September 25, 2014 Asharib Mazhar
Essay: The Character of Maggie.
Being strong is not always easy but at many points in life one must overcome obstacle that prevent maximum potential growth. In the short story ‘’Everyday Use’’ by Alice Walker, the youngest daughter Maggie proves that despite age, she is strong emotionally. Life up’s and down’s one must have strength to overcome.
Maggie is a figure of purity, uncorrupted by selfishness or complex emotional needs. Severely burned in a house fire when she was a child, her scarred, ugly appearance hides her sympathetic, generous nature. She lives at home and is protected by Mama, she suffers from a crippling shyness and lack of education Although Mama mentions that Maggie is going to marry John Thomas, it is doubtful that even a marriage will help Maggie become a strong and clearly defined individual. Mama, protective as she is of Maggie, is frank about her shortcomings and problems. Maggie’s relationship with Dee is rife with jealousy and awe. Mama recalls how Maggie had always thought Dee had been gifted with an easy life in which her hopes and desires were rarely, if ever, frustrated. Maggie seems to have taken both sisters’ difficulties onto her own shoulders, and although she never says explicitly that she finds it unfair, she clearly thinks so.
The only time Maggie reveals the extent of her innermost desires is when Dee attempts to take the quilts that Mama had promised to Maggie. When Dee asked Mama if she can have some special quilts and Mama says no because she was going to give them to Maggie Dee says, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.” Dee is making Maggie look very unappreciative of the quilts even though she wanted them for a deeper meaning: to remember her grandma. The quilts have always proved to be a source of comfort and encouragement. So a girl like Maggie who is timid and not successful