Alice Walker Heritage

Wangero decides during some point in her time away, that she no longer wants to be Dee. She is now Wangero. She takes on this persona, this identity, by changing her name, interacting with people who have the same beliefs as her and live within her discourse, and by changing her clothing. Although Dee is the name she has lived with most of her life, she easily switches her name to Wangero to represent the new identity she has made for herself. She just as easily switches her clothing style, as well as the group of people she associates with. This switch is also something that Mama will come to accept, she says to Dee “‘if that’s what you want us to call you, we’ll call you.’” This also shows how easily identity is able to be changed. Mama has known Dee as Dee for all of her life, however when her identity is switched to Wangero, she easily accepts this and calls her by her new name.

Dee, from Walker’s “Everyday Use,” is Mama’s older daughter who not only has a judgmental, insensitive attitude towards Mama and her younger sister Maggie, but also believes she appreciates her family heritage more than Mama does, when in fact, Dee is the one who is “uneducated” and lacks an understanding about what her heritage truly is.

In short stories we have indirect characterization and direct characterization. Direct characterization is given to the reader when the author tells us about a character trait, while indirect characterization is when the reader reads between the lines. This short story speaks to the reader by using indirect characterization and direct characterization with insight to three women & how they perceive their heritage. "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker is a short story that reveals the perspective of humanity and the differences between two generations. Mama the older generation, and Dee, Maggie the younger generation. This story is a type of family drama that is surrounded by three characters with three different views of what heritage is to each. The story centers an African American family living in a house that is in a pasture after their first home burns down. After this events Mama became very cynical of Dees actions. In retrospect Dee has changed but Mama isn't able to see past old judgment. An Maggie may seem to live under her older sister shadow or so, we thought. "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker is a work of indirect and direct characterization that gives the reader insight of how the author characterizes the characters way of thought. In this story it is centered on how Mama, Dee, Maggie perceive heritage. Mama sees heritage as the skills that a passed down from one generation to next. Dee finds heritage throw preserving artifacts. While Maggie distinguishes heritage through memories.

Heritage has an influential role in every individual’s life. “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is a short story that portrays two sisters’ from a poor African American home and their conflicting views on the value and meaning of heritage. Maggie, the younger sister, is uneducated but truly appreciates where she comes from. Dee, the oldest sister, is an educated college student but her she has a warped idea of heritage. Alice Walker uses the characters, point of view and symbolism to develop the main theme of heritage.

Second, there were some cultural differences, Maggie and Mama lived in a house located in a pasture with animals, and you could tell through Mama's description of Dee that she was more modernized probably a city Girl. When Dee/Wangero came to visit she wore a bright dress with loud colors, bangles and gold earrings. Mama said Dee's dress had so many yellows and oranges it was enough to throw back the sun (109). Maggie wore a pink skirt and red blouse that enveloped her body (107). Dee was an educated woman having graduated from High School. Mama on the other hand never made it past the second grade because the school she attended was closed down in 1927. Mama said that, "Colored asked fewer questions than they do now" referring to why the school closed (109). Circumstances such as age, education, and living arrangements dictated their

The quilts are used in the representation of what heritage means to Mama and Maggie versus Dee’s view of them. Mama describes that:

Mama, the narrator, waits with her youngest, feeble daughter Maggie, to reunite with her eldest Dee. When they meet, Mama finds that Dee has changed, the things she used to arrogantly shrug off are now things that she identifies as being important to her heritage. Mama realizes that the quilts that Dee wants hold a different meaning to Dee than it does to Mama and Maggie, so she sends Dee away, and gives the quilts to Maggie.

Walker entertains African Americans and Americans about the relationship between these two sisters and their mother. One daughter is named Maggie and she stays at home with her mother and help her with the chores around the house. She was also burnt in a house fire so she does not het out much. “Mamma”, has another daughter, Dee. Dee is very beautiful, and outgoing and really completely opposite of Maggie. Dee leaves home and experience life for her own, and becomes a pro black person. When Dee comes back she wants things from here house to treat them as artifacts at her own home. Especially this quilt. Dee wanted it, but the mother wouldn’t allow it. She wanted Maggie to have it. Maggie kept this quilt and Dee left, but not without talking

In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," the message about the preservation of heritage, specifically African-American heritage, is very clear. It is obvious that Walker believes that a person's heritage should be a living, dynamic part of the culture from which it arose and not a frozen timepiece only to be observed from a distance. There are two main approaches to heritage preservation depicted by the characters in this story. The narrator, a middle-aged African-American woman, and her youngest daughter Maggie, are in agreement with Walker. To them, their family heritage is everything around them that is involved in their everyday lives and everything that was involved in the lives of their ancestors. To

A clash over culture ensues when Dee is not. This conflict is over whether one should live her heritage like Maggie and mother, or use her heritage, like Dee. In fact, the narrator seems to indicate that she feels Dee is just doing what is trendy when she thinks, "I didn't bring up how I had offered Dee {Wangero} a quilt when she went away to college. Then she told me they were old-fashioned, out of style" (89). Adding to the conflict are occupational, social, and age differences among the mother and Dee and Hakim-a-Barber, Dee's acquaintnace. The latter are young socialites who are attending college a ways away. The narrator, on the other hand, is an old, burley farm woman who claims to have "knocked a bull calf strait in the brain between the eyes with a sledge-hammer and had the meat hung up to chill before nightfall" (84). Hakim-a-barber sees things differently. He says, " ... farming and raising cattle is not my style" (88). These differences contribute to the conflict as the young and old do not see eye-to-eye. When these conflicts are resolved, a theme that one should live his culture, rather than using it to personal gain, rises because Maggie gets the quilts. Through the characters' actions, a message is communicated that mother wants her family to live its culture. She comments after making her decision, "[T]he two of us just sat there enjoying... " (90). They enjoyed their culture; they lived it. In this way, the culture plays a heavy role in Alice Walker's

One of Walker’s fundamental short stories is titled “Everyday Use.” It is set in the rural south during a time when African Americans were searching for their own identities. One of the characters, Dee, represents the Black Power Movement. She is intelligent, superficial, and assertive with her desires. She is also attempting to escape from the stereotypes that have defined her (White). By the end of this short story, the reader understands the meaning of undeniable heritage. Although there are several symbols in Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use” the four most significant symbols include the quilts, Mama’s hands, the burns on Maggie, and

Maggie learns from her mother and appreciates her family, even though she is not as lively as her sister. Dee is very extroverted and knows what she wants. Maggie’s “attention is captured by the two old handmade quilts” (Ross 1228) and she knows she wants to have them. Mama and Maggie are in awe of Dee because of her confidence, but they also know that they are right to appreciate their family and

The theme of Everyday Use is not immediately apparent, although Alice Walker begins the story by creating a familiar setting in the comfort of home that lead to the spirit of heritage and its importance in our lives. The protagonist, a single mother of two daughters, sees herself as ."..large...rough... slow-witted" and not fitting into the social strata of her oldest daughter, Dee, who ."..has held life always in the palm of her hand." The story begins with the mother preparing the yard to be ."..more comfortable than most people know....like an extended living room" for Dee's homecoming. This line early in the story also shows the mother placing a high value on comfort.

In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use” she creates a conflict between characters. Walker describes a family as they anxiously await the arrival of, Dee, the older sister of the family. When Dee (Wangero) comes home to visit Mrs. Johnson and Maggie, right away the readers see the differences in the family by how they talk, act, and dress. Dee has changed her name to an "African" name and is collecting the objects and materials of her past. Dee thinks that since she is in college she knows mores then the rest of her uneducated family. She is more educated and looks down on the simple life of her mother and sister. When Dee asks for a beautiful family heirloom quilt to hang on her wall, Mrs. Johnson finally denies her of this task. Mrs. Johnson finally sees that Dee does not want the quilt for the same purpose as Maggie does. Instead, Mrs. Johnson will give Maggie the quilt to keep her and her husband warm. The theme of the importance of heritage becomes clear at this point of the story. This theme is shown by Walker's use of conflict, irony, and symbolism. All throughout her short story she incorporates heritage. She describes it as a background feeling between family members, and African heritage to heirlooms that have been in the family line for generations. Dee the older sister takes her heritage for granted by only wanting her heirlooms for her educational purposes.

It has been said that “One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.” What should matter is being true to oneself and loving the person that you have become. This short story is narrated by Mama who is telling her story of her two daughters, Dee and Maggie. Both daughters live their lives in very different ways. In Dee's case, she goes out to make all that she can of herself while leaving her mother and sister behind. Maggie stays at home with their Mama and makes the most out of what surrounds her. All three ladies have different perspectives of their own heritage and identity. The conflict in “Everyday Use” is that Mama has these two daughters fighting over a quilt. In the end, readers will find that what matters most is not forgetting where you come from and who you are as a person. In “Everyday Use” Alice Walker emphasizes to her readers the importance of self-identities and family through her use of conflict, setting, and characterization, suggesting that sometimes people are so motivated in pleasing others while neglecting the things that matter to them the most.