I just love sleep deprived weeks :] My sincerest thanks to you, Theater.
"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker is a short story that takes a look at African American heritage and the changes that go along with it. The four major characters are the mother,the narrator speaking in first person, her daughter Dee, the rebellious child always causing problems or complaing, Maggie, the slower child who was the main burn victim in a tragic fire, and Hakim, Dee's crazy husband who has converted her to different beliefs.
Taking a look at their past, the mother speaks about Maggie being "ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs" and of the tragic fire that destroyed their original home. Maggie is the "not very bright" daughter who does not speak much and seems to have a mental handicap. She foils her older sister Dee who is outgoing, wild, confident, and demanding of what she wants. Dee's character is always moving with the times, whether it is with fashion changes or with popular religion changes. She becomes very involved in her "new love of her heritage" and renounces her original name to become Wangero with some other nonsense attached to the name. Her new husband is right on board with this culture crazy fad as well.
Dee also foils her mother who is very reserved and does not speak out against her daughter. Dee seems to have been the child that would sort of be the death of her mother. The mother never disciplines her daughter nor does she praise her. More or less, she sits back and lets Dee take her course of action, despite how crazy it is. The mother is not a character who does not know how to get things done. There is no mention of a husband which implies that she had to raise her daughters mostly by herself. She has that capability though because of her independent nature and her "big-boned [structure and] rough man-working hands." The characters of Dee, the mother, and Maggie are contrasting so they better bring out the true nature of one another.
"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker is a short story that takes a look at African American heritage and the changes that go along with it. The four major characters are the mother,the narrator speaking in first person, her daughter Dee, the rebellious child always causing problems or complaing, Maggie, the slower child who was the main burn victim in a tragic fire, and Hakim, Dee's crazy husband who has converted her to different beliefs.
Taking a look at their past, the mother speaks about Maggie being "ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs" and of the tragic fire that destroyed their original home. Maggie is the "not very bright" daughter who does not speak much and seems to have a mental handicap. She foils her older sister Dee who is outgoing, wild, confident, and demanding of what she wants. Dee's character is always moving with the times, whether it is with fashion changes or with popular religion changes. She becomes very involved in her "new love of her heritage" and renounces her original name to become Wangero with some other nonsense attached to the name. Her new husband is right on board with this culture crazy fad as well.
Dee also foils her mother who is very reserved and does not speak out against her daughter. Dee seems to have been the child that would sort of be the death of her mother. The mother never disciplines her daughter nor does she praise her. More or less, she sits back and lets Dee take her course of action, despite how crazy it is. The mother is not a character who does not know how to get things done. There is no mention of a husband which implies that she had to raise her daughters mostly by herself. She has that capability though because of her independent nature and her "big-boned [structure and] rough man-working hands." The characters of Dee, the mother, and Maggie are contrasting so they better bring out the true nature of one another.
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