410
Writing to Interpret
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Literature
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Andrews-Rice 3
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hard churning butter, cooking over a wood-burning stove, and using the outhouse.
wife to local John Thomas Dee. At this point in the story, though, Mrs. Johnson and
She's darker skinned, "homely and ashamed of the bum scars down her arms and
Maggie agree to go along with Dee's ways and continue to try to please her, even if
legs" (47), and her simple country clothes, "pink skirt and red blouse" (49), are in
they do not understand her. It is not until later in Dee's visit that they come to realize
sharp contrast with Dee's fancy garb.
the way Dee has embraced a heritage she does not fully understand or appreciate.
To further emphasize the differences among the ways these women
The fihned version of
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the story allows the viewer to
understand their heritage, Walker focuses on their educations. Mrs. Johnson
see Dee arrive home with her
describes the way Dee would read to them before she left for college: "She washed
boyfriend, Hakim-a-barber,
us in a river of make-believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge we didn't
both in their African clothes,
necessarily need to know" (50). Even though she's somewhat puzzled by Dee's
exchanging glances of
knowledge, she maintains pride in her daughter, especially since Mrs. Johnson
superiority and amusement as
never had an education, and Maggie "knows she is not bright" and can read only
they take Polaroid snapshots
411
Dee wants to capture the living conditions of her
mother and sister.
I
hy "stumbling along good-naturedly" (50). But when Dee accuses Maggie of
of the unsophisticated mother
hcing "backward," Mrs. Johnson realizes how little Dee's education has taught her
and sister and their shabby house, as though Dee was completely separated from
nbout appreciating her heritage.
such living conditions, that heritage, her family.
Another way that Walker illustrates the divide between Dee's understanding.of
Tbe focus on family-made quilts at the end of the story shines light on
Walker's final take on how heritage is used differently by these women. Mrs.
her heritage and her family's is through the use of names. When Dee arrives, she
Johnson explains that Dee was offered these quilts before she left for college but
announces tbat she is "Not 'Dee,' Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!" (53). According to
refused them because they were "old-fashioned, out of style" (57). Now that the
the interview with Walker that accompanies the Wadsworth Original Film Series in
quilts are stylish, Dee wants them in her life. She wants to hang them on her walls,
Literature's filmed version of "Everyday Use," the changing of one's name to a more
displaying them alongside the butter churn top that she plans to use as a "centerpiece
Afrocentric name was common during this time (Everyday Use). In Dee's mind, this,
on the alcove table" and dasher that she will do "something artistic" (56) with. For
fashionableAfiican name is yet another way she is honoring her roots, embracing her
Dee, these artifacts should be on display, not used. But for Maggie and her mother,
heritage, and she tells her family that she "couldn't bear it any longer, being named
thc quilts represent not only a direct link with their ancestors but a distinct form of
after the people who oppress [her]" (53). Ironically, her given name carried withit a
Afiican American expression, These particular quilts are made from scraps of Grandma
rich inheritance, that of a long line ofDees or Dicies. Yet Dee is the daughter who
Dee's dresses and from a scrap offabric from Great Grandpa Ezra's uniform "that he
denies her Southern beritage and is embarrassed by her .Southern family, especially by
wore in the Civil War" (56). The piecing together of these scraps to form a quilt is a
Maggie, who has taken no steps to "make something of [herself]" (59) other than a
testament to their importance in the heritage of this family. As Dee holds the quilts, she
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lit
Writing to Interpret Literature
413
Andrews-Rice
5
Notes
repeats "Imagine!" (57), as ifit
1 Alice
is so difficult to think of'atime
Walker, "Everyday
when all the stitching was
~
(New York: Harcourt,
done by hand, something that
work will be identified
Use," Tn Love & Trouble:
Stories
1973) 47-59. All subsequent
of Black
quotations
from this
by page numbers.
Maggie is capable of doing
every day because "it was
Grandma Dee and Big Dee
who taught her how to quilt"
I
,
Every time Maggie uses the quilts, she feels
connected to her family.
(58). When Dee' asks to take some quilts back to the city to hang on the wall; her
m~ilik
I;vcryday
resists, saying that Maggie planned to use them. Only then does Dee reveal her
Walker, Alice. In Love & Trouble:
everyday-use" (57), right before she storms out of the house.
At this point, when she's been denied the quilts, Dee accuses her family of
you'd never know it" (59). She considers
be forward looking, because of her African style and name, her education,
cultural displays. In Dee's eyes, her "backward"
family does not understand
(59), because she knows she embraces,
intimate way.
lives, and understands
their ;"
her heritage in a vyry,
and
2005.
Stories of Black Women. New York: HarcoUlt,
...
In
lW:f!
it•.
Il·
her
every day. As Dee drives away, Maggie smiles, and it is "a real smile, not scared"
Wadsworth,
Luttrell,
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herself to,
heritage because they do not display the quilts or the butter churn, they use them
Perf. Karen ffolkes, Rachel
1973.47-59.
their true heritage, saying "It's really a new day for us. But from
the way you and Mama.stilll.ive
Use. Dir. Bruce Schwartz.
Lyne OduIIlS. 2003. DVD. Thomson
prejudices, accusing her sister of being "backward enough to put them [the quilts] to
not understanding
Works Cited
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lit
Andrews-Rice 1
Knitlyn Andrews-Rice
Dr. Glenn
Rnglish 100
7 March 2005
Honoring Heritage with Everyday Use
''Everyday Use;' one of the short stories in Alice Walkers In Love & Trouble:
Stories of Black Women, vi~idly demonstrates pow three women, Mrs. Johnson and her
two daughters, regard their heritage. I Through the eyes of MIs. Johnson, the story
unfolds when her older daughter returns to her co~tJ.y home, mother, and sister.
Throughout the story,Walker emphasizes the shared heritage of these three women and
the different ways they use it. In "Everyday Use," an authentic appreciation ofheritage
I
docs not come from showcasing fashionable artifacts or practices; rather, it comes from
embracing that heritage every day.
Waiker's physical description of the sisters illustrates the different ways each
pillS
her heritage to use. The beautiful, sophisticated Dee embraces her heritage
by showcasing the fashionable Afrocentric sentiment of the time. Her mother
describes her as wearing "a dress so loud it hurts my eyes. There are yellows and
oranges enougb to throw back thelight of sun," and her hair "stands straight up like
the wool on a sheep" (52). But in addition to her African style, Dee also has "neatlooking" feet, "as if God himself had shaped them with a certain style" (52). That
she's stylish comes as no surprise, for even before she appears in tbe story, the
reader is told that "at sixteen, she had a style of her own, and knew what style was"
(50). Dee is a book-smartcity woman, who uses her' knowledge of fashion and style,
III
enhance her physical attributes: she is "lighter than [her sister] Maggie, with nicer
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