Summary of everyday use by Alice Walker - Essay Example

Everyday Use The story everyday use by Alice Walker revolves around a black family who is living in the oppressed America due to the racial discrimination and stereotyping against the blacks. The story revolves around a mother who has two daughters and is equally proud of them both for different reasons. The mother has carried and adapted to the environment she was brought up in and believes that her daughters would carry the legacy. The story starts when Mama is having joyful memories about the reunion of her daughters Maggie and Dee.

Her daughter Dee has been sent to pursue education in the school whereas due to financial constraints Maggie is forced to live at the house only. Dee arrives with her boyfriend who is a Muslim and informs her mother that she has changed her name to object against the oppression of the blacks. Maggie and Dee are seen to get along well however Dee despises her sister for being uneducated in the modern world. The whole family has lunch together and Dee asks for quilts made by her grandmother and aunt.

Mama however refuses to give her the quilts as she has already kept these quilts for Maggie. Maggie on the other hand enters the room and tries to give the quilts to Dee upon which Mama interferes and hands over the quilts to Maggie only. At the end of the story it is seen that Dee leaves the house gracefully along with her boyfriend. As Dee leaves the house she advises Maggie to adapt to the new culture and work for the black Americans. Mama and Maggie are seen to be sitting until Dee’s car disappears from pure sight.