Everyday Use By Alice Walker Analysis

1270 Words6 Pages
Discriminating someone because of the color of their skin color has had a long lasting impact on various people. In "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker we see the effect it has on Mama through her relationship with her daughters. She struggles with self-acceptance and therefore shows favoritism towards her eldest daughter Dee (who has a lighter complexion than her younger daughter Maggie). In contrast she neglects Maggie. These issues have had an enormous impact on their family dynamics. In addition to both of her daughter’s self-esteem, making Dee feel superior, while Maggie on the other hand feels inferior. However when she realizes the affects her biases have had on them, it is then that she learns to accept her daughters for who they are. Which…show more content…
Mama has a dysfunctional relationship with her daughters due to her bias towards Dee. She's devoted a great display of love and affection towards Dee. While treating Maggie like a second-class citizen. This is wrong on her to behave because she should be giving the same attention to both of her daughters. As oppose to treating one as if they are better than the other one. For example she’s made various sacrifices over the years to satisfy Dee, such as raising money with the church in order to send her to college. In contrast, she has never done anything nice or beneficial for Maggie. This is because Mama believes Dee’s appearance and skin color will get her much more ahead in life. Which is why she goes out of her way to give Dee everything she wants. Doubting that Maggie has anything to bring to the table and as a result she ignores her. As Christian mentions "The acknowledgement and appreciation of that heritage, which had too often been denigrated by African American themselves as well as by Euro-Americans, was a major tenet of the revolutionary movements of the period” (32). Meaning society has given her a different perspective of the world around.
Open Document