Alice walker "Everyday Use"

Mama, the narrator of the story, is big boned, stronger than most men, and mild tempered. There is a quiet sincerity about Mama that earns her the reader’s respect early in her narrative. She is loving, forgiving, independent and frank. Consider the quilts when viewing mama and Dee. Dee is dismayed that Maggie and her mother would use the quilts everyday, despite their functionality. Dee views the quilts as remnants of a culture that is dying or already dead. Note Alice Walker’s use of both Dee’s given name and her name of reinvention. In this moment, Dee is not Dee, but Wangero - she ceases to understand the heritage in her hands. Dee rejects factory made quilts that Mama offers her: she cannot exploit them. For Mama, the quilts represent both a practical and emotional consciousness that should remain above Dee’s manipulation.