Everyday Use by Alice Walker is a story about a mother and her two daughters, Maggie and Dee, whose conflict is about whether heritage exist in spirit, things, or process (Piedmont-Marton). Throughout the story the contrast between Dees beliefs and those of her mother and sister is emphasized by the different values the characters place on the quilt and other objects around the house, and because of their different viewpoints, they each value the possessions for different reasons.
Dee plunges around the house looking for different objects like the butter churn and the quilts with new eyes, seeing them as art objects with commodity value (Hein), wanting to display them in her own home, but Maggie and her mother, on the other hand, value the same objects not for artistic pleasure, but because they remind them of their loved ones. For Maggie and her mother the value of the quilt has to do in part with the communal nature of its making. Pierce-Bakers words, accustomed to living in working in fragments, the scrapes and patches passed down through generations and stitched into a meaningful whole have a value of their own which Dee does not understand when she declares them to be priceless (Tuten). Ms. Johnson recognizes that like Maggie and herself, quilts are designed for everyday use, pieced wholes defying pattern and symmetrysigns of the sacred generations of women who have always been alien to a world of literate words and stylish fancy (Baker,Jr.).
Dee Johnson believes that she is affirming her African heritage by changing her name, mannerisms, and her appearance (Piedmont-Marton). Maggie and Ms Johnson are confused about her transition as Wangero, their beliefs rest upon the memories of their ancestors as individuals not as members of a particular race (Wilson). Wangero took on the belief of black pride or black Nationalism which encouraged her to dress in traditional African American clothing styles. Her religious beliefs in the Nation of Islam encouraged Black Muslim followers to change their slave names, rejecting the white society (Wilson), which explains why she no longer wanted to be called Dee Johnson, but Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo.
In conclusion, the central contradiction emerges when readers understand Walkers point about Dees efforts to appreciate her heritage. The main concept of the story rests upon the characters different values and beliefs connecting to their ancestral roots. Dee values and believes in what she can get pleasure out of or what would satisfy her needs and wants, particularly she is more enlightened by the fact that her grandmother had sown the quilts by hand, but, in contrast, Maggie and her mother tries to engage and reunite with their loved ones through the different objects
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