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   mstultz72 Teacher
   High School - 12th Grade

   eNotes Editor

   The quilt and the butter churn in the story "Everyday Use," by Alice Walker, are the primary household object-symbols in Mrs. Johnson's house.  Mrs. Johnson, the narrative voice in the story, must decide which of her daughters will receive them.  There's the older Dee-Wangero, who returns from the city wearing the trappings of a neo-Black Muslim convert.  She wants the butter churn to be a centerpiece on her table and the quilt to adorn her wall as a tapestry.  Then there's the shy, scarred Maggie, her younger daughter, who--by measuring self-worth--doesn't feel entitled to either of them.

   Mrs. Johnson decides to keep the heirlooms in the house by giving them to Maggie.  She is entitled to them because she will use them for their intended, domestic function: the butter churn for churning butter and the quilt for keeping warm.  They've been so for three generations and, according to Mrs. Johnson, Dee's sense of entitlement by way of cultural fad will not sway her into giving them to her.

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   Posted by mstultz72 on Tuesday September 15, 2009 at 7:18 PM