Heritage and Identity in Alice Walker's "Everyday Use"

Introduction

Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" is one of her most profound works. The challenges among the three women in the story mirror challenges that are universal to any community — and especially to a community in transition. In the story, Dee, the estranged daughter of the South, returns for a visit to her childhood home: a poor, rundown house with a dirt yard, a rugged Mama, and a sister who hides her shame from scars she received in a childhood house fire.

From the beginning of the work, there is a sense that Maggie has always received the short end of the stick, while Dee has been invested in and given extraordinary opportunity to rise above the history of her family.

Characterizing the Three Women

Mama's description of Maggie is telling of a life lived in the shadows:

"Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him? That is the way my Maggie walks. She has been like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire that burned the other house to the ground." (Walker)

Dee, on the other hand, is described as follows:

"A dress down to the ground, in this hot weather. A dress so loud it hurts my eyes. There are yellows and oranges enough to throw back the light of the sun. I feel my whole face warming from the heat waves it throws out. Earrings gold, too, and hanging down to her shoulders. Bracelets dangling and making noises when she moves her arm up to shake the folds of the dress out of her armpits." (Walker)

Dee dramatically storms back into the life she once knew like a tourist, looking about the home as if there are items she might like to take with her — not for the sake of memory, but for the sake of display. Through Mama's narration, Dee gives the impression that she has moved on from this life and that her sister and her mother should do the same. Mama has always given Dee anything she wanted, while allowing Maggie to step back into the shadows.

The Symbolism of the Quilts

Maggie holds the knowledge of a promised — and very modest — dowry. Mama has promised her the quilts that have been handed down through the family and those which they had themselves made. The promise was genuine and meaningful, as quilts are important to a new bride: they can protect and keep one warm. Yet Dee assumes that whatever she asks for will be granted, so she requests the quilts from Mama, who refuses the request and reasserts her promise to Maggie.

The entire argument is shaped by the mother's stoicism, Maggie's surrender, and the brutish manner in which Dee claims the right to the quilts on the grounds that she is enlightened and Maggie is not — insisting she will give them their proper place, while Maggie will likely simply use them as quilts.

The quilts mean a great deal to Maggie. To her, they represent home, comfort, and the love and companionship of her mother. Dee, on the other hand, assumes that to Maggie they are merely utilitarian objects, not to be cherished. Dee argues that she would lovingly frame them and hang them on the walls. Mama gives the quilts to Maggie because Maggie has never had anything; she has never been given a gift, and she deserves to receive what she was promised.

Conclusion

Walker's "Everyday Use" ultimately argues that authentic cultural identity cannot be curated or displayed — it must be lived. Maggie, despite her quiet suffering and apparent lack of opportunity, possesses a deeper and more honest connection to her family's heritage than Dee, whose identity politics have alienated her from the very roots she claims to celebrate. Mama's decision to honor her promise to Maggie is not simply an act of fairness; it is a recognition that heritage belongs to those who carry it in their daily lives, not those who seek to hang it on a wall.

Works Cited

Walker, Alice. Everyday Use.