Essay 3
RHT 102
July 23rd, 2012
What really heritage is If there is someone in this world, who understands, cares and knows deeply another human being, without judging or ulterior motives, is a mother. Maybe this is because a mother knows her baby even before the baby is born, so that is why a mother has the ability to read the mind of her children, even when the children try to hide what he or she is thinking form their mother. She knows when you are sad or you dislike something. She also knows what are your dreams, your ambitions and your weakness. So if you want to know something about someone, a good option is to ask their mothers. She would be able to tell stories about that person that would help understand better why they think and act in certain way. So that is why that after reading the short story Everyday Use I decided to analyze the changes in Mama’s tone, when she is narrating the story, also the contrast between Maggie and Dee, and the relationship between Mama and Dee, so I was able to understand better why Dee and her family have completely different concepts about what heritance is. In the first half of the story, Mama’s tone, if a little bit disappointed for not accomplishing her daughter Dee expectations, is pretty neutral. She simply describes the yard where she and Maggie are waiting for Dee, who is coming to visit. She also describes Maggie’s attitude towards Dee arrival, Mama also gives information about her life style and Maggie’s future wedding plans. Mama’s tone becomes a sarcastic when she describes Dee’s pompous dress and hairstyle, which shows the different ways of thinking of both of them. She later said she likes the dress but still, it shows her different styles. I could appreciate that she has a unique sense of humor when she makes fun of the effort she put on stand up to welcome Dee. I thought it was funny when Mama confused Hakim-the-barber’s name with Asalamalakin. Mama’s tone turns sarcastic again when Dee announced that she had changed her name, which according to her was given by her oppressors. Mama knows this is not true and probably thinks that Dee knows that too, but she is just following a new popular trend. After this exchange with Dee, Mama’s tone turns neutral again, it doesn’t change not even when she narrates how Dee appropriates of churn and the dasher and her first attempt to get the quilts. Mama’s tone keeps being the same until she sees Maggie standing in the door, and listened her gave up on the quilts and all the memories attached to them. It is in that moment that Mama’s neutral tone change the most, and become energetic and authoritative. She tells Dee that she can take any of the other quilts but not the hand made ones, she tells her that those quilts belong to Maggie. Because Maggie is the one who actually knows the real value of the quilts, the heritage meaning those quilts actually have, not like Dee. I believe that Dee felt the change in her mother’s tone and that is why she decided to leave not before telling her sister that she should do something with her meaningless life, without noticing that she is the one whose life doesn’t have a value because she doesn’t know or valorize her origins. Using Mama’s descriptions of both of them, I can infer that Dee and Maggie are two completely different kinds of people. Maggie, according to Mama’s description of her way of walk, is a nervous shy woman whose nervousness and shyness arouse her maximum point when her sister is close. Maggie, like her mother, has a particular kind of sarcastic humor, this is shown when Mama commented with her that Dee would came to visit them but she would never bring any of her friends with her. To what Maggie answered, “When did Dee ever have a friends?.” I assume that Mama and Maggie have a pretty good and close relationship; they both seem to don’t mind their simple life style. In the other hand Dee has always been a self centered person with a really high self-esteem. She had