The Quilt That Broke the Mother's Back

In "Everyday Use," Dee's mother's refusal to allow her to keep the quilts indicates a permanent change in her (the mother). The reader can clearly see the moment of this permanent change: "when I looked at her like that something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet." This is a pivotal moment; the audience sees that the mother has realized the true characters of her two very different daughters. The beginning of the story indicates how the mother feels about her daughter Dee when she tells us how Maggie "[thought] her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand, that 'no' is a word the world never learned to say to her." Even thought she voices this as Maggie's opinion, the other details she gives throughout the narration prove that the mother thinks Dee is "the child who has 'made it.'" It was the culmination of these feelings toward Dee that lead to the mother's "snatching the quilts out of Miss Wangero's hands and dumping them onto Maggie's lap." The mother realizes that while Dee believes the world revolves around her and she knows all, her daughter Maggie is the one who truly cares about her, the quilts, and the family history. The quilts are the final piece that lead to the mother's decision.