“I dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the contents of their clothes. character." This famous excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a Dream" speech seems to echo the same sentiment of the narrator, who we later discover is "Mama" and Mrs. Johnson, in the story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker. She alludes to her eldest daughter Dee and says: “I sometimes dream a dream in which Dee and I suddenly find ourselves reunited on a television program of this kind. From a dark, soft-seated limousine I am ushered into a full bright room of many people. There I meet a smiling, gray, sporty man like Johnny Carson who shakes my hand and tells me what a beautiful girl I have” (60). In fact, Dee, through the money raised by the church and his mother, has fulfilled her mother's dreams of getting an education and achieving a certain status in life. It seems that the mother has incorporated her dreams into the future although in a better life for her daughter Dee life as it is; to the life of his dreams. Unfortunately, the rising pall of animosity and resentment within Mama, accompanied by mandatory change as a result of Mama's efforts, has brought bad luck and a reversal of the dynamics between Mama and her daughter Dee. From the beginning of the plot Mama gives us a front row seat to the workings of her conscious thoughts by reflecting on how she sees herself and her two daughters, Maggie and Dee. From these descriptions we can glimpse the schizophrenic nature that resides in Mama. She describes Maggie as this half-shell of a person "standing hopelessly in the corners, plain and ashamed... in the middle of the paper... who has done this before: hugged Maggie to [her]..." (67- 68). This acceptance of Maggie, along with her rejection of Dee, manifests Mama's antagonistic behavior. Dee, realizing her mother's disposition, tells her "[she] just [doesn't] understand" (68). Mother confronts her, asking what she doesn't understand, and Dee responds, "Your inheritance" (68); heritage is something we pay homage to but do not live by. Mom's continued lifestyle juxtaposed with her dream lifestyle, which Dee embraced, repelled her animosity and resentment. From this, we can see the irony in Mama: wanting a better life for her daughter [Dee] and then resenting having had her. Throughout the story the narrator, Mama, shows us her state of mind while detailing events and interactions with Dee; derogatory and distorted descriptions cry out for justice.