The quilts were an important part of the family tradition of quilt making. It was so important to Mama that when Dee asked for it she snatched it from her hands. When Mama gave the quilts to Maggie, she hoped Maggie would put it to everyday use. Maggie valued the quilts for what they mean as an individual. Maggie says she can’t remember Grandma Dee without the quilts.
Although she does not have this part of her heritage, the persona finds a quilt that she says, “I’d like to die under” (Line 14) . This quilt will not only keep her warm, but it also has the same solace as her grandmother’s special blanket. The character’s “found” quilt is able to inspire her just as her grandmother’s quilt enables her to and is effectively capable of representing her family heritage. The quilt, based on the description in the poem, has recurring squares of white, yellow, and brown. These squares represent the various colors of the character’s family.
Direct characterization is when the narrator, in this case ‘Mama’, tells the reader what the character’s traits are. For instance, when Dee wants the quilts Mama says “I didn’t want to bring up how I had offered Dee (Wangero) a quilt when she went away to college. Then she had told me they were old-fashioned, out of style” (114). Dee leads Mama to think that she [Dee] is self-centered and judgmental of their heritage, represented by the quilts. By rejecting the quilts the first time Dee rejected their culture.
After all, she had promised those quilts to Maggie. It is sufficently motivated. Dee wanted the quilts for their monetary value, while Maggie wanted them for sentimental value. The change is given sufficient timing. The incident with the quilts was the catalyst, however from the mother's tone (when she spoke of Dee) one could see the change
It is obvious that this is the subtext because earlier on Mama and Ruth were talking about how the children have spirit even though they haven’t had the best circumstances. Lena loves the plant but she wishes she had something more. But she won’t let down her wall of pride so she wouldn’t say that. Many people today feel the same way about their lives. They love the people in their life but they wish that there were different things in their life.
The Johnson family was an African American family, made up of individuals who place their own personal values on African American history. Alice Walker uses elements such as the handmade quilt crafted by the Johnson girls’ grandmother to the characters of Mrs. Johnson and her two daughters in “Everyday Use” to reflect African American culture and family heritage, which is a major theme in the work. The quilt is a very important object in “Everyday Use” and is also used to reflect the theme. “This short story, as Christian explains, first articulates the metaphor of quilting to represent the creative legacy that African Americans have inherited from their maternal ancestors” (Whitsitt 309) The significance of the quilt is that Maggie and Dee’s Grandmother handmade it. The quilt can be seen as a memory of Grandma Dee, or as a symbol for black history.
People have their point of view to this controversial issue, Like Dee (Wangero) in the story, in paragraph 70, line 4, “Hang them,” she said. As if that was the only thing you could do with quilts. That was one of the good ways, I have to admit. But when Maggie gave out what she thoughts, I was really touched by what she said. In paragraph 70, line7, “She can have them, Mama,”...” I can ’member Grandma Dee without the quilts.” After read what Maggie said, suddenly I got the same feeling with Mama (Mrs. Johnson), in paragraph 75, line 7- When I looked at her like that something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet… I did something I never had done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangro’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap.
She has a two daughters. Which named Dee and Maggie. In this short story we meet conflict between the different understandings of culture and traditions arises, when Dee wants to claim two old quilts which her mother had previously promised to Maggie. Mama changes a great deal. The mama one who grows and changes.
In the beginning of the story, Dee comes to her mother's home with a much different appearance as an educated urban girl while her family members are as the backward sharecroppers at a remote village. The central conflict in the story is the quilt made by Maggie and Dee's mother, aunt (Big Dee), and grandmother. Dee insists on taking the quilt home to display in her home but Mrs. Johnson informs her that she promises to give the quilt to Maggie once she marries John Thomas (Walker 284). After Dee hears that the quilt has already been promised to Maggie, she is worried that if Maggie is using and touching the delicate quilt on a daily basis as a warm blanket and then
Her mother only wanted to possess the beauty she created with her hands, other possessions were meaningless to her. Walker’s mother told her children to take anything because it might not be there next time they came. Alice Walker was brought up with these lessons of self-sacrifice. Through the work of “Though We May Feel Alone,” (1166) Walker emphasizes the importance of ancestors. Prominent to ancestors is the lessons that are obtained through them.