Friday, November 16, 2007
"Everyday Use"
The two sisters in this story, Maggie and Dee, seem to me to be rivals. One, always getting the mother's attention and approval, and the other never receiving acceptance and approval from her mother; always feeling like she's not good enough. Since the fire in their old house, Maggie has been badly bruised, I think both physically and mentally, but now that it's time for both Dee and Maggie to get married, there's this conflict of who will get the quilt from their mother. Maggie had been promised that she would receive it, but now that it's coming down to it, Dee wants it. I think that Dee thinks her mother will drop Maggie and give it to her, but we see that for the first time, her mother really comes to her defense and keeps her promise of giving the quilt to Maggie.
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2 comments:
Please use the blogs for commentary and exploration, not just summary.
Following are my comments from other blogs:
If you look closely, the mother's relationhip with Dee is quite conflicted, and she is actually much closer to Maggie, in character. Consider the dreams she has involving Dee, and also the final scene (Maggie and the mother on the porch as Dee leaves). Also, connsider the contrast between Dee and Maggie as characters. This should lead to a discussion of one of the important themes of the story, which is, yes, heritage. But, again, this concept is ambiguous in the story. Through the interactions among the three main characters, Walker explores the complex and perhaps contradictory noitions of "heritage." There are, at any rate, at least two perspectives on heritage that the story presents. One represented best by Dee, and the other be Maggie and her mother.
Consider especially scenes--the dialogue and character interaction--involing the butter churn and the quilt. Also consider the symbolic value of these itmes, as they relate to concepts of heritage. Consider also the story's title.
There is definately a disconnect between the mother and the older daughter. Dee has changed her name, has views that are very much different from what her mother and Maggie are used to, and Dee has always conducted herself very different and even on a higher level than the rest of her family. The mother does not seem to resent Dee, in fact she tries to understand her, but there is a deep disconnect.
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