Everyday Use Study Questions

Dee is selfish daughter. It is ironic how she cherishes her heritage but turns her back on it according to her actions. She has become somewhat superficial and wants to take these household items, such as the butter churner and dasher, to put on display in her home. Those items were made by hand to be useful tools in everyday life. Her idea of honoring her heritage by using these items as displays of art instead of their intended use is more like a parody of her life. Her education and flashy style and poise earn her some resentment from her mother. Dee grew up with everyone always looking up to her because she was beautiful, educated, and sociable. Dee has a sense of resentment of her upbringing and how she grew up. She thought better of herself and wanted more than just the simple things in life. She knew she deserved more than just a wooden shack with holes cut out as windows and rawhides as the drapes. She had a sense of disdain for the poor life. She wanted the “old Dee to be dead” and the Wangero to be alive and prosperous. It is ironic how she wanted to preserve her heritage but let go of the very thing that helped to shape who she was; her name. Dee wanted to take the priceless handmade quilts home to put on a wall and hang up. She thought that would be the best way to remember her history and where she came from. However these quilts were not made for that reason, the true meaning of those qulits was using them everyday and making use of the things you had. The quilt had been made from all different sorts of fabric and by the hands of different members of the family from past generations. Dee was missing the point and could only think of her self- righteous reasons of why she was right and Mama and Magie were wrong.

Mama has resentment for Dee. Dee has the looks, smarts, and money, mama never had. Although she sacrificed for Dee to have a better life she also somewhat ostracized Dee for the way she carried herself without the hard labor evident on her