Background is not the only element of culture that shapes our view of others and the world. Parental influence is another element of culture that shapes our view of others and the world. Parents can sometimes influence how someone views others and the world. In Teresa Acosta’s poem “my mother pieced quilts” the author views her mother’s work of piecing quilts. Teresa Acosta admires her mother’s work of piecing quilts. But it was just that every morning I awoke to these October ripened canvases. This supports the claim because this is a somewhat influence of what the author sees the world. I remember when I was ten or eleven years old there was this lady who made scarves, hats and blankets. This view of the winter attire showed me a way of…
This form of redemption takes place as an epiphany: You realize that what can save you isn't out there, but has been nearby all along, beside you, even in you, but never noticed, never heard, or never given a second thought” (Whitsitt 43). One instance of Dee’s attitude and loss of heritage is when they are all about to eat and she notices the hand-stitched quilts, which belong to Maggie, and demands that they be given to her. The attitude she has about wanting the quilts shows that she is a selfish person, and she obviously has no respect for her sister or mother or she wouldn’t have caused such an altercation. The quilts can symbolize many different events, but the true meaning of the quilts can only be decided from the readers’ past experiences. “The story shifts abruptly to the past tense immediately after Dee declares that she has changed her name. Up until now, Mama has been caught in the tension between her annoyance with Dee and her instinctive desire to be "the way my daughter would want me to be." Yet when Dee goes so far as to disown her family identity, Mama reaches a watershed”(Tuten…
Dee, the eldest daughter, has ventured from the rural world she grew up in but never felt a part of. The story is set in the context of her returning home for the first time since she left for college. Maggie the younger daughter has never left home. As the story unfolds Dee's motives become apparent. She has come home to retrieve objects from her former life that are meaningful to her. She plans to incorporate them into her décor. Mama relates her sad attempt to find value in her family and claim her inheritance.…
During slavery slaves were not allowed to read or write. It was actually illegal to teach slaves. So they had to create some sort of unspoken system to talk to each other. This system came in the form of codes such as songs, dances, rituals, code words, and symbols. Both white people who were aiding the slaves and the blacks who had already escaped the plantations created these codes. One way of coding messages was through quilt codes. Making quilts during that time period was an African tradition that had particular meanings. In Africa the quilts were used to record history and were passed down from generation to generation. The quilts would be draped over fences so that all the slaves on the plantation could view them as well as other slaves…
Dee mostly doesn’t want Maggie to get the quilts because she thinks that Maggie will be “dumb” enough to use them in everyday use. Mama protests the idea by stating that she would at least see enjoyment out of them because Maggie also knows how to quilt, which means she knows how to recreate them or create new ones if she wanted too. Dee only wants to hang up the quilts and use them for decorations even though she told Mama that the quilts were old and out of fashion when Dee went to…
The family heirlooms are the true tokens of Dee’s (Wangero Leewamika Kemanjo) identity and origins, knows little about the past and the essential facts about how the quilts were made and what fabrics were used to make them, she pretends to be deeply connected to this folk tradition. Her desire to hang the quilts, in a museum like exhibit, suggests that she feels reverence for them but that to her they are essentially foreign, impersonal objects. Mama believe that Maggie should have these quilt not Dee because Maggie will have better use for them. At the end of the story Dee stated that Mama and Maggie do not understand their heritage (page 429, 75), the turn of event it’s actually Dee herself who does not understand her heritage.…
Like the old benches that we always sat on. They are no different than before. Why does she want grandma’s butter dish? What ruckus over some old quilts. The strange thing about it is that I offered them to her and she did not want them before. But now they have some meaning to her that they must sit. These old things are not for sitting! I won’t forget where I came from. I lived it! Why should they sit and not be used? Those quilts should be used, and Maggie would put use them as they should be. For once, I have to shift the tide to Maggie. Stand up for Maggie and not give Dee all that she wants. Dee is not Dee any more she is Wangero and I have to stand up for the daughter that I have left. Maggie does not always get what she wants, she doesn’t live life as demanding as Wangero. These quilts will let her win for once, with Dee gone she will lose such nervousness. Without the pressure of Wangero, we are something like those families on the television…
The story starts shifting when Dee tells her mother she has changed her name. Near the end, the mother realized that Dee is a fantasy child who is still frivolously careless of other peoples’ lives. (Baker, Pierce-Baker). Mama finally gains increasing emotional distance from Dee and is ultimately able to tell her “no.” (Hirsch). Mama snatches the quilts from Dee and gives them to Maggie, which makes Maggie smile sincerely. Mama knows that Maggie will truly appreciate and use the quilts instead of hanging them as a wall mounting as a symbol of a “simple upbringing”. Mama realizes that Maggie has had a better understanding of the meaning of heritage from the very…
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.…
Dee asks Mama Johnson if she could take the butter churn with the butter still intact as the style has become fashionable to decorate with heritage pieces. She also demands two quilts, made by her grandmother from scraps of fabric that were once memorable articles of clothing. However, Mama Johnson has already promised these quilts to Maggie for her impending marriage. Mama Johnson now has to decide whether to yield to Dee’s demands or keeping her promise to Maggie. This is the pivotal point in the story when Mama Johnson rises against Dee and tells her no, and Dee “gasped like a bee had stung her” (Welty 556). Mama Johnson thinks, “I didn’t want to bring up how I had offered Dee (Wangero) a quilt when she went away to college” (Welty 556). Those quilts were insignificant when she went to college; however, she has now become worldlier and realizes their value. Dee’s dissatisfaction with her name is another illustration where she doesn’t accept her heritage. She had never been denied anything in her past, and when Mama Johnson denies Dee the quilts, Mama Johnson has shown how Maggie is just as vital to her and puts up a boundary with Dee. Her visit illustrates how Dee still suffers from being self-important, and that her family…
Dee is sisters with Maggie in this story, she is the character who is very impolite, or that does things her way. Dee is the only educated character; it says in the short story that she left so that she could be educated. Dee is noticed as a character that does whatever she wants, and have it go her way. One example is that, Dee wears a brightly colored, yellow-and-orange, ankle-length dress that is inappropriate for the warm weather. This shows that she would wear anything she wants even if its inappropriate in any way. In the story mama wouldn’t let Dee have the quilts, and she became furious. This another example that she is very stubborn, because in the end she keeps the quilts.…
However, these quilts where already have been promised to Maggie once she is married. These quilts at one point were refused by Dee, “they were old fashioned, out of style” (Walker, 1973, p. 259) at that time, she had seen these quilts, as represented the poverty it which she has come from, and now sees that a symbol has her heritage. Although, I feel that, Dee is choosing to look at objects as a part of her heritage, and that she does not very her own family as part of heritage. More so, Mama and Maggie continue to embrace the heritage, both past when Maggie states that “I can’ member Grandma Dee without the quilts.” (Walker, 1973, p. 260) and present, where Mama’s hope is that, these quilts would be placed back for everyday use (Walker, 1973).…
I got to hear about the story of the quilt, by the way, very interesting. Your mom told me all about it. From what I heard, you went to visit your mom and your sister, and when you got there you saw some old quilts and you wanted them for you. Interestingly, your mom had separated the quilts for your sister, and according to your mom you said, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts! She’d probably be backward enough to put them for everyday use” (448). Wangero, your family values the thing they have in a different way. You learned to appreciate those quilts because you learned about your heritage. Your mom and your sister they did not have the chance to learn about their heritage, neither to learn how to appreciate it. They simply appreciate it. They value their clothing, their objects, their quilts by simply using them. They do not intend to frame their quilts, neither the objects they have at home. They simply use…
Many things have made our country how it is today. Many contributions are mentioned. However, African-Americans are not mentioned much even though they have contributed a lot to us. However I will show one specific contribution, quilt making.…
In the story “Everyday Use”, Dee is portrayed as a girl who “made it”. She was seen by her mother and Maggie as a talented girl. Her only flaw was her selfishness towards her younger sister Maggie. In the story, she pays a visit to Maggie and her mother and have dinner. After dinner, Dee goes rifling through a trunk and two quilts catch her eye. She demands her mother to hand them to her. Although they were to be passed onto Maggie, she allows Dee to keep the quilts. In the end, Dee gives the quilts back.…