“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker revolves around a conversation the mother has with Dee, her college-going daughter, and her sister Maggie. An argument about who is more deserving of the hand-sewn quilts stitched together by Mother, Grandmother, and Aunt Dee. During the conversation, both daughters will demonstrate how they appreciate their family quilts, but sadly we can conclude that only one of the girls illustrates how to appreciate their own culture. Maggie uses the quilts to remember her grandmother Dee, while her sister Dee changes her name and only wants to use the quilts to decorate her house. Dee, a surname that the mother can trace beyond the Civil War (464), but despite that lineage Dee goes and exchanges her name with Wangero (464). When the narrator asks, "What happened to 'Dee'?" (464) was curious to find out why her daughter would reject her birth name. “She is dead” (464) Dee replies, “I could no longer bear it, having the name of the people who oppressed me” (464) but the original name that her oppressors gave to their ancestors has been deluded for generations and the name Dee, it had familial and historical significance for the mother. Dee thinks ancestral legacy is more important than her immediate legacy. The mother explains, “I could have brought him back before the Civil Road through the branches” (464). Dee couldn't understand the cultural significance of her name, the same name that came from her loved ones and not her oppressors. He fails to appreciate the cultural significance of the name Dee. Dee wants to appreciate her family's quilts by framing them in her home, but Maggie would most likely put them into everyday use and have them to remember her grandmother... . middle of the paper ......demonstrates how little he cares about his family's culture by displaying his family quilts as decorations, changing his last name, and with his new identity, he has completely abandoned his family culture. The mother may understand Dee's point of view, but this is why she cannot give Dee those quilts. When Maggie shows her affection for the quilts and is willing to part with them, her mother realizes that she is more deserving of the family quilts. This is how we can appreciate our family culture, remembering those who came before us and keeping their memory alive within us. We do not have to be accepted by our own culture because we are born into it, but we must perpetuate the ideas so that they remain with us over time. Works CitedWalker, Alice. "Daily use." The Seagull Reader: Stories / edited by Joseph Kelly. New York: Norton, 2008. Print.