Character Analysis Of Maggie In Everyday Use By Alice Walker
In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, a family of three women stand in their lawn watching smoke tumble out from where their windows used to be and study their shingles as they disintegrate. The youngest woman, Maggie, has the most traumatic experience of the three: she was caught in the fire and was severely burned and scarred. The image of her daughter suffering was burned into her mind. The mother was affected by this and also by how her other daughter, Dee, reacted to this. Dee was content with her house being burnt down. She never liked the house or what it symbolized to her: race and heritage. Their lives are all struck in different ways that will now affect them for the rest of their lives. Maggie is not only scarred physically, but also
mentally. She clings to her mother for safety when a situation or a person she was unfamiliar with approaches. The author introduces Maggie in a way that gives the reader pity for her, “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 who is ignorant enough to be kind to him? That is the way my Maggie walks” (Walker 611). A dog, when scarred physically and/or mentally, they tend to hide by their owner to feel secure and to be reassured that no harm will be done to them. This was how Maggie was around her mother. “...chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle…” (Walker 611). Maggie was almost ashamed of herself. She was always going to be the type of person to hide in other people’s shadows ever since the moment their house burst into flames. The narrator, also known as the mother, has vivid memories of her children during this scarring event. “Maggie’s arms sticking to me, her hair smoking and her dress falling off her in little black papery flakes” (Walker 611). She felt helpless, yet, her unconditional love for her daughter grew stronger in that moment. She would do anything to keep her safe. “And Dee. I see her standing off under the sweet gum tree… a look of concentration on her face as she watched the last dingy gray board of the house fall toward the red-hot brick chimney. Why don’t you do a dance around the ashes? I’d wanted to ask her” (Walker 611). She knew her daughter hated that house. In a way, she felt burdened and unappreciated by Dee. There is such a distance between the two and the mother recognizes that when she catches herself having frequent daydreams of her and Dee reuniting one day (Walker 612). As the story continues, the distance between them grows farther and farther to the point where the mother starts to resent her. Dee took the experience of her house burning down as a way of starting a new life and growing a stronger sense of herself. She wanted to be her own person, not what the house was trying to create of her. In Dee’s mind, the house represented black heritage and how neglected her black heritage was. As the house was burning, she started to believe that the house was what was keeping their past alive. When Dee grows older and moves away from home, she changes her name to Wangero to begin her journey of her new self.
mentally. She clings to her mother for safety when a situation or a person she was unfamiliar with approaches. The author introduces Maggie in a way that gives the reader pity for her, “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 who is ignorant enough to be kind to him? That is the way my Maggie walks” (Walker 611). A dog, when scarred physically and/or mentally, they tend to hide by their owner to feel secure and to be reassured that no harm will be done to them. This was how Maggie was around her mother. “...chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle…” (Walker 611). Maggie was almost ashamed of herself. She was always going to be the type of person to hide in other people’s shadows ever since the moment their house burst into flames. The narrator, also known as the mother, has vivid memories of her children during this scarring event. “Maggie’s arms sticking to me, her hair smoking and her dress falling off her in little black papery flakes” (Walker 611). She felt helpless, yet, her unconditional love for her daughter grew stronger in that moment. She would do anything to keep her safe. “And Dee. I see her standing off under the sweet gum tree… a look of concentration on her face as she watched the last dingy gray board of the house fall toward the red-hot brick chimney. Why don’t you do a dance around the ashes? I’d wanted to ask her” (Walker 611). She knew her daughter hated that house. In a way, she felt burdened and unappreciated by Dee. There is such a distance between the two and the mother recognizes that when she catches herself having frequent daydreams of her and Dee reuniting one day (Walker 612). As the story continues, the distance between them grows farther and farther to the point where the mother starts to resent her. Dee took the experience of her house burning down as a way of starting a new life and growing a stronger sense of herself. She wanted to be her own person, not what the house was trying to create of her. In Dee’s mind, the house represented black heritage and how neglected her black heritage was. As the house was burning, she started to believe that the house was what was keeping their past alive. When Dee grows older and moves away from home, she changes her name to Wangero to begin her journey of her new self.