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Everyday Use

            
             In the short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker the title ties into the issues about the quilts. The first level of meaning in the title can be the basic meaning; Dee wants the quilts to be hung so people can admire their beauty. On the other hand the quilts were promised to Maggie as a wedding gift. Dee says "Maggie knows how to quilt" meaning she doesn't need them because she can make her own. If you take the meaning for what it says you find that Maggie won't know how to appreciate the quilts for more than what they are. Dee feels she deserves them more because she won't put them to everyday use.
             The second level of meaning in the title can be the two sisters have different ideas when it comes to their culture. From down the line Grandma Dee and Big Dee created their quilts for everyday use and that's what Maggie wants to continue. Dee actually is putting the quilts to everyday use also by having them displayed for their appearance. In actuality the quilts mean so much more to Maggie. You can see the difference in their reactions to the quilts. Even though the mother speaks for Maggie, Maggie seems to have more of a love and respect for her heritage than her sister. The quilts mean more to her, that's why she wants to keep them (even though she doesn't say so). Dee does not realize that the quilts have so much meaning all she sees is its beauty. If she actually saw the true beauty and not the artistic beauty of the quilts she would not want to take them and hang them up like they were the Mona Lisa. Walker is trying to show us that the art is in the work that was put into making them. They were passed down by fellow quilters and for Dee to only want it for show demonstrates that she doesn't understand where she came from or what the quilts are really all about.
             The third level of meaning in the title can be the quilt represents the family as a whole. Dee has broken away from the family and made a new life for herself, Maggie is still at home being loved by her mother.


Essays Related to Everyday Use

1. Everyday use

Symbolic Meaning of the title "Everyday Use" and how it relates to the theme in Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" The short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker is narrated by "Big Dee" a black woman in the south who is faced with the decision to give away two quilts to one of her daughters. ... Dee argues that Maggie would not appreciate the quilts and that "She"d probably be backwards enough to put them to everyday use." ... Everyday use is what the quilts were intended for when they were made, although they carried such deep underlying meaning. ... The "quilt is a metaphor...

  • Word Count: 403
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography

2. Everyday Use

Everyday Use is a deep story that is categorized in my mind as great. ... The story Everyday Use could have been viewed in many other ways than the way in which I viewed it. ... When you read a short story such as Everyday Use you can compare it to everything else that you have read. ... A large theme in Everyday Use is the mother-daughter relationship. There are great uses of mother-daughter relationships in countless other stories so why is Everyday Use any better those other stories? ...

  • Word Count: 901
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Everyday Use

"Everyday Use", by Alice Walker, shows how education can ruin one's sense of family values. ... In "Everyday Use", education destroys Dee's sense of family values. "Everyday Use" is about the dissension that arises between a mother and daughter after the daughter becomes educated. ... They were put to everyday use and Dee wanted them simply to go as decorations. ... Dee got very upset, arguing that Maggie would "be backward enough to put them to everyday use." ...

  • Word Count: 639
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Everyday Use

Everyday Life Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" tells the story of how a mother can become emotionally unattached from her oldest daughter after years of separation. ... She also begins gathering things around the house that are everyday tools for Mama and Maggie (the younger daughter) which she will use as decoration in her own home. ... Both of the examples above can be used to help illustrate the theme of heritage, which can pose a social or a cultural conflict for everyone, especially the characters in this story. ... But this is not a rare case of cultural and social conflicts leading t...

  • Word Count: 462
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Everyday use

Everyday Use Everyday Use contrasts two generations to define a lost heritage. Dee, who is home from college, decides that she has a sudden interest in her ancestry. Dee comes home to her mother and her sister, Maggie. The mother has a very realistic and objective view of herself. She admits tha...

  • Word Count: 431
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Everyday use

Everyday Use Everyday Use contrasts two generations to define a lost heritage. Dee, who is home from college, decides that she has a sudden interest in her ancestry. Dee comes home to her mother and her sister, Maggie. The mother has a very realistic and objective view of herself. She admits tha...

  • Word Count: 431
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Everyday use

Everyday Use Everyday Use contrasts two generations to define a lost heritage. Dee, who is home from college, decides that she has a sudden interest in her ancestry. Dee comes home to her mother and her sister, Maggie. The mother has a very realistic and objective view of herself. She admits tha...

  • Word Count: 431
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Everyday Use

"Everyday Use" In her story, "Everyday Use," Alice Walker is focusing on the importance and true value of culture in our society through the use of an African American family which consist of 2 daughters and their mother. ... She was so use to giving in to Dee she said "I can "member Grandma Dee without the quilts", just so Dee could have them. ... She attended college in Augusta and used her knowledge to look down on her mother and sister treating them like dimwits. ... Their mother is saving the quilts for Maggie to use after she gets married. ... Dee believes she will a...

  • Word Count: 550
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

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