Everyday Use

Prompt

Shakespeare's Juliet wonders, perhaps naively, "What's in a name?" In many works of literature, the answer is "much." Characters' names denote or simply suggest personal qualities. They may also reflect larger thematic considerations. Reflect on the characters in Alice Walker's "Everday Use." Write one paragraph (8-10 sentences) where you analyze the ways in which characters' names illustrate the meaning of the story as a whole.

Response

While reading the text, it jumped out to me how the narrator was referring to each person. For example, right after the Dee tells her (the narrator) her new-found name, she immediately refers to her in the narration by her new name, which is just interesting as the narrator has probably called her Dee since she was born. The same can also be seen when she learns the pronunciation of Dee’s boyfriend’s name, she immediately refers to him as Hakim-a-barber. Eventually, she even refers to him just as “barber.”

On a much deeper note, Dee’s name change seems to have little to no value/no effect on who she was originally. Maggie on the other hand, retains her name - as there was no “reason” to change it to begin with. After the whole incident with the quilt/who gets to keep it, you could say that Maggie and the narrator know the “true value” of the quilt, the rich family history and legacy. Dee however, is rather hypocritical. On one hand, she claims that the quilt is her legacy, yet she changes her name - even though she was named after her relative, “Big Dee”. The narrator in this story uses names to display a rather stark contrast between the characters who understand the meaning of “legacy” versus ones who only have a surface level appreciation.