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In the story \"Everyday Use\" the
narrator is telling a story about her life and two daughters, who are named Dee
and Maggie. The narrator is very strong willed, honest, compassionate and very
concerned with the lives of her two daughters. Her daughter Dee is not content
with her lifestyle and makes it hard on Maggie and the narrator. The narrator
is trying to provide for her family the best way she can. The narrator is alone
in raising the two daughters and later sends her daughter Dee to college. The
longer the story goes on the more the narrator shows how intelligent and how
much she loves her two daughters.
Mama who is the narrator is a woman who can do any chore that a man can,
because of the way she is described. \"In real life I am a large,
big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands\". Mama seems very content
with her lifestyle because she seems like she loves to just do work at home and
relax with her family. Mama is also very observant because when her daughter
Dee comes and visits, Dee tells Mama that she changed her name to Wangero
Leewanika Kemanjo. This makes Mama feel that her daughter is running from her
heritage. So when Dee asks for some quilts that have been in the family for
years, Mama tells her, \"No, they are for Maggie\". This says to me
that Mama is very quick to draw as far as the actions of her daughter. She
notices that Dee changed her name and abandoned her heritage. Mama tells Dee
that her name came from her grandmamma. Mama is very understanding also,
because she isn\'t mad at Dee for changing her name, and just tells her that
she can\'t have the quilts.
Mama was a very interesting to me in this story, because she is so manly in the
story. \"I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man\", she
says in the story. Mama is also aware that she is not the brightest woman,
because she says that she didn\'t go any further then the second grade. I love
how honest she is with herself. Like when she talks about never being able to
hold a tune. Most people would lie to their self and make it sound like they
could sing if they wanted to. Mama is also a dreamer, at times because she
refers to things the way that they were. Like when she refers to her education
and the house that they use to have. They had a house before but there was a
fire. Mama also has some humor to her, \"Why don\'t you do a dance around
the ashes?\" she says this because Dee hated the house that they use to
have. Mama seems like she tries to be strong like a man to protect her family,
and give them a since of a father figure.
Throughout the story Mama does things that a father would do, but since there
isn\'t one around, it seems like she wants to fill that roll. Mama proves that
she is a loving woman by the way she takes cares of her two daughters. Mama
proves throughout the story that she is a good parent and takes care of
business in her home.