Meredith Butler
English 1102
Fiction Essay In the story Everyday Use by Alice Walker, the author attempts to show the contrasts between family members in regards to their heritage during the 1960’s. Ms. Walker tells the story of how different the family members are in education, lifestyle and beliefs. In doing so, she illustrates the importance of everyday items and of everyday people. Ms. Walker, through the point of view of the mother, paints the picture of a young woman, too good for her family, running off to the city only to find that the city values her heritage and conversely, now must she.

The character of Dee is first described by her mother in the excerpt, “Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure” (Walker, 1973). This is in contrast to her “large, manly mother who can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man” (Walker) and her sister who was disfigured in a fire as a young child. The same fire that Dee stands and watches, so intently, that her mother thought to ask her “why she didn’t do a dance around the ashes” (Walker). It is never stated why Dee feels such deep hatred for her home, however shame and ignorance play a key role.

“Dee wanted nice things” (Walker), things that would be difficult if not impossible to a young black girl of the time to obtain. Her mother often notes that Dee daydreams to the point of not blinking, determined to get what she wants. When Dee’s mother and the town raise money to send Dee off to school, she graciously consents to visit her mother and sister, however the shame she feels at their lifestyle “choices” will not bring her friends to see where she comes from. Maggie does note that she didn’t know Dee had any friends, intimating that Dee cares about no one but herself. While she may have had friends, they were not true. “Impressed with her they worshiped the well-turned phrase, the cute shape, the scalding humor that erupted like bubbles in lye. She read to them” (Walker). We all know the type of person that draws weaker people in, only to show how much better they are.

The climax unfolds as Maggie and Mama await Dee’s arrival. Dee doesn’t disappoint, showing up in full hippie garb, sporting a new name and introducing her Muslim boyfriend, Asalamalakim. “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me” (Walker). After telling her family that her new name, Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, she comments that if it is too hard for them, they don’t have to use it. Dee’s choice to change her name because she feels she is being oppressed, coupled with wanting to take pictures of her mama and Maggie in front of their ramshackle home, is the first clue that she’s grasping at something she knows nothing about.

Dee exclaims wildly over all the childhood objects around her during lunch, like she is seeing them for the first time. She shows her lack of knowledge about her relatives who created them and deliberately refuses to acknowledge their everyday uses. She tours the room, stating she is taking this and that they will make lovely decorations for her home. She doesn’t see the real worth of the benches her father built, nor does she remember the tree the butter dasher was whittled from. “I can use the chute top as a centerpiece for the alcove table and I’ll think of something artistic to do with the dasher” (Walker). Maggie remembers though, not only that Aunt Dee’s first husband’s name was Henry and he whittled the dash, but that his nickname was Stash. Dee sets her sights on two quilts that Mama has set aside for Maggie’s wedding bed and Maggie knows what is coming. While Dee spouts about hanging the quilts and their supposed importance to her, she points out that Maggie would just use them on a bed. Mama finally has an epiphany and does something she has never done before, Mama tells Dee no. Along with Mama we see that Dee will never know the value of one teeny faded blue piece of fabric from her grandfather’s Civil War uniform. She will never see the pleasure in sitting on the front porch quilting with family. As we go through life we are shaped by the events and people around us. Our traditions, values, and culture are part of what makes us who we are. The reader only has to think of their own family, holidays, celebrations or just Tuesday night dinners at the table, to appreciate the everyday use of those things and people around them that truly create one’s heritage.

Work Cited

Walker, Alice. Everyday Use • In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women (1973)