From whose point of view is “Everyday Use” told? What does the storygain from this point of view—instead of, say, from the point of view of Dee (Wangero)?
What will be an ideal response?
- “Everyday Use” is told in retrospect from the first person point of view of the mother. Mama is an opinionated narrator with a good sense of reality, and it seems we are privy to some of the inner feelings she rarely shares. We sense Mama has sacrificed for her older daughter her entire life, without receiving any appreciation or thanks. Mama knows that Dee is disappointed in her, a feeling that gives the sensitive reader a great deal of sympathy. “In real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands . . . My fat keeps me hot in zero weather. I can work outside all day” (par. 5). But when Mama imagines herself on TV with Dee, she is “the way my daughter would want me to be: a hundred pounds lighter, my skin like an uncooked barley pancake. My hair glistens in the hot bright lights. Johnny Carson has much to do to keep up with my quick and witty tongue” (par. 5). By seeing the story from Mama’s point of view, the reader is clear about the emotional importance of the objects Dee wants to take away from Maggie. While certainly biased, Mama is probably far more objective about her family than either daughter would be.
“Everyday Use” would be an entirely different story if it were told from another point of view, especially Dee’s. Sophisticated and educated Dee would hardly be able to imagine her mother’s or sister’s point of view. Her whole focus has been leaving the life they embrace.
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