Every Day Use Literary Paper PDF

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Summary

Literary paper about the classic short story called EveryDay Use. It specifically examines the roles of the two sisters which are the main characters in the story. ...

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Hernández 1 Claudia Hernández Professor Judith Tarver ENC1102 03/23/2018 The difference between sisters that grew in altered lifestyles In “Everyday Use”, Alice Walker presents a mother’s different perspective for her two daughters, Dee and Maggie. The story narrates Dee’s awaited arrival and it unfolds with the inclusion of past family anecdotes, sister’s descriptions and family dialogues. Through these different thoughts, words and actions of the mother, the narrator portrays specific physical, intellectual and emotional differences between both sisters. The first comparison takes place when the mother focuses on appreciating Dee physical features and minimizing Maggie’s. Walker includes a sarcastic rhetorical question to describe the way in which Maggie walks: “Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car…”By adding the imagery of someone not recognizing Maggie enough to stop their car for her, the mother is describing her youngest daughter way of walking as clumsy and unimportant. Plus, by using the adjective “lame” and comparing her to an animal, the mother not only dehumanizes Maggie but also calls her unattractive. On the other hand, the mother explains in an evident approach that Dee is much better looking and sophisticated than Maggie. She does this by explicitly comparing both of them: “Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure.” With the use of only three adjectives which are “lighter”, “nicer” and “fuller”, the mother describes Dee as being skinnier and prettier than her sister. It also gives the idea that in comparison with Maggie, Dee does know how to take care of her physical appearance including her body and hair. Hence, the author uses the mother’s thoughts about her own adolescents to portray the significant difference that the sisters have physically.

Hernández 2 At the climax of the story, the narrator compares her daughter’s emotional traits as one being contra descending and arrogant, and the other one being insecure and understanding. At the beginning of the story, Walker uses foreshadowing to describe Dee’s treatment with her family: “She washed us in a river of make-believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge we didn’t necessarily need to know.” With this particular thought, the mother explains that Dee feels superior for having more knowledge as a result of being educated in a school. The word “burned”, explains that Dee looked down on her family and made them notice that they were being minimized, on purpose. Later, the mother continues by saying, “pressed us to her with the serious way she read, to shove us away at just the moment, like dimwits, we seemed about to understand,” showing that Dee not only made them feel less than her, but she would not allow them to try and comprehend. In contrast, the mother describes Maggie as, “…somebody used to never winning anything, or having anything reserved for her” which justifies why the younger daughter is always quiet and not in the same room as her family; she feels minimized and is not confident in talking thoroughly like her sister. However, this does not impede her to be good-hearted as she had the intention to give their grandma’s quilts to Dee before her mum did not allowed her. The emotional behavior differences indicate that the different scenarios that the sister grew up in, affect their way of being. The mother presents the sister’s altered education by showing how Dee is educated about the world whilst the Maggie acknowledges her heritage. The first intellectual description of Maggie that is given portrays her unambiguously as naïve: “She is not bright.” The clear and short statement that the mother gives about the lack of intelligence of her younger daughter demonstrates that she does not need to overthink something that is already extremely obvious. Yet, when Dee is described, the mother uses longer sentences that convey a greater meaning:

Hernández 3 “Dee though. She would always look anyone in the eye. Hesitation was no part of her nature.” The change of tone from pitiful to admirable, indicates that the oldest sister is outspoken, confident and independent. The reason for Dee’s strict personality can be explained by the narration of the story which tells that she studied in a higher education school called Augusta. Because of this, Dee does know how to read in an effective way and how to communicate with others, unlike Maggie that stayed home with her mother and does not have the same experience. However, as Walker keeps unfolding Dee’s arrival, the mother’s words explain that even though Maggie and Dee are not intellectually equal, they both are educated in different ways. For instance, Dee knows how to read “without pity”, meaning that she has no difficulty on learning. But, she is not informed about her own heritage. This is proved when the mother grabbed the handle of the dasher that Dee used and thought: “You didn’t even have to look close to see where hands pushing the dasher up and down to make butter had left a kind of sink in the wood.” The fact that the mother did not need much effort to notice the incorrect way in which Dee was gripping the handle illustrates that she is already used to watching her older daughter be oblivious about their culture. Conversely, Maggie does not know how to read fast but she comprehends everything about her heritage and it is revealed when she responds to her sister question with clarity: “Aunt Dee’s first husband whittled the dash…his name was Henry, but they called him Stash.” The certainty that she used to answer a family question after being quiet throughout the story shows how she has the facility that Dee has of reading but about their own culture. The difference in their intellectuality lays because of how the sisters grew up, Dee learned about life abroad whilst Maggie stayed home and learn about her legacy through her family.

Hernández 4 Dee and Maggie contrast each other in every aspect that make each of them unique and demonstrate the impact that their different lifestyles had within their growth as individuals. The sister’s differences described by Walker is important to spread her message about things becoming heritage as a result of using them daily. It widens the story implications of how people within a culture are similar between them but different from others that do not follow the same traditions. This knowledge helps the reader better appreciate and understand the work as it makes them aware on specific details about the main characters that at first could be missed....