The conclusion of "Everyday Use" suggests that it is Maggie who has undergone a change. In the story's beginning and throughout much of the narrative, it seems that since she is the one who has stayed behind with her mother at home while Dee has gone out into the wider world, Maggie is in some way pitiable. Maggie looks at Dee and "she thinks her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand, that 'no' is a word the world never learned to say to her." However, when their mother stands up for Maggie and takes the quilt away from Dee, Maggie understands that she has value in their mother's eyes in a way that Dee perhaps never will achieve. Maggie's humility and goodness are rewarded and Dee finally hears the word "no." When Dee and Hakim-a-barber are driving away, Maggie smiles "a real smile, not scared," and perhaps gains a new understanding of her place in the family.

Mrs. Johnson, the narrator, changes at the end of the story. Her daughter, Dee, comes home from college with her boyfriend. Dee has taken a new African name in her attempt to discover her African heritage. Dee doesn't realize she is denying her real heritage, since she was named for her aunt. She wants to take the things that her mother and sister, Maggie, still use on an everyday basis to decorate her home.

Maggie is overwhelmed by Dee and the new life Dee has established for herself. Maggie still lives in poverty with her mother. When Dee wants to take the quilts as examples of folk art, Mrs. Johnson takes them from Dee and gives them to Maggie. This is a change in Mrs. Johnson's feelings toward her daughters. She realizes that Maggie is the one who truly understands and appreciates her heritage and the connections with her ancestors.