Jerdarius Kidd
Dr. Craig
May 2, 2013
This story has a lot to do with African American cultural and history in America. Heritage for the mother is an everyday life thing but for her daughter Dee it is a political thing. In this story Dee seems to be the more difficult one in the family. It is very difficult understanding where which character is coming from though. Throughout the story Mama is figure out who should be the rightful owner of the quilts and in the end she makes the right decision. Heritage is defined as something that is inherited from the past. There are many types of heritages such as natural, cultural, food, and industrial. Certain families take it more serious than other families. They pass down things from generation to generation too their children/grandchildren. Some cultural, such as Jamaicans, cook their food a certain way. That can be their heritage by itself. Others may hand down things such as quilts, bibles, clothes, and also jewelry. Some keep those things to remember a lost loved one. In Alice Walkers’ story “Everyday Use”, heritage played a big role. The story is about a mother and her two daughters Maggie and Dee and the main conflict is to determine who should fairly have possession of the quilts. The quilts were an emblem of African-American Heritage, these quilts meant a lot to their complete family, and everybody wanted possession of them. She is the narrator of this story because she was born back then when heritage was very important. Maggie and Dee were two opposite people even though they were sisters. Dee is the popular one who inspires herself to reach big goals in life. Maggie on the other hand is kind of antisocial and learns how to quilt. In this story, it basically argues that heritage and culture should be taught everyday and valued. The significance of heritage should be carried out in today’s society so that it will be still known and appreciated.
Mama heritage takes a part of her everyday life but trying to get her daughters to understand the importance of it is very difficult. However, Mama and her daughter Maggie feel the same about heritage. Mama relationship with Dee is predominant with a little bit of jealousy. Maggie on the other hand makes her problems and Dee problems her own problems in the story. Maggie found certain things unfair but she never spoke on it really.
Mama in this story tells everything how they are and she also the narrator of the story, she always told the truth. In the story Mama was described as a “big boned woman with rough man working hands.” (Walker 1) She could kill and clean a hog just as a man could. She could do it all, but she could not just seem to understand her daughters at all. Throughout the story Maggie and Dee fought over the quilts and Mama just watched them closely trying to solve the conflict. Mama soon learned that Maggie appreciated her heritage and she did not want to lose any of her African American heritages that she had left. So Maggie actions showed Mama that she should be the rightful owner of the quilts. Mama always had problems solving conflicts between the two but this time she was right. Maggie in this story is the maladjusted one. In Baker and Baker Patches it was said that “Maggie is the arisen goddess of Walker's story; she is the sacred figure who bears the scarifications of experience and knows how to convert patches into robustly patterned and beautifully quilted wholes.” (Baker 162) She was badly scorched in a house fire when she was a child, which changed her life. She lives at home and is secluded by her mother, and never goes outside. She is not that smart and she is very, very shy. Maggie is the type of person that seeks things but never says anything. To distinguish that heritage means a lot to her is by taking a look at her reaction when it came to the quilts that her mother promised her. When Dee tried to take the quilt away Maggie was very mad and dropped her plate and slammed the door.
