that burned the house to the ground.” This has caused her to feel unattractive and not as confident compared to her sister. Being the younger sister, I feel she is looked down upon and not respected for who she really is. Maggie has not experienced as much of life as Dee, Yet, she seems to value it more. Maggie does not have any wishes to change her way of life, she has simply remained uneducated like her mother, but remains proud of who she is and what she stands for. Maggie has a close relationship with her mom; they seem to share a lot of the same views.
Dee is quite ungrateful. Towards the beginning of the story, Dee is taking a picture of Maggie and their mother in front of the house. Dee was always ashamed of her family, where she grew up, and the house they lived in. Now, Dee seems to have a new found appreciation for her heritage, which may just be for show. On page, the narrator describes the scene in which the old house burns down.
Everyday Use," a stroy written by Alice Walke, is about a lower class gamily of theww that has to move because their house caught on fire. The story starts with Mama and daughter, Maggie, expecting Dee. Dee is the daughter of Mama and the sister of Maggie. She is somewhat different from her family. Dee in "Everyday Use" is a rude, selfish, and high maintenance kind of character.
Mama then goes on to describe how nervous Maggie will be until her sister leaves, “standing hopelessly in corners”, “eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe.” She then goes onto reminisce about a dream she had in which she and her daughter Dee, were reunited on a talk show. During this Mama, reveals how she knows her physical appearance is less than desirable but she makes no apologies for being a, “big-boned woman with rough, man working hands.” The two daughters are like night and day when compared to one another. When the reader first meets Maggie, she is portrayed as shy, awkward and self-conscious do to the scars she received when
Her parents never realized that after every meal Rachel would secretly go to the bathroom upstairs and throw up everything she had eaten. Her father would beat her up and treat her like trash and her mother would just stand there and not say a word because she was weak and always did as Rachel’s dad said. In her kindergarten class, Rachel treated all the other little girls with rudeness, anger, and jealousy towards anyone who was better than her. She often spent her days in the principal’s office because of her strong character and misbehaviors. Rachel grew up, went through her dating stage, and then finally met a wonderful man that she could not picture herself without; a caring, positive, supportive husband that goes by the name of Tim.
Rather than saying, “cutting” back, as most would, she says the more gracious thing, offering insight into her upbringing as well as her parent’s parenting styles for the reader. It is clear in the excerpt that the first person point of view affects the tone, by displaying Leah’s reactions and varied feelings toward the situations at hand, and other characters. When Leah assesses her sister, Rachel’s beauty aids, and says she cares “for naught but appearances.” This again
The Irony in “Everyday Use” “Everyday Use” concerns a mother’s depiction of herself and her two daughters: Maggie and Dee. Mama is the narrator in this short story, which takes place in and small town in or around the mid nineteen hundreds. Full of life and not timid at all is her oldest daughter Dee. Maggie who was burned in a fire at their previous home stays in the shadows. In a Sense Dee sees herself as better than her family, and believes they are ignorant and do not know their own heritage.
Lost Dreams: The Glass Castle One of the most important things that parents provide for their children is a stable background: a roof to sleep under, regular meals, and a sense of security. In fact, some turn to a faulty upbringing in order to explain violence, crime, drug abuse or general bad behavior in adult life. However, Jeannette Walls grew up with an alcoholic father and a shiftless mother, neither of whom provided for or protected their children. She was raised in a household where sufficient food was a rarity, traveling around from small town to small town, often living in conditions that to most would be unbearable; yet as an adult, she created a life for herself that she deems comfortable and stable. The Glass Castle is a stirring account of Walls’s childhood, her relationships with her family, and her ability to overcome all the hardships she was faced with.
Dee only wanted to lord over them her superior intelligence and education, therefore boosting her own ego. Dee does not hide her shame for the way that her mother and Maggie live by writing “no matter where [they] “choose” to live, she will manage to come see [them]. But she will never bring her friends.” Dee's harsh criticisms are not just pointed at her mother and Maggie as can be seen when the narrator points out “When [Dee] was courting Jimmy T she didn't have much time to pay us, but turned all her faultfinding power on him. He flew to marry a cheap city girl” (Walker 105). Notice the emphasized word flew.
And she was and she goes on to explain her mother's life to the reader so she can prove this person wrong and justify her mother's long hardworking career on the farm. Despite the vast commitment her mother has to her family, farm, and lifestyle, Bonnie is denied death benefits only because she did not work at a desk job or any other work the government considers a legitimate job. The government needs to appreciate and reward more people like Martha Smith, a person who gives everything she has as service to her society. While it is quite difficult to define someone as a hardworking person, one cannot deny the amount of contribution a person serves to his or her country. Many people these days just get a regular job at some mediocre company just to get by.