Everyday Use

"Everyday Use" is a widely studied short story written in 1973 by Alice Walker. It is told in the first person by the "Mama" (Mrs. Johnson), a Black woman living in the country with one of her two daughters. The story humorously illustrates the differences between Mrs. Johnson and her shy younger daughter Maggie, who still live in the old fashioned Southern Black culture, vs. her educated, successful daughter Dee (or "Wangero", as she prefers to be called), who scorns her real roots in favor of a pretentious native African identity.

Plot (Attention: Spoilers Ahead)
The story concerns a rare visit Dee pays to her mother and sister, after a long absence. Before she arrives, Mrs. Johnson reflects on how much Dee hated her home life when she was a child--so much that she deliberately set fire to the house, nearly killing Maggie and scarring her for life. After the fire, Mrs. Johnson raised money through the local church to send Dee away to school. Maggie, however, remained at home and learned traditional skills from her family. At the time of the story, she is preparing to marry a local farmer.

The main purpose of the visit, it turns out, is to appropriate some of the family's belongings, which Dee wants to turn into museum pieces. First, she claims the butter churn, still full of clabber, saying she's going to make the top of it into a centerpiece and do "something artistic" with the dasher. Maggie winces at this because she loves the churn and knows its whole history, but she barely protests.

Dee, however, is not finished yet; next, she asks for her grandmother's old patchwork quilts. Mrs. Johnson demurs, saying she has already promised the quilts to Maggie as a wedding gift. Dee angrily protests that Maggie will ruin the quilts by spreading them on beds--by putting them to "everyday use." Puzzled, the mother wonders what else you would do with quilts. "Hang them" replies Dee.

Mrs. Johnson looks at Maggie standing in the doorway, miserable but already resigned to her loss. In a sudden rush of feeling, she snatches the quilts from Dee and gives them to Maggie.

Dee snaps, absurdly; "Your problem is you don't understand (...) your heritage!" and leaves. Maggie and her mother, relieved, spend the rest of the day dipping snuff and enjoying each other's company.

Discussion

Dee and Maggie are opposites in almost every way, especially in their attitudes toward their family. The worldly Dee is almost a caricature. She is polished and educated, but very selfish, and she alternately patronises and bullies her mother and sister. In her heart, she hates her mother's culture; in fact, she wants to declare it dead, and display the remains. The simple Maggie is humble and shy; she lacks formal education, but is able to carry on family traditions and appreciate the true meaning of the things their grandmother left behind.

Alice Walker grew up in the rural South, and "Everyday Use" is a sort of love letter to her own remembered past.

External links

• The full text of "Everyday Use"