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Maggie in Everyday Use.
Everyday Use portrays Maggie as Cinderella, a young innocent girl that watches her sister have all the fun and yet she suffers from seclusion and isolation. Maggie has been demonstrated as a perfect representation of purity, the author further illustrates that Maggie’s character is unadulterated and she demonstrates selflessness. She was trapped in a house fire and she suffered serious burns on her face that distorted her image and people could no longer recognize her and her sympathy and her generosity due to the ugly scar from the burn. Mama takes pride in protecting Maggie and she stays with her. Mama has also barred Maggie from any form of interactions with the outside world.
Maggie is a character that has a great influence on the plot in the story Everyday Use. She is a shy daughter who lives with Mama. Maggie is a quiet and a very withdrawn individual, she is shy and uneducated. She also lacks the confidence to get involved in the life around her and hence she hovers around aimlessly and doesn’t seize the opportunities that are predisposed to her. As a young girl, Maggie had gone through traumatic events including an inferno that had razed down the house that they had been living in and this traumatic events had contributed to her character. The narrator states that; “Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to them? That is the way my Maggie walks” (Walker, 88) Unlike Dee, who was confident which you could see from how she walked and talked, Maggie was more withdrawn. When there were people around her she could not hang around them and she was also not able to maintain eye contact.
Maggie’s life is a definition of utter sorrow and gloom. She isn’t empowered in any way as she has no education and struggles with visual impairment. It is symbolic that Maggie struggles with visual impairment a clear indication that her future is blurry and success cannot be predicted, as the owner of that life can’t see clearly and has a lot of trouble reading. The author states “Sometimes Maggie reads to me. She stumbles along good naturedly but can’t see well. She knows she is not bright. Like good looks and money, quickness passed her by” (Walker, 89). Maggie’s life has not been easy she has had a fair share of shortcomings and predicaments.
Despite her shortcomings she is dutiful and also has a kind heart. WE can see she is willing to let her sister Dee have her quilts that she had been promised to be given to her originally. She loves her sister and she easily surrenders to her and her demands but Mama often steps in to protect her from exploitation by her sister. The author compares Maggie to a lame dog, this may be symbolic because of her character including the resignation to challenges.
The author explains that Maggie has quite a number of weaknesses she however has strong character traits. A good example is; she did not get the chance to go to school and study what her sister Dee was studying but she practiced how to quilt which was a family tradition and heritage and even brought her closer to her ancestors. She is obedient and honors tradition for example learning how to make quilt from her grandmother. She is enabled differently, in the sense that she can take care of the family as she is thoughtful and selfless.
Work Cited.
BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Walker, Alice. ““Everyday Use.”Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed.” New York: Longman, 2002. 88-95.
