Short Story Pizzazz 2:2

I read Alice Walker’s story Everyday Use, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The main characters are the mother, who narrates the story, and her two daughters, Maggie and Dee. Maggie is the one who was burned in the fire when their house burned down, and who still lives with her mother but hopes to be married soon. Dee has always been the opinionated, quicker witted one, with style and, to Maggie’s eyes, has “everything.” Dee is contemptuous of her family’s “old ways.”

The author does not explain who the characters are, and it took me awhile to get them straight. In a way, that need to understand who Maggie was and why she was so anxious, is what hooked me into reading the story. It seems like a slightly risky ploy, however. A reader might conclude that the story wouldn’t be very interesting because the first six paragraphs move very slowly.

The story’s theme develops around the contrast between these two young women: Maggie, the one who is a little slower and takes whatever comes, and Dee, who looks down on her family and grabs whatever she wants.

The irony is that Dee (Wangero), who has adopted a black name and a sudden fascination with black culture, sees the old family quilts she once refused as very valuable pieces of history to be preserved. Not used-- preserved, flaunted. She judges her sister Maggie unworthy of them because she wouldn’t know their value or take care of them.

The theme of the story is difficult for me to pick out because it can be looked at so many ways. It is a story about value. Dee values the quilts (and her heritage) only from outside, as something that other smart, in-the-know people value. Maggie values them because they’re connected with who she is, and they’ll keep her warm.

Another theme is justice. The mother does not let Dee (Wangero) take what she wants. She gives the quilts to Maggie, who has very little to be proud of.

The title of the story comes from the line Dee says about her sister regarding the quilts: "She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use."