"Everyday Use"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the short story, "Everyday Use" written by Alice Walker. The paper focuses on the significant theme of realization of the truth in the story. The paper elaborates how the mother in the story comes to understand more about herself as she learns more about her daughters. The paper explains how through characterization, symbolism, tone and point of view, Walker allows the reader to see how the mother comes to this understanding, which is one that changes her forever.

From the Paper:

"Symbolism is also used in this story to emphasize the theme of truth. Quilts are generally a symbol for heritage and family as they are passed down from generation to generation. Maggie demonstrates how insensitive she is when she demands that she have the quilts and Dee illustrates how caring she can be when she tells Dee that she can have them. Dee wants the quilts because they are "priceless" (1428). She admits that she would never use them but hang them because that is the only thing to do with quilts. Maggie, on the other hand, would make good use out the quilts and put them on her beds. Maggie even knew how to quilt. Here we see how each girl views the quilts and this helps us understand which one is more aware of her heritage. When the mother tells Dee that she cannot have the quilts that belonged to Maggie, she is acknowledging Dee in a way that she had never done before."

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• Analytical Essay # 71109 : "Everyday Use"
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