Cultural Identity In Alice Walker's 'Everyday Use'

Alice Walker’s story “Everyday Use” is a story decipating family and heritage. She released the story with a collection of other short stories called In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women. This collection revealed Walker to be one of the finest of late twentieth century American short-story writers (Phy-Olsen). According to Cowart, the story address itself “to the dilemma of African Americans who are striving to escape prejudice and poverty.” One of the main characters, Dee, made drastic changes and would like her mother and sister to see things her way. Dee’s statement to her mother and sister regarding their disregard of heritage is very ironic considering the fact her name is a part of the family’s history, her new behavior, and her

Alice Walkers “Everyday Use”, is a story about a family of African Americans that are faced with moral issues involving what true inheritance is and who deserves it. Two sisters and two hand stitched quilts become the center of focus for this short story. Walker paints for us the most vivid representation through a third person perspective of family values and how people from the same environment and upbringing can become different types of people.

In the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, the two main characters, Maggie and Dee, are sisters who are very opposite to each other. Throughout the story, the girl’s differences become evident through their physical appearances, personalities, lifestyle decisions, and the way they feel about their heritage.

Alice Walker, a famous author, stated in her short story, Everyday Use, “Dee (Wangero) looked at me with hatred. “You just will not understand. The point is these quilts, these quilts.” Each person’s identity is shaped from a culture that is built with the offering of everything in his or her surrounding environment. Culture is one of the most important factors, though there are many other contributing factors, that can influence someone’s perspective on the world because all of their opinions, decisions, and morals are all based off of their surrounding environment. In the poem and story, “My Mother Pieced Quilts” and Everyday Use, they both demonstrate how one’s cultural identity is influenced by his or her surroundings, changing the

In the short story Everyday Use, by Alice Walker, the short story is narrated by a black woman in the South who is faced with the decision to give away two quilts to one of her two daughters. Dee, her oldest daughter who is visiting from college, perceives the quilts as popular fashion and believes they should undoubtedly be given to her. Maggie, her youngest daughter, who still lives at home and understands the family heritage, has been promised the quilts. Dee is insistent to possess these heirlooms of family heritage, while Maggie is forbearing in allowing Mama to make her own decision as to who should receive the quilts. Dee shows a lack of appreciation, disrespect, and a distancing behavior towards her mother and sister. Mama

“Everyday Use” is a story of a mother and her daughters, and how each understands their present life in relation to the customs of their people and culture. The difference in beliefs between the mother and Dee is highlighted throughout the story using several different symbols. The theme of “Everyday Use” accentuates this symbolic story full of symbols that show the difference in how mother and daughter understand their heritage. The three symbols I have selected to show this difference between characters are the yard and setting of the story, the quilts, and the clothing of each character.

One of the most profound examples in this short novel is a quilt made by their grandmother and passed down from generations. Due to their mother’s loose teachings of cultural traditions, her daughters were able to branch out and develop new ways. Dee who is a well-educated, up to trend child considers this quilt as a valuable antique that should be hung up and admired. Unlike Maggie who was brought up under her mother’s influences and and was able to see the connections to her heritage, has the intention of re-using it. Dee had moved out and started taking in her new surroundings affecting her new culture.

In Alice Walker’s story “Everyday Use,” an interesting family conflict occurs. It seems to be a confrontation of different lifestyles and a reckoning of grievances. While one sister finds that the quilts are valuable as stylish historical pieces, the other finds them to be useful tools in a life of necessity. Neither sister is able to understand the motivations behind the other’s desire for the quilts. The difference between the two girls’ arguments for the quilts is symbolic of the chasm between their lives and philosophies.

The quilt in “Everyday Use” symbolizes this heritage of the past and the origins of the family from which it comes from, all of which Maggie and Mama hold near and dear to their hearts. Meanwhile, Dee is depicted as the one who beat the odds, received a college education and has left all what is heritage behind, a clear divide is presented by the author of the family and Dee. Dees’ ability to overcome all those obstacles presented before her, she is considered fortunate enough to prosper and live “The American Dream” but all at the cost of leaving her heritage behind. This leaves her unable to understand and respect those

Walker’s story “Everyday use” describes an interaction within a small African American family. Where the speaker’s daughter ‘Dee’ comes to visit her and ‘Maggie’ Dee’s younger sister during which, Dee demands the quilts mother has already promised to Maggie. The argument causes Maggie to concede and Dee leaves the pair with some harsh parting words. Mother wants them to be put to everyday use and she promises them to Maggie because she will use them. Like archaic pieces belonging to a museum Dee regards the quilts, "But they're priceless!" and even goes as far as to warn her mother of what a foolish decision it would be to give them to her sister, “Maggie can't appreciate these quilts!" she said. "She'd probably be backward enough to put them

Towards the end of the short story Dee shows how her heritage influences the way she feels about the quilt that has been in her family for a while that continues to get passed down. “But they’re priceless!” (Walker 82) The influences from her culture influenced the way she felt about the Quilt. Dee continues by telling Maggie and Mama that they did not understand their heritage.

Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is a story narrated by Mama, an African-American woman with two daughters Dee and Maggie. After reading the story, I understood that, even though Mama promised the quilt to Maggie, she loves both her daughters equally. She safeguarded and took care of simpler Maggie, and she is proud of her elder daughter Dee for her success in life. The quilt represents their family heritage and I completely agree with Mama’s decision in choosing Maggie as the care taker of the heritage. Dee’s intentions on keeping the quilt was different from Maggie’s. There are several reasons why I think Maggie deserved the quilt.

In the story “Everyday Use”, author Alice Walker uses a comprehensive illustration to help describe the family heritage through the quilts, and the different characters to represent the main theme that heritage is something to always be proud of. The main characters in this story are Mrs. Johnson(Mama), Wangero (Dee) and Maggie, and each character has different values and meanings for the quilts. The quilts show the bond between each generation and illustrate the tradition of African American culture throughout the story. Alice walker use quilts to portrait the symbolism in this story.

The short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is about the relationship between two daughters as they vie for their mother's acceptance and love and personal values and identity. Maggie and Dee grew up as sisters in the same home, but they could not be more different. To Dee, home was a place from which to escape as soon as possible on the way to a "better" life. She had no meaningful relationship with her mother and sister and felt no interest in or connection to her grandparents and great grandparents. In contrast, Maggie the shy daughter shared a loving bond with her mother and embraced her family history. Though far less educated and in no way stylish like her sister, Maggie and her values are far more appealing than Dee's. The quilt in

There are usually two sides to every story and Joe Sarnowski proves this in "Destroying To Save: Idealism And Pragmatism In Alice Walker's ‘Everyday Use’". “Everyday Use” is a narration about a single, African American mother raising two, very different daughters. Mama Johnson struggles to understand why each of her daughters view the value of heirloom quilts so differently. Walker uses character development and symbolism to display how something as elementary as a homemade quilt could have very different meanings for each person.