Every day use

A detailed Summary of Every day use


Writer Alice Walker uses various symbols to help support the theme of heritage in " Everyday Use". Narrated by Mama, ancestral differences are revealed between herself, Maggie, and Dee/Wangero. Dee puts a historical value upon items she finds that Mama and Maggie would put to "Everyday Use".

This short Story begins with Mama and Maggie awaiting the arrival of Dee the oldest daughter and her male companion. Mama's home is a small house with a tin roof, and some small windows just cut in the side. A large hard clay yard which is "like an extended living room". Mama sees her home as more comfortable than most people know".

While waiting for Dee, Mama gives us some insight on both of her daughters and herself. She starts with a personal description and a dream of being on a Johnny Carson like TV show. She sees herself as the woman Dee might prefer " a hundred pounds lighter" with skin like "uncooked barley pancakes". In real life mama is " a large Big-Boned woman with tough man-working hands". Maggie is described as a simple


Wangero notices some key symbols of her past such as the benches her family built, Grandma Dee's butter dish and the churn in which the butter was produced. She also notices the dasher that has worn finger marks in it, a sign of manual labor, which was used with the churn. Wangero mentions that "Uncle Buddy whittled the dasher out of a tree you all used to have". This shows ties to her past ancestors and the historical value she has placed on things her family has used everyday. Wangero finds some old quilts, which their Grandma and Big Dee made. This brings us to the climax of the conflict between Mama, Maggie, and Wangero about the way they each view their heritage differently. Wangero insist that she should be able to keep the quilts and " hang them" to be put on display to symbolize her heritage. Rather than Maggie putting them to "Everyday Use". This, Wangero finds as a disgrace to her family to use the quilt as an item rather than a symbol, which she felt, oppressed her. Although, we are reminded about when Dee left

Some common words found in the essay are:
Carson TV, Mama Maggie, Kemanjo Dee, Grandma Dee's, Everyday Wangero, Uncle Buddy, Maggie Wangero, Dee Mama, Alice Walker, Maggie Everyday, mama maggie, historical value, everyday wangero, dee mama, male companion,

Approximate Word count = 696
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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