Mama Johnson is the protagonist in Alice Walker's short story, "Everyday Use." We can identify her as the main character because the story is told from her point of view, it follows her actions and thoughts as the events unfold, and she undergoes a pretty significant change by the end of the story.
Mama's outlook on her daughter, Dee (now Wangero), changes dramatically throughout the course of the story. At first, she longs for a talk-show style reunion with her somewhat-estranged daughter where Dee pins an orchid to her mother's breast and weeps with gratitude for her sacrifices. She recognizes that Dee is too selfish and self-centered for there ever to be such a moment or for her ever to feel grateful.
However, by the end, Mama truly understands the destruction that Dee causes when she sees the exchange of her two daughters over a set of old quilts. The quilts have been promised to Maggie, for use in her home when she's married, and though Dee rejected them years ago, she now wants them because she is anxious to display them. When she hears Maggie's offer to give up these quilts, quilts that she sincerely values for the right reasons, Mama says,
When I looked at her [...] something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet. Just like when I'm in church and the spirit of God touches me and I get happy and shout. I did something I never done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero's hands and dumped them into Maggie's lap.
For the first time, she denies Dee something and puts Maggie first, even though -- or perhaps because -- Maggie never asks anything for herself. This change, privileging Maggie's needs instead of Dee's, is new for Mama. She rearranges the way she prioritizes her daughters, and in the end, she finds herself contented in a way that she never was when she put Dee's needs before her own and Maggie's.
No comments:
Post a Comment