Literary Analysis Of Everyday Use By Alice Walker

Everyday Use: Fiction Analysis In the story “Everyday Use” written by Alice Walker, the mother is characterized as a “large, big-boned woman with rough, man working-hands” (p. 78). She is the mother of two daughters and lives in a rural area. She takes pride in her ability to take on masculine tasks she states “I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man” (p. 78). Wangero, formerly known as Dee, is the oldest daughter; she is characterized as arrogant and judgmental. She likes nice things, and had a style of her own at the age of sixteen (p. 78). Also, she is spoiled and her younger sister Maggie seems to be intimidated by her “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes…She thinks her sister has held life always in the palm …show more content…
The mother had very little education, so Wangero would read to her, feeding her lies and other folks’ habits to make her change the way that she lived. Wangero told her mom that where ever they chose to live she would come and visit but she will not bring her friends (p. 80). As the story progress, Wangero approached her mother’s house and told her mother that she is no longer known as Dee. Although, the name was passed down in throughout the family, she wanted no parts of that name anymore. She is trying to get more in touch with her African roots, inspired by her friend that showed up with her, Hakim-a-barber. Her arrival made her feel like she was in charge, almost as if she could do and say what she wanted and get away with it such as when she stated; “Maggie’s brain is like an elephant’s” (p. 82). She was basically judging Maggie for not having as much knowledge as her, and I believe that played a major part in why Maggie was so intimidated by …show more content…
The mother told her that she could not have them because they were going to Maggie. Of course, Wangero became furious because she has never been told no. So she decides to talk down on Maggie again to prove a point. Instead of Maggie saying anything, she just decided to let her have them. However, by this point, the mother finally gets tired of being pushed around by her daughter and states “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” (p.84). She then knew that it was time for her to stand up for herself and Maggie. “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 Wangero’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap” (p.84). Wangero then gave up and walked out the door. At this point, I believe the mother felt better about herself as a woman, and this helped Maggie to grow a little bit more confidence as well. I believe that the mother had let Wangero rule her for so long she just got tired and finally just let go. She did not care if Wangero appreciated her or not and she finally realized that she is happy with