There are two parent-child relationships in “Everyday Use.” The closer relationship is between the narrator and Maggie. The more distant and fractious relationship is between the narrator and Dee. The narrator is referred to as “Mama,” and a mama she is. She cares about each of her children, but is forced to make a decision to favor one over the other as the story’s conflict comes to a head. Should Mama give an old, antique quilt with value she and her daughter Dee do not understand to Dee, who appreciates the history and heredity it represents? Or should Mama give that quilt, as promised, to Maggie.
Dee has never been told no before, as stated by the narrator, so indeed this decision is filled with a palpable tension. Maggie is not very smart or pretty and renders pity from any reader. Dee is intelligent, bold, and self-involved—a character rich with the materials necessary to venture out into the world, but bad at maintaining the simplest of familial relationships. This short story turns out to be a hero’s tale of a mother who chooses to maintain a fair balance between her two, incredibly different daughters, by telling Dee no for the first time in her life, and staying true to her intention to hand the quilt down to her meek Maggie. This story is an example of how a parent’s love is often of a discerning nature. It makes the necessary choices between favoring the gifted, and the challenged, in as fair a manner as possible.
References
Walker, Alice. (1973). Everyday Use: For Your Grandmama. [Electronic Version]. African American Review: 1-8. Web.