Everyday Use
Sisters, one outgoing and one meek, heritage, and promises, and what it means to connect with your past.
The Facts
Text: Everyday Use Author: Alice Walker
Genre: Modern, American lit, Drama Year: 1973
Available: Free Here
Content warning: Brief mentions of burns, scars and trauma from fire.
The Fiction
This week we look at a short story that in its almost 50 years of publication has already become heavily anthologized and studied as a classic example of American short fiction. This week's story Everyday Use is by trailblazing Pulitzer winning African-American author Alice Walker.
Everyday Use is told from the first-person perspective of Mrs. Johnson a Black mother living in the south hosting a meal for her two daughters. It is a story about these three women, and their relationship to each other and their heritage. Maggie is the daughter still living with Mrs. Johnson, she was burned badly in a fire as a child and has grown up into a shy, quiet woman who walks through life as if waiting to be kicked like a dog. Dee, is the second daughter, educated, proud and brimming with self-confidence. The story takes place on the afternoon Dee comes home to visit her mother and sister.
Mrs. Johnson reflects on the difference between her two daughters, and herself. She describes herself as "manish" a strong powerful woman who can run a farm, kill and cook meat, and who prefers working with cows outside over other kind of work. She reflects mostly on Dee, the daughter who "made it" and how she was a girl who seemingly never heard the word 'No' from the world.
We finally meet Dee, who says she goes by Wangero now, and her new man Asalamalakim. Maggie is meek for most of the meal, while Dee and her man speak and condescend about how they have gotten in touch with their African heritage. Dee (Wangero) explains her name changed because she doesn't want to be named by their oppressors, although her mother points out she was named Dicie after her Aunt not any oppressor. Still she respects her daughters choice seeming to take no offense at her renaming herself and has her go over the pronunciation of Wangero so she can learn to say it right, stating that if that's what her daughter wants to be called she will honour that. After the meal Dee (Wangero) "asks" her mother for the butter churn top and dasher that was carved by her Uncles. She explains that she wants to use the carved wood pieces as decorations in her house. (She doesn't really ask so much as grab the butter churn and state she is taking it home with her).
Later a similar interaction happens where Dee (Wangero) finds two old quilts made by her g
Grandmother and Aunt and asks for them. The quilts are made of fabric worn by generations of their family and Dee (Wangero) wants to hang them on her walls. Mrs. Johnson states that she has already promised the quilts to Maggie for her marriage. Dee (Wangero) is extremely offended by this, stating that her sister would probably waste the quilts by putting them to everyday use. Mrs. Johnson doesn't see anything wrong with that. Dee (Wangero) still refuses to let the quilts go. Maggie comes into the room then and quietly says its fine, and Dee (Wangero) can take them. Mrs. Johnson realizes that Maggie isn't angry at her sister for taking the quilts, just acting as if she expects this sort theft from the world. Filled with almost religious feeling of realization like she usually only experiences at church, Mrs. Johnson takes the quilts from Dee (Wangero) and gives them to Maggie.
The Feeling
The dynamics of this story are so brilliant. Everyday Use is a story about Blackness, and femininity, and the intersection of these two identities in America, and it is also about family. All three women in this story are very different in their approaches to femininity. Mrs. Johnson and Maggie have a similar view to their heritage and their style of living, while Dee (Wangero) represents a modern view.
There is so much detail in the story about Dee (Wangero's) relationship with her identity. Mrs. Johnson points out in the narration that she offered Dee (Wangero) those homemade quilts when she left for college but she called them old fashioned. Now in her new enlightenment Dee wants the quilts, not for their use as quilts, but because of the history they represent. Maggie on the other hand would use the quilts as quilts, and if they wear out Mrs. Johnson points out Maggie learned how to sew from her Aunt and Grandmother. Maggie remembers which Uncles built which parts of the butter churn and clearly values the history of these things made by her family but she would remember her family by using their crafts, not hanging them up for status as Dee (Wangero). A similar message is conveyed through Dee (Wangero's) choice to change her name. Many women in her family have had the name Dicie or Dee but Wangero is looking for a specific connection Africa, not this connection to her immediate family. Walker does such an excellent job showing us these different characters views and approaches to life through these details.
The other thing I love about this story is how well the climax is earned. We are introduced to Maggie as a meek, scared, beaten-down woman who seems to flinch at the world. We are introduced to Dee (Wangero) the sister who "made it", who is full of qualities we can admire like confidence or intelligence, but who also has an unlikable arrogance about her. When Dee (Wangero) asks for and seems to expect she will receive the quilt simply because she has asked, Mrs. Johnson is faced with Maggie's resignation. Mrs. Johnson decides that for once someone will say no to Dee (Wangero) and Maggie will get what she has been promised even if she wont fight for it herself. It is an incredibly cathartic moment in the story. Walker does an incredible job introducing us to these characters and setting up their history so that when Mrs. Johnson finally stands up for Maggie we understand the importance of the moment.
Overall I cans see why this story is so popular in fiction anthologies. It has great characters, important themes, and a satisfying ending.
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