Everyday Use

The mother-daughters dynamic in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” was interesting to see progress throughout the story. The mother has two very different daughters, Dee and Maggie. Dee, the eldest is very snotty, rude, and disrespectful towards her mother and sister in her behavior and attitude. Dee is used to having things in life go her way and does not look kindly on her mother and sister’s rural lifestyle. Maggie, the younger daughter is more loyal and respectful towards her mother. She is more timid than Dee personality wise but she is just as voice tress when she needs to be. Maggie, who has terrible skin burns from an earlier incident, is constantly at odds with her sister due to their opposing views and personalities.
The mother statement about Maggie is an eye opener:
“Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe. She thinks her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand, that “no” is a word the world never learned to say to her.”
The statement does give the eye opener that Maggie feels envy and inferior to her sister due to her burns but it also clarifies another issue in this mother-daughters dynamic. The mother has often back down to Dee which made Maggie believe that Dee always gets what she wants. When Dee came to the house for a visit and wanted the quilt meant for Maggie, the mother tried to offer Dee another quilt by saying, “Why don’t you take one or two of the others?” She knew the quilt was meant for Maggie, so she could have told Dee. But she did not. This makes me wonder how many times in the past has incidents like this occur. The blame for Dee and Maggie’s failed relationship also fall on the shoulders of their mother. Only in the end of the story does she stand up for Maggie but it seems as if her actions were a little too late.