Reflection: Everyday Use

For this reflection we had to read “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker who is the author of The Color Purple which is a high acclaimed book. When reading the short biography and reading this I got hype of what I was about to read and it did not disappoint me. The story is about a mother who lives with her daughter Maggie and how her other daughter, Dee is coming to visit with a friend after she said she would never bring any friends home. The mother tells us that Maggie is a fragile girl especially after she got burned, when their previous house caught fire, and how her other daughter always wanted nicer things. Everyday Use is a short story in which we see the diagrams discuss in class. In the first we see how Maggie is decided if she is included or excluded. As the story goes on we see how the mother takes control of the situation during the climax and falling action and finally at the conclusion how the affection grows stronger between the mother and Maggie. We also see how the group communication between the three characters is. How Maggie always have felt excluded ,since she is accustom to not having her way and Dee always getting everything she has ever wanted, until the very end when her mother takes control of the situation and defends Maggie’s rights by giving to her the quilts that grandmamma had made. During these parts we see how the diagrams that Schultz made are represented in the story. Another thing that grabbed my attention is the title. We see the title used when Dee said to her mother that Maggie would put the quilts to everyday use. For me it meant that Dee was proud of how far they have come and wanted to show it anyway Maggie was also proud but not in the same way. Maggie wanted to put them to everyday use because she was proud of what her grandmamma hands had made and by putting them to use she was demonstrating this. It is also a great example of how siblings relate to each other and also to their parents. Without a doubt Everyday Use is a short story that grabs your attention and it left me wanting to know more. However not more of what happen after the story instead of what happen before the events that were told for example how their previous house got burned. In conclusion it left me feeling good since Maggie got to keep the quilts and put them to everyday use as a sign of her pride to them and that her mother spoke of what fair to her daughter after years of keeping quiet.