lives in a better world, educated, and has a better lifestyle than Maggie and Mama Mrs. Johnson Aryal, 2012. Mama and Maggie never leave their
hometown and never know what the other side of the world looks like, while Dee leave her hometown and study many things during her youth. Dee learns
new things out there but she never learns her own heritage, while Mama and Maggie never learn new things but they learn a lot about their heritage.
After the writer explains some studies about the symbolism and the meaning of the quilts and heritage, now the writer wants to explain another
study about “Everyday Use” related to the theme. The main theme of the story
itself is about heritage meaning. What Walker tries to point out is that a quilt is a part of family’s history. They represent their ancestor’s lives not only
parts of cloths put together to make a blanket. The author also gives important understanding that valuing the culture and traditions of your family is
extremely meaningful. In the story shows that Maggie, the younger sister, is different from Dee, the older sister, because she knows how to sew and
appreciate the quilts personally and emotionally. This is according to “Theme
of Heritage in Everyday Use ” essay on the internet.
The writer tries to discover something new. This study does not focus on the symbolism of the quilts, the meaning of the heritage, the themes or the
struggle for women’s rights in African American community in that era, but it focuses on analyzing the three major characters, Mama, Maggie and Dee, in
Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” in psychological angle concerning the core issues and self
– defense mechanisms.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Character and Characterization
In his book, A Glossary to Literary Terms, Meyer Howard Abrams explains that character is the person, in dramatic or narrative work, endowed
with moral disposition and emotional qualities. The qualities are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and what they do-the action 1981:2.
M.J. Murphy in his book Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and English Novel for Overseas Student exemplifies some
ways in representing the characters. These are some of the ways that the writer will use in this study 1972:161.
The first is by the Character as seen by another. The author can describe the character through the eyes and opinion of another instead of describing
the character directly. The second is by the Speech. Through what the character says, the author can give us insight into the characteristic of one of
the characters in the story. The third is by the character’s Past Life. The
author can give the reader a clue that has helped to shape a character’s characteristic as they are now at present by learning about a character’s life. It
can be done by direct comment by the author, through the thought of the character, through the person’s conversation or through the medium of
another character. The fourth is by the Conversation of Others. It is the conversation of other character and the things they say about the character.
The fifth is by the Personal Description. It is when the character describes their own physical appearance or clothes. And the last is by the character’s
Reactions. The character shows their character from their reactions to various situations and events Murphy, 1972:161.
2. Lois Tyson’s Theory of Psychoanalysis
According to Lois Tyson ’ explanation in his book Learning for a
Diverse World, that has been quoted by Cecilia Lam ’s English paper
“Psychoanalysis of Maggie”, everyone has at least one core issue. He states in the book that a core issue is the main cause of some sort of recurring self-
destructive behavior, whether that behavior is really mild or really serious 2001:26.
In his educational book Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide second edition, Tyson also explains that this literary theory explores how
much repressed desire and unresolved emotional distress, motivate a character’s actions, conflict and resolution in a story. According to Chicago
Literature Examiner named Magdalene Paniotte in her literary article, Overview of Lois Tyson’s “Critical Theory Today” 2012, Tyson explains
that psychoanalytic criticism assumes that human behavior and conflict is mostly determined by internal factors originating in early developmental
stages. According to Tyson, the unconscious consists of repressed wounds,
fears, unresolved conflicts and guilty desires. It has been stated in his book Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide second edition Tyson,
