Everyday Use

Dee is uninterested in the facts because she is just planning on displaying the churn as a decoration. She touches the worn impressions found on the handle and remembers using the churn to make butter by hand, and how the impression “reflects the effort and determination of those that once used it” (Christian 462). Heritage is a person’s undeniable past that they carry with them everyday. She leaves town to attend college in search of a better lifestyle. After Dee moves out, she assures her mother that she will come to see her, wherever she may “choose” to live, but makes it clear that she will not bring any friends over (Walker 894). She then looks around the room and decides that she will take the milk churn with her, without even asking her mother if it is okay. Even though Dee had once been scornful of the old house, she now seems intrigued by the simple way her mother lives. The real reason why Dee prefers to be called Wangero is because it has now become “fashionable” to be proud of being an African-American (Baker 416). Mother points out that Dee was named after her aunt, and grandmother, but Dee still does not want to be named after her ancestors even though they did not oppress her. To Maggie, a quilt is not just a piece of art; she understands, as does Mother, that the quilts represent unity and even being oppressed (Baker 416). She changes her name because she believes that she was named after people that “oppress” her (Walker 895). Dee’s dress is flamboyant and her hair is big and black. Dee once again belittles Maggie by implying that Maggie would not appreciate the quilts and would even ruin them by putting them to use.