Literary Devices in Everyday Use
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Hey there—come on in and stay awhile. Most of the story in "Everyday Use" takes place in the narrator's yard so she wastes no time helping us get familiar with the place. Right from the get go, s...
Narrator Point of View
Our narrator is working really hard in this story—not only is she narrating the whole thing, she's also a central character. Well, we're putting it mildly: she's the protagonist. And she's a very...
Genre
A mother and two daughters together for an afternoon: let the family drama begin. This story is rife with family conflict way before the big blowout quilt scene at the end. From listening to the na...
Tone
In "Everyday Use," the narrator is thinking over a lot of stuff, much of which has already taken place. In the early parts of the story, virtually everything she looks at reminds her of something f...
Writing Style
Chatting Up a Storm Doesn't it feel like we're just chilling with the narrator in her yard and listening to her stories? That's probably because the writing in "Everyday Use" looks a lot like speec...
What's Up With the Title?
The words everyday use sound innocent enough, don't they? Of course, we know that these words are hurled as a vicious insult at the end of the story, so they're actually anything but innocent. But...
What's Up With the Ending?
In the end, the narrator and Maggie watch Dee ride away. We might expect them to be pretty bummed: their big visit was about as pleasant as an afternoon spent at the dentist's office. Plus, Dee doe...
Tough-o-Meter
We can thank our narrator for making "Everyday Use" relatively easy, breezy reading. As an unpretentious sort, she's not out to impress us with a bunch of fifty-cent words; her language is direct a...
Plot Analysis
Waiting is the Hardest PartAs the narrator waits around for her daughter Dee to show up, we get to know a little about her and a lot about Dee and her other daughter Maggie (well, not everything—...
Trivia
One of Walker's favorite books is Jane Eyre. (Source.) What a smarty: Walker was valedictorian of her high school class. (Source.) Walker was a huge Zora Neale Hurston fan. In fact, she helped bri...
Steaminess Rating
C'mon, it's a story about quilts; you've got to expect it's going to be pretty tame. Sure we might wonder what's up with the relationship between Dee and Hakim-a-barber (the narrator even speculate...
Allusions
Civil WarJohnny Carson