Alice Walker's Everyday Use

In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” Mama, the narrator of the story, is rather distant with her daughter Dee and dreams about reconciling with her on a television show. Specifically, she imagines Dee expressing gratitude for all that she has done for her, while embracing her (Mama) “with tears in her eyes (Walker 315).” It is obvious that Mama doesn’t understand her daughter’s life choice to adopt an African lifestyle and feels that Dee is rejecting her origins and family. Furthermore, the reader can see that Mama has a troublesome relationship with Dee by the amount of tension between them. This strained relationship becomes clear when Dee “went to the trunk at the foot of (Mama’s) bed and started rifling through it (Walker 320).” The narrator
refuses to give Dee the quilts and “dumps them into Maggie’s lap (Walker 321).” It appears that the typical mother/daughter dynamic is rattled by this event, with Mama finally saying “no” to Dee, an individual who has always received everything she desired (Walker 320). Indeed, Alice Walker’s famous short story “Everyday Use,” may symbolize the typical mother/daughter relationship. For example, many teenage girls want to experience new things and become “adults.” As a result of this, a mother may start feeling confused as to why her precious daughter is acting out and/or changing the way she acts.
Similarly, in Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl,” a mother is giving advice to her teenage daughter. However, the mother’s language is very flinty and distant, which reflects the stress between mother and daughter (Kincaid). But more importantly, it appears that the mother is worried that if her daughter continues her current behavior, she will lead a life of promiscuity. This fear becomes apparent in her demand, “on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming (Kincaid).” Additionally, these instructions may be the mother’s attempt to help her daughter grow up properly.
“Girl” appears to symbolize how mothers can be too overbearing on their daughters at times.
The mother in the story definitely can be seen as overbearing, as she doesn’t allow her daughter many opportunities to state her thoughts or opinions. The article, “Walker’s Everyday Use” by John Gruesser makes an interesting revelation about Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use.” Gruesser begins his article by noting that there are multiple “images of animals and references to animal husbandry” that are contained in Walker’s story (Gruesser 183). He proceeds to discuss some of the specific references within the story and explains how each of the main characters have animal characteristics. For example, he notes that mama is referred to as “a large, big boned woman” and Maggie is often described as being a doctile and frightened “animal” (Gruesser 184). He goes on to review Mama’s distinct comparisons between animals and her daughter Maggie and remarks that they “often seem insensitive” to the reader. The most shocking example, Gruesser claims, is in the following sentence: “Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone ignorant enough to be kind him? That is how my Maggie walks (Gruesser 184).” Gruesser concludes his review and criticism of Walker’s story by acknowledging that “it is perfectly appropriate that animal imagery should figure in ‘Everyday Use (Gruesser 185).’” Additionally, he claims that the animal imagery makes even more sense because the narrator supports herself by raising
livestock.