(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”. Besides, Dee thought that Maggie “can always make some more; Maggie knows how to quilt." (Walker, ) and that made her more unwillingly to give the quilts to Maggie. But Maggie-who would use them everyday-said to her Mama to give the blankets to Dee, because she “can 'member Grandma Dee without the quilts. "(Walker, ).
Maggie deserves the quilts because they were hers to begin with. “I [Mama] promised to give them to Maggie, for when she marries John Thomas.” (202) As demonstrated on page 202, Maggie clearly already considered them her own. On this page, Walker implies that Maggie overheard Dee asking for the quilts. Her reaction: “I [Mama] heard something fall in the kitchen, and a minute later the kitchen door slammed.” Shortly after, Maggie was standing in the door, scraping her feet over each other while listening to the argument (203). It is implied that Maggie is worried Dee will take the quilts away from her, after all, “‘no’ is a word the world never learned to say to her [Dee].” (196) As Dee “held the quilts securely in her arms,” (202) she probably didn’t expect to have to let them go.
Now stop and think about how you should treat your heritage. Do you simply think your heritage is something to just remember, or do you believe you should apply the things inherited from heritage to everyday use? In Alice Walker’s short story, “Everyday Use,” Mama, Maggie, and Dee, three very different characters, have controversy over this topic. Mama is a tough and robust woman, who has worked all her life to provide for her family. Mama’s always had a soft spot for her daughter, Dee, but when Mama finally stands up to her, she sends the message that the things you inherit from your heritage should be applied to everyday use.
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.
Imagine!" She held the quilts securely in her arms, stroking them… Maggie can't appreciate these quilts!" She said. "She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use."' (423-424) Mama decides to give them to Maggie because she thinks she will use them as they were intended.
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.
When Mrs. Johnson tells Dee that she cannot have them because she has already given them to Maggie; Dee gets furious that Maggie could come before her. Dee tries to argue that Maggie will ruin the quilts by using them everyday. Maggie tells Dee that she can just have the quilts, but Mrs. Johnson won’t have it. Dee gets mad that she did not get her way, and says hateful things to her sister and mother as she is leaving. You see, one person’s glamour, may be another’s misery; just as what someone may display, someone else could put to personal everyday use.
Ulrich used Ballad’s diary to open Ballad’s life to light so everyone could know. On the film they showed her doing all the cleaning at her home and going out the garden to plant. Also when Ballard was at Mrs. Howard’s home watching and taking care her son because the boy was ill and needed medication. The film opened my eyes because Mrs. Ballard did everything to take care of her own children and struggled through her life, living through the chaotic decades and the American Revolution. Also that the Historian Laurel T. Ulrich spent eight years going through research about Martha Ballard’s diary and making her life light up to show everyone what a women went thought in the 18th Century.
Coree Williams Dr. Clay ENGL 1302-40305 3 November 2013 The Quilts “Everyday Use,” by Alice walker is a story of a mother and her two daughters, named Maggie and Dee. Alice Walker presents to us the different personalities, qualities, and goals in their lives. Dee, the eldest daughter, seems to reject her past, and seems to be caught up in the materialistic things. To her, it seems that her heritage and culture are only acceptable for their artistic appeal. “This character has changed her given name.
"Maggie can't appreciate these quilts!" Dee says. "She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use." (Walker, 2011, p. 1092). Dee stated she would solely like to hang her quilts on her wall for others to see shows the type to person Dee is and the point that the author tries to