In the event of writing a story, play or novel, authors develop the story around certain characters in an attempt to relay a certain message. Among all the characters are the main characters, which the author uses to develop the story’s plot, demonstrate the story’s themes as well as relay the author’s message to the audience or readers of the story. Alice Walker uses a similar approach of relaying her message when she develops her short story’s plot around three major characters namely Mama, Maggie and Dee. Through the various ways in which these three characters are developed, readers of Walker’s short story can establish or identify their characteristics, hence the ability to describe those characteristics. Depending on the author’ character development, it is also possible to establish the physical and personality characteristics of each character.
Mama
The character of Mama in the short story, “Everyday Use” is depicted in a manner that portrays her physical and personality characteristics as the story unfolds. Among her physical characteristics is the fact that she is depicted as big boned, which means that she can be termed as round. Mama is described and portrayed as being stronger than most men, thus her physical characteristics (Walker, 2002). Among her other characteristics is that of her emotional state, which the author depicts as being mildly tempered. Mama’s personality is depicted as loving, sincere, independent and forgiving mostly because she is both the mother and father of her daughters. Mama is a dynamic character since throughout the story’s development; she is portrayed as undergoing various changes as far as her personality is concerned. For instance, her outlook on her daughter Dee, where she expects gratitude for her sacrifices changes when she establishes just how much selfish Dee is, changing her attitude to accommodate both her daughters’ personalities.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Maggie
Her character is depicted as that of an introverted individual, which is because of experiences that left her scarred for life (Walker, 2002). Maggie suffered burns when she was a child, which left her with burn scars the contributed to her personality and physical characteristics. Maggie’s character, being the skittish younger daughter of Mama, can be described as flat since she is self-conscious about her burn, which leaves her living under her sister Dee’s shadow. In addition to that, her physical characteristics depict both flatness and static attributes since she barely ever leaves their home unlike her sister Dee. Her personality can be described as innocent, quiet and withdrawn. Her character is static since after she got burnt, she became introverted and self-conscious thus locking herself away from any possible activities that might spur changes in her character.
Dee
Based on Walker's depiction, the personality of Dee can be described as loud and judgmental. Her character is dynamic a throughout the story’s development; she is portrayed as being well travelled and educated when compared to her sister Maggie. She shows resilience in most of the things she wants making her character rather strong and resilient. Her character cannot be described as flat since the author develops her character around controversy and conflict, which Dee actively starts. Her character as depicted by the author, who is loud, judgmental and dynamic, is because of the manner in which she plays the role of the antagonist in the short story, “Everyday Use” (Walker, 2002).
The character I can say I relate more to is Mama since her personality and mine closely resonate. The same way she is independent, loving, sincere and forgiving is the same way that I am. This makes me like the character Mama more, because I can relate to her, which is among the factors authors consider when developing characters in their works. Creating a character that readers can relate with increases the likeability of literary work, thus readership.
Reference
Walker, A. (2002). “Everyday Use.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama . Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 8 th ed. New York: Longman.
