Tradition in "Everyday Use" is mostly represented through practical objects that have been passed down in the narrator's family for generations. Sounds lovely, right? Well, not so much. A disagreement over who should get a pair of handmade quilts, in particular, winds up smack in the center of the story's nastiest scene. Of course, the argument is about much more than the quilts themselves. The conflict, in fact, concerns competing ideas about what tradition (or heritage, as the story calls it) even means. Who would've thought a fight over quilts could get so abstract?
Questions About Custom/Tradition
- What does family tradition or heritage mean for each of the main characters?
- What meaning do the traditional objects in the story (e.g. the butter churn, the quilts) have? What do they tell us about the Johnson family?
- Is Dee's appreciation for her heritage genuine?
- Dee obviously thinks the narrator's (and Maggie's) practical-minded attitudes about the quilts are totally wrong. What do you think?
Chew on This
The narrator and Maggie have a much greater appreciation for tradition and their heritage than Dee.
Dee may be a brat, but she has a good point: the narrator and Maggie shouldn't be handling family heirlooms so carelessly and just don't get the importance of preserving their heritage.