Everyday Use By Alice Walker

“Everyday Use”, the name of Alice Walker's short story, in this short story we get to know mama and her two daughters, Maggie and Dee. In the story, Dee Tries to use Logic alongside emotion in hopes of convincing mama to give her the quilts, Dee fails to persuade her mother because she has abandoned her culture, She also failed by telling mama her culture was wrong. Dee fails time and time again and when she fails this is when we see the message. Walker shows us through Dee’s mistakes that practicing tradition is the best way to keep culture alive rather than preserving it.

Maggie is very privileged and has never been told no, this is why she says, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts! She’d be backward enough to put them to everyday use.”(65)

Dee breaks this rule by saying, “But they’re priceless!” Furiously; for she has a temper. “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags. Less than that!”(67). Dee is very upset that she is losing and as a result, she loses her temper and says mean things about maggie which mama is not ok with. Not only did Dee tell mama that Maggie would use them right she said it in a way that makes maggie look bad as if she were some crazy person when in reality she's using something that was made to be used as the title suggests. This does not sit right with mama which is why she fails, Mama knows that these quilts were made to be used this is why she doesn’t want to give them to Dee, she knows that maggie will use them as intended. This ties in with the theme because if Dee were to have the quilts she would be practicing the culture not to mention she knows how to quilt which will also carry on the culture, unlike Dee who doesn’t care nor knows how to quilt. The theme correlates with this situation perfectly because she is telling mama the opposite of the theme, that culture should be preserved because people like maggie will use and destroy meaningful pieces such as