An Exploration of Relationships in Alice Walker's 'Everyday Use'

This essay provides an analysis of Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," focusing on the complexities of family relationships as portrayed through the characters of Mama, Dee, and Maggie. The essay delves into the disputes and bonds between the family members, highlighting themes of love, cultural identity, and the impact of changing personal values on familial connections. It explores how the characters' interactions and conflicts reveal the significance of relationships in shaping their individual identities and the overall narrative of the story, ultimately arguing that these relationships are central to understanding the story's themes and character motivations. The analysis considers the symbolic importance of objects like the quilts and how they represent the family's heritage and the different perspectives each character holds towards their cultural background. The essay concludes by emphasizing the critical role of these relationships in driving the narrative and providing insight into the characters' motivations and actions.

Running head: ENGLISH LITERATURE
English Literature
Name of the Author
Name of the University
Author Note

1: ENGLISH LITERATURE
Executive Summary
The executive summary of the essay will deal with the subject matter of formulating
the final draft for the articles itself. This will help the students to focus on the subject matter
of the topic of the English Literature based on which the final draft of the essay will be made
by the author himself. This will help the readers to understand the subject matter to the
students themselves.

2: ENGLISH LITERATURE
Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Analysis.....................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................5
Reference List t.........................................................................................................................6

3: ENGLISH LITERATURE
Introduction
The story on which the expanded argument is going to be made by the readers
themselves is known as “Everyday Use” by the author Alice Walker. In the story itself, the
readers are introduced by the author to the character of the protagonist of the story, whose
name is Mama and her two daughters named Dee and Maggie. It is based on the information
gathered from the various characters in the story itself that the readers are going to submit the
expanded argument of the subject matter itself. This is what the purpose of the report will be
for the readers themselves.
Discussion
In order to make the close reading of the story possible, it is important for the readers
themselves to first understand how the plot and the characters in the story operate.
Understanding the story itself will help the readers to make further decisions on the subject
matter of the topics and the themes that have been presented to the readers in the report itself.
To follow in that patterns, it can be said that the short story Everyday Use is a story which
tells the readers about the complexities of relationships that are present in the family life. This
can be seen in the instance when the readers find disputes breaking out between Mama,
Maggie as well as Dee over the demand of the blankets for Dee himself. (Matthew:
It is from the dispute in the story itself that the readers get to know about the subjevt
matter of the relationship and how such relationship plays an important role in the life of the
characters in the story or the novel itself. It is because of the disputes that the readers get to
know about the blankets which Mama had managed to keep for her younger daughter’s
marriage and how ultimately, she had to give that away to the blankets to her elder daughter.
This shows the importance of love and relationship which is very important in the family
itself.

4: ENGLISH LITERATURE
Analysis
The short story can be analysed on the grounds of providing explanation on the
subject matter of the relationship and how it affects the members of the family themselves. It
can be stated that the evidences of relationship could be seen in the short story by the theme
of love which little Maggie feels for her older sibling Dee. From this statement, the fact is
clear that the younger sibling loves her and it is this love that she feels for her older sibling
makes her donate the blankets to her so that she can have the blankets to herself. Other
instances of relationship and the bonds between the family members are shown in the way the
older sibling returns to visit her family and the family members shockingly find out that Dee
had changed her name to something else (Mullins,2013).
This will act as a shocker to the members of the family themselves because if it is
found that one members of the family had changed his/her name to something else. In this
case, Dee changing her name as well as religion had an impact on her family itself as it had
been stated previously that the family members were shocked to find Dee changing her name
as well as changing her religion. Thus, all these points can provide information about the
topic which I have been discovering about (Matrins, 2013).
Conclusion
Thus from the above discussions held in the articles itself. However, this relationship
is what drives the characters in the story forward for the readers to read about the story
themselves. Moreover, the concept of relationship between the character brought up to the
readers should be considered to be enough by the major independent because of the
complexity of the subject matter of the topic which has been given to the readers to provide

5: ENGLISH LITERATURE
argument on the subject matter itself. Thus, in concluding it can be said that the relationship
between the company itself and the individual of the story itself.

6: ENGLISH LITERATURE
Reference List t
27.Mullins, Matthew. "Antagonized by the Text, Or, It Takes Two to Read
Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”." The Comparatist 37 (
Martin, J. (2014). The Quilt Threads Together Sisterhood, Empowerment and Nature in Alice
Walker's 2013): 37-53.