Introduction
Alice Walker gives a story of a battled relationship between two daughters and their mother in Everyday Use. The Everyday Use shows how her mother progressively castoffs a successful older daughter’s superficial values in favor of a less fortunate younger daughter based on practical values. In this context, Alice Walker seems to explore the concept of heritage on a deeper level. The setting of Everyday Use reflects the late 1960s and early 1970s, where principal characters are incorporated, such as Maggie, Dee, and Mama, in order to clarify the cultural theme.
Mama
In Everyday Use, mama recounts the story by describing herself as a lady with fierce man-working hands, and she is a large big-boned. She wears flannel nightgowns during winter, especially when going to bed and during the day she is in overalls (Walker 408). She compares herself to a man, whereby she narrates that she is capable of killing and cleaning hog mercilessly just like a man. With such descriptions, the readers get to understand that this woman tends to take pride in her practical prospects based on her behavior. Her narration also shows that she has not consumed much of her time to contemplate nonfigurative ideas like heritage. Her state of being uneducated and refined does not hinder her from acquiring inherent understanding, which is a heritage based on her respect and love for those who are ahead of her.
Maggie and Mama wait for Dee, her second daughter, to return. Dee prompts certain feelings of fear and awe in Maggie and, at the same time, apprehension towards mama. In this context, Maggie is displayed as a person who feels drawn to the worldliness and glamor of her sister, making her feel judged by it. Mama’s prediction of how Maggie will behave on the arrival of Dee appears to be negative and might feel ashamed of burn scars that are around her legs and arms (Walker 408). The scenario created here shows foreshadowing, especially when Mama states that Maggie will remain nervous until Dee, her sister goes.
Dee
Dee is displayed as a lady who loves nice things such as better life, clothes that are afforded through educational achievement. Dee was lucky enough to acquire education through the help of her church. Having acquired an education, Dee tried as much as she could to bring some impact to mama and her sister. Dee grew impatient quickly with Mama and Maggie as she tried to impact them.
On Dee’s arrival, Maggie tries to shuffle quickly out of the house, but Mama refuses and orders her to go back. Dee arrives home with a bearded man. They both greet each other, but it becomes difficult for the bearded man to give Maggie a soul shake. After Dee reintroduces herself as Wangero, they both sit and eat pork, collard greens, cornbread, and sweet potatoes. Hakim refuses completely to eat pork, which he refers to as unclean, but on the other hand, Wangero’s family devours everything heartily. Dee admires home furnishings contrary to Mama's expectations. She greatly admires the bench where she is seated and also the dasher and churn (Walker 410-412). Dee plans on how she prefers to use churn as a centerpiece on the alcove table and also gives a promise on how she thinks of something else. She wants to organize things in the American way, which seems like a way of failing to implements the past products of their culture.
