Everyday Use

Quilts of Heritage

In the story “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker reveals the unique personalities and feelings of the three main characters. The theme is developed by Mrs. Johnson as told by a first person point of view. The characters described are Mrs. Johnson, the mother, and her two daughters, Maggie and Dee. The perspectives and insights into the characters reflect the theme of the writer’s story. The characters have their likenesses and their differences, but they all play a greater role in the development of the overall idea.
The author directly introduces the main character, Mrs. Johnson. She is described as being fat and like a man. Alice Walker writes “In real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands” (65). Although Mrs. Johnson is satisfied with her appearance, she still wishes that she were smaller: “I am the way my daughter would want me to be: a hundred pounds lighter, my skin like an uncooked pancake” (Walker 65). Mrs. Jo...