The Everyday Use of Irony

The Everyday Use of Irony

As I glanced over the follow-up questions that came at the end of the short story and read through the side notes I had made, I realized that “Everyday Use” reeks of irony and contradictions. Virtually every word Dee, or Wangero, speaks has a tinge of condescension towards the very heritage that she supposedly values so much. Additionally, this heritage and culture that is “special” to her is merely based on the superficial and material aspects which in turn, cancel the fact that she values it at all.

Dee, from the instant she greets her mother and sister, up until the point of leaving, places herself above her family through her statements and her actions. Dee corrects her mother quickly on her new name; Dee says, “Not ‘Dee,’ Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!” and claims that “Dee” is dead (25). The mother recounts the memory that Dee hated the house that they had lived in and consequently was too ashamed to bring her friends over. However, when Dee arrived at the house with her Polaroid camera, she never took “a shot without making sure the house was included” (22). Initially, I, as the reader, thought that there had been a clear shift between Dee’s demeanor in the past and how it was then, yet various clues proved me wrong; Dee still had a distorted view of her heritage. She acts as if she cares about her heritage but in actuality she only cares about the physical proof of her heritage solely for materialistic and superficial purposes. This is apparent when Dee first greets her mother and sister; she said, “Wa-su-zo-Tean-o!”(21). Her difficulty with speaking the native language shows that Dee is not in touch with her heritage despite her belief that she is. Later on in the story, Dee tries to take the blanket that her mother and Bid Dee made. When her mother decides to not let Dee have it but rather let Maggie keep it, Dee becomes outraged and storms out of the house. In the midst of her hissy fit, Dee reveals her true colors as well as makes the most outrageously ironic statements of the entire story. Not only does Dee say that “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!...She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use,” but also says that Maggie and her mother do not understand their heritage (66). Dee’s statement is completely reversed and it is shocking to hear that Dee would even believe this absurd thought.

Wangero perceives valuing her heritage through turning ordinary items, according to Maggie and the mother, into valuables. But in reality, the essence of the heritage is shown through putting these items that were hand-made, such as the benches and the blanket, to everyday use. In this way, the title is suitable to the story; it portrays how real heritage is seen through “Everyday Use.” (483)