Alice Walker's Everyday Use - Essay Example

Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” Maggie and Dee are two very distinct, unique people despite being sisters, which is perhaps the only thing that they have in common with one another. While Maggie is a shy, uncertain girl who attempts to remain invisible while her older sister is around, Dee is an outgoing, strong young woman who wants to always be noticed. In her attempts to be accepted by her sister, Maggie agrees to everything that Dee has to say. Dee takes advantage of this, using every opportunity she has to point out what is wrong in both her sister’s life, comparing Maggie to her own apparently successful life.

Maggie is comfortable with who she is as a person and is proud of her family’s heritage. While she may be self-conscious of the burns and scars left by the fire, and she may be edgy about Dee’s opinion of her appearance, she still accepts herself as she is, knowing that it cannot be changed. She still manages to wear her family name with pride despite the bad hand she has been dealt. Dee, on the other hand, believes that she is above her own heritage, doing what she must to keep herself separated from the life that her younger sister leads.

This can be seen when Dee changes her name to Wangero, because she “couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after that people who oppress” her. Dee changes what she can about herself because she is not pleased with the person she was raised to be. Similarly, Maggie wants to keep one of the family quilts because it has meaning to her. Dee, however, does not think that Maggie has the kind of love to her heritage that she has and demands the quilt for herself. Dee’s very personality makes it known that she has little love for her heritage and has an ulterior motive for wanting the quilt -- if she has it, Maggie cannot.

Instead of arguing, Maggie agrees to give up the quilt that was rightfully hers, stating that she could take another quilt. This little gesture reveals how true to the family name that Maggie is, which is one of the greatest differences between Maggie and Dee. By being pleased with any quilt that she receives, as opposed to Dee’s desire to have a specific quilt, Maggie shows that she has unwavering loyalty to her bloodline while Dee only has loyalty to herself.