Based on the theme of the story I feel that Maggie has a greater, more genuine appreciation for her heritage. I love how she doesn’t dismiss her family’s roots. I do feel a little sympathy for her because she hasn’t been to school and, unlike her sister; she hasn’t had the experience or opportunity to expand her knowledge. I feel sorry for Maggie because she doesn’t receive respect from her sister. Her sister feels that she doesn’t deserve to inherit the
5 Paragraph Character Essay "Everyday Use," by Alice Walker is a short story about an unlucky family who struggles to make it. Maggie and Dee's mother goes out of her way to give them the life they deserve. In Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use," Dee is an unlikable person because she is arrogant, selfish, and ungrateful. Dee is a very arrogant person. Dee is under the impression that she appreciates her heritage more than Maggie ever could.
She had no confidence in her mother growing up, and saw her as a “limit” and an “embarrassment”. Later in Tan’s life, she found several surveys which led her to realize that she was not alone; there were other Asian-Americans who may have shared the same struggles as her. Tan creates a symbolic diction through the use of words like “broken”, “limited”, and “fractured”. She is very repetitive with her use of these words, although she explains how she hated when people described her mother’s english that way. Although Tan knows that the way her and her mother converse is not grammatically correct, she has grown to love it.
Elements of criticism, judgment, and pettiness are all made apparent. The mother tells the readers that after returning from school as a young woman, Dee looked down upon her family for being uneducated and tried to force her viewpoints upon them. This is seen clearly when the mother states, “She used to read to us without pity; forcing words, lies, other folk’s habits,
Maggie is not only physically but mentally scarred. So traumatized from the fire Maggie is very timid, anti social and self conscious. Unlike her sister Maggie never got the proper schooling to learn to read or write vary well, the only things she knows how to do truly well are the things she grew up doing such as helping her mother around the house with cleaning, cooking, sewing, and things like that. Maggie and Dee have diverse views of how to cherish their heritage. To Maggie actually putting the things, of her heritage, to everyday use is a better way of appreciating it then just having it on display never to be used.
She wishes to teach this to her two daughters but times have changed and her daughters have difference views of what they think heritage is. “Everyday Use” shows the difference between learning about heritage and learning from it. The direct and the indirect characterization of the three main characters help the reader understand the different views of heritage; Mama thinks Dee rejects it, Mama is ignorant to the realness of heritage, and Maggie learns from it. The direct characterization of Dee leads the reader to think that she rejects her mother’s heritage. Direct characterization is when the narrator, in this case ‘Mama’, tells the reader what the character’s traits are.
Returning home from school with a new name, look, attitude, and man; Dee continuously finds reasons to insult the lifestyles of her mother and sister. Walker shows that one’s culture and heritage are represented by neither the possession of objects nor external appearances, but by one’s lifestyle and attitude. In this short story, Walker shows us how Dee was not only greedy with money but also with her heritage and had a total lack of regard for her family. It seems as if acquiring collegiate educated, she realizes that her heritage really has meaning in her life. Walker characterizes the different sides of culture and heritage in the characters of Dee (Wangero), her mother and sister -Maggie.
In “Everyday Use” and “The Story of an Hour” the information appears to be reliable. Even though the points of view are different, the narrator is able to convince the reader that the information is real or true. "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker is told in first person narration, from the point of view of the main character, "Mama" or "Mrs. Johnson". She tells us a story about a visit from her daughter, even though her view is one sided and her second grade education limits her ability to understand the thought process of her educated daughter, the reader believes what she says. This knowledge allows the author to effectively create dramatic irony.
My mother spoke in normal Trini dialogue, so I would constantly hear phrases such as “Do not cut you nose to patch you bottom” and “If you see you neighbor house catch fire wet yours”. To some of my friend my mother had no idea what she was talking about and should maybe work on her English, but to me she spoke clear and understandable English. I can relate to Tan in this way, because many people did not understand her mother and assumed her grasp on English was very weak, when it was actually the opposite. Over the years, I have noticed how my mother’s dialogue has rubbed off on me. I constantly find myself speaking in the island dialogue while at home, but the second someone calls or visits, I am able to switch into a more proper English dialogue with my American friends.
This is accentuated by the fact that Mama was denied an education because her school closed down. “After 2nd grade the school closed down.” Dee was fortunate that Mama gave her the opportunity, but her superior intellect serves only to detach her from her mother and her sister. Dee uses her intellect to patronize and almost intimidate others. As a child Dee read to her mother and sister “Without pity, to shove us away at just the moment, like dimwits, we seemed about to understand.” This clearly conveys how Dee was so detached from her family. She “shoves them away” when they are about to reach the same level of understanding as she does.