Everyday Use

      
       In the essay “everyday use” the author Alice Walker speaks of a relationship between a mother and her two daughters, Maggie and Dee. The mother narrates her story by introducing Maggie and her personality stating that Maggie was shy by nature, homely and was ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs due to the house fire. She lacks confidence and shuffles when she walks. Whereas Dee is Mama’s older daughter and is an educated woman. She is very aggressive by nature and does not have any respect for people either younger or elder than her.

       

       I feel that Maggie does have a core issue which is self esteem .I feel that she is going through this psychological problem because of the burn scars down on her arms and legs. She feels that she has got a low self esteem; therefore she does not communicate much with others besides her mother. Secondly I feel that Dee is displacing herself by changing her name from “Dee” to “Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo” to protest being named after people who have oppressed her. Lastly, I feel that Dee was having the feeling of fear of abandonment towards her heritage because she asks her Mama for the quilt made by her grandmother to preserve her heritage .Her Mama refuses to give her the quilt thinking that Maggie could protect their heritage by using the quilt daily and keeping the family history alive. She disagrees to pass on the quilt to Dee because she feels that just as the way Dee disrespected the legacy of her name and changed it, she might also not understand the significance of the quilt and would not take care of the quilt that has been passed along through four generations.

      

        In this way, I feel that Maggie , Dee as well as their mother is going through some psychological disorder.