The short story Everyday use written by Alice Walker was very well written and posed many brilliant morals. Morals not only for African Americans, but for anyone that believes in their heritage. I believe that Maggie deserves the quilts because her mother should be the deciding factor in the case. Dee also is totally out of line by changing her name from Dee to Wangero, and finally the fact that Dee doesn't even explain to her mother who Asalamalakin is or why she's even with him. Which is very disrespectful to her mother.
Maggie deserves the quilts for her wedding gift mainly because her mother is the one that possesses the quilts, so her mother should have the power to decide what she wants to do with them. If Maggie were to receive the quilts, she would not only appreciate them and put them to use for here own comfort, but she would knit and produce new family heirlooms that would be passed down in further generations. Dee can not even bare the thought of Maggie possessing the quilt when she says, "Maggie can't appreciate these quilts, she"d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use"(70). Dee on the other hand also poses a great moral dilemma concerning respect when her mother asks her what she"d do with the quilts. She said, "Hang them, as if that was the only thing you could do with quilts" (70). This shows in her own way, how she appreciates her heritage, but lives in a much more sophisticated and modern world.
The name "Wangero" is not only odd, but it is disrespectful to her heritage. Dee thinks she understands her heritage when she says, "You just will not understand, the point of these quilts" (70). Obviously, Dee doesn't understand her heritage by changing her name to "Wangero" when the name Dee is not only passed down for generations, but also looked on as a family heirloom.
Dee had been home for about a year and did not even introduce her friend properly to her mother.
