Maggie is a character in Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use." She is the youngest daughter of Mama and the sister of Dee, the protagonist of the story.
Maggie is described as being shy and timid, in contrast to her confident and assertive sister Dee. She is often overshadowed by Dee, who has always been the more outgoing and successful of the two sisters. Maggie has lived a difficult life, having been severely burned in a house fire when she was young, and as a result, she has physical and emotional scars. Despite this, she is a resilient and hardworking person, taking care of her mother and the household while also trying to make a life for herself.
Maggie is deeply connected to her heritage and the traditions of her African American culture. She values the quilts and other items that have been passed down to her through her family, and she sees them as important pieces of her identity. She appreciates the history and the stories that are associated with these objects, and she wants to use them in her everyday life, just as her ancestors did.
Despite her shyness, Maggie is a kind and thoughtful person. She is deeply loyal to her family, and she is willing to do whatever it takes to keep them together and happy. She is also willing to forgive Dee, despite the fact that Dee has often treated her poorly and taken advantage of her.
In the end, it is Maggie who truly understands the value of her heritage and the importance of preserving it for future generations. She is a quiet, yet powerful force in the story, and she serves as a reminder of the importance of staying true to one's roots and values.
Everyday Use: Maggie
Dee would hang the quilts. Similarly, it is asked, how does Maggie feel that she is different from Dee in everyday use? Dee is educated, worldly, and deeply determined, not generally allowing her desires to be thwarted. The way the burning house, her stuck-up sister, and society affects Maggie makes her different from everyone else. Another sister is more academically intelligent. Mama never really introduced Maggie to the outside world, she has always been stuck at home taking care of Mama and not getting a chance to experience life for what it really is.
Essay Maggie Character Analysis from "Everyday Use"
On the other hand, Maggie, the sister who does not go to school, is fully aware of her cultural heritage. Maggie comprehends the family history and can identify what responsibilities people in the family possessed. After being away at college, she is demanding to be given the quilts that her grandmother and aunt have made, for she now sees these precious items as fashionable objects. The way Mama and Maggie see her is not in a very pleasant way. Therefore, a search for self-identity is a universal theme in the community. Among the black community many people adopt African names to reflect their pre-slavery heritage.
How would you describe Maggie in everyday use?
There seems always to have been an antagonism between Dee and Mama and her other daughter, Maggie. In turn, Dee can never really find happiness in most aspects concerning her immediate family, making it hard for her to have a loving relationship with any of them. During history, different ethnic groups have struggled with finding their place within society. The quilts for Wangero are a symbol of her heritage. It is interesting to note that the old black woman does not find Jesus inside the "white" church but outside of it. Dee is clearly distancing herself from her mother and sister. While Dee has returned to her home more educated, she has become ignorant to who she really is, causing a change in the attitudes of the characters towards each other.
Everyday Use: Character List
Dee finds this meal to be a sort of novelty that she can only appreciate properly because she is now in the proper surroundings to do so. On the one hand Mama has learned to establish her hidden power in an influential way. However, if there is one who deserves that title, it is Alice Walker. Overbearing and bossy, Dee is a polar opposite of Maggie, who is withdrawn and isolated. Some people take her in as she is, an old black woman with a mildewed dress that is missing buttons. She also show a point which is Sisters with Nothing in Common in Everyday Use When two children are brought up by the same parent in the same environment, everyone logically conclude that these children will be very similar, or at least have the same qualities. Compared to Dee, she is less intelligent and less beautiful, and has not received the education her sister has.
