Everyday Use By Alice Walker Analysis

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.

Jacques Derrida had once said that culture is something in which "everything is arranged so that it is this way." I believe that culture is the opposite as it creates the way in which you perceive external forces rather then it being the external forces arranged in a specific way. Culture therefore allows one to become informed about foreign cultures to which one is then to perceive the culture a specific way. Culture is the multitude of many factors in which it consistently informs one 's perception of the world surrounding them as well as the individuals.

In “Everyday Uses” Alice Walker used the idea of Maggie and Dee, who had different experiences in their life. In the story the Mama decides to give one of her daughters the quilts, but the other daughter believes she is more deserving of the quilts. The Mama understood that Maggie would understand the true value of what the quilts mean to their family. Dee does not listen to her mother who tried to tell her the garments used to make the quilt. Dee still left with one of the quilts, but left telling her mother she does not understand her own heritage and needs improvement. Both daughters showed what family means to each of them.

In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use” the author uses symbolic objects to represent something larger than what it may seem which becomes a shortcut to the overall theme of the story. Both the daughters and mama each have different views on what the symbolic meaning is. The narrator who is also known as Mama tells the story which has to do with the identity and ancestry. The symbolic item in this story are the hand-stitched quilts, and the story takes off when the daughter, Dee, sees the hand-stitched quilts to be something that is fashionable and not as something that should be seen as very valuable. The quilts are known to be very unique and seen as authentic art. Many critics have analyzed the story focusing on different areas of

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

Characterization is considered to be an element of literature. Analyzing characterization is the key to finding a fictional story’s theme, and it is made known through direct and indirect characterization. Direct characterization tells the personality or traits of the character, while indirect presents the character by their actions. Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is a short story that reveals its theme through characterization and used by exposing the characters values, heritage, and insecurities. The literary sub¬genre of “Everyday Use” is realistic fiction. This story focuses its writing and plot around the values of a rural family. Walker’ story is about two sisters and a mother who live in a rural section of Georgia. The oldest daughter left and pursued a college career and after a while she decides visit her mother. At the end of her visit she intends to leave with some of the family heirlooms two quilts. The mother finds out her daughter only wants the quilts as a pretense of displaying heritage. Alice Walker story exposes the theme of heritage. Throughout the story, Walker uses indirect characterization to describe Dee, and direct characterization to describe Maggie and Mama, in order to reveal the different ways that people embrace their heritage.

The events that take place in a person’s life determine a large portion of who that person becomes. In Alice Walkers’ short story, “Everday Use”, the tale of two sisters reuniting as adults is told through the eyes of their mother. The two sisters, Dee and Maggie were raised very differently and when they are reunited they dispute over who will receive the quilts their relative hand sewed. In the story, the quilts are used to symbolize the consequence of Maggie being raised to work hard while Dee was allowed to get an education, and how their diverged upbringing has altered their perspective on their heritage.

Analyzing “Everyday Use” Alice Walker has written award winning stories, some of which were made into movies. One of her stories is Everyday Use is a great book which actually makes the reader think that they are actually in the story. The tittle of the story plays a big role in the story because the moral of the story is that the quilts should be given to someone who will be using them and not just keep them. To better perceive Everyday Use, it will be helpful to look at the point of view, the setting and the symbols.

Most people want their family to be a source of love and care; however, conflicts can occur when one family member has different values from the rest. Throughout Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use," she shows how education affects family dynamics. Walker describes Dee as having hatred towards her family and their values before receiving a higher education. Education not only separated Dee from a true sense of herself, but she also lose a sense of heritage and morals that can only be taught by one's family. Although Mama struggled and only obtained a second-grade education, she still found it important to send Dee off to college.

"Everyday Use," is created by the author Alice Walker. The story involves the mother and her daughters who experience ideological differences in their heritage. The narrative as narrated by the mother explores heritage and culture with the clear symbolism of the two sisters as stated by (White, 2012). Dee an educated and college student comes to visit home and begins an argument with Maggie over the ownership of the quilts. The author makes use of the family items, traditions, and actions of the daughters as symbolism in the narrative.

In the short story, “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker there are a select few of themes and symbols. Alice Walker’s story telling on Mama, Dee, and Maggie’s life from when they were young until the present is crafted beautifully. The relationship between the three main characters is written throughout as Mama and Maggie sometimes have problems with Dee’s actions and responses. The most important theme in my opinion is the true definition of Heritage and understanding it. When Dee arrives at Mama’s house to visit she certainly doesn’t leave a good first impression with her new ways of life.

As the two sisters have different appearance and personalities, they have different perspectives on heritage that contrast each other. Walker uses quilts to symbolize the heritage and describes the two girls' view on quilts to show their perspectives on heritage. Maggie thinks of heritage as an attachment to her ancestors. She believes the everyday use of the inherited materials, how much ever value they may retain, will keep her connected to her ancestors. She values the attachment to the ancestors more than the inherited material itself. When she gives up the quilts to Dee, she states, "I can 'member Grandma Dee with the quilts." Dee, on the other hand, thinks of heritage as something that has an extrinsic value, for example its aesthetic value as an antique. She believes that the proper way to accept and preserve her heritage is to not put it into her everyday use but to cherish it only as an accessory. Such an idea is revealed when Dee says, "Maggie can't appreciate these quilts! She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use." When the mother asks Dee what she would do with the quilts, she says, "Hang them" (1177), which shows that Dee thinks of the quilts only as tangible antiques.

In Alice Walker’s classic short story Everyday Use, Walker takes her readers through a yester-year, yet contemporary African American experience in the rural southern America; A dynamic human experience that takes roots in despair, oppression, and resilience. In this first-person narration, our narrator anxiously awaits the arrival of her daughter, but in the meantime, we’re brought along a recollection of rough times of our narrator’s family. Through Mama’s memories, and dialogue with Dee, a theme of cultural conflict is revealed. Mama’s recollection of the past and her dreams reveals to the reader how tough life has been growing in the south. In Mama’s narration, we learned that her education level did not progress past second grade due to

The short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is a retelling of the classic country mouse and city mouse story with a cultural spin as it also includes dialogue on racial issues of the 1940’s. Walker uses characterization to juxtapose the country mouse, Mama, with the city mouse, Dee. Mama is more traditional; she lives on a farm, she can’t read, and the things she owns are things either she or her family has made. While on the other hand, Dee likes the finer things in life; she graduated from high school, she enjoys fashion, and she considers herself to be above the rest of her family. When Dee visits Mama and her sister again for the first time in a while she treats them poorly and attempts to take home with her items she believes to be of cultural

The story Everyday use would seem very different if told from someone else but not Mama. Think of having a friend/girlfriend that is very smart and sophisticated. Then going to visit her family with her. Also getting there and her family nothing like her. They do not think the same act the same and/or look the same. Then they are arguing over something that seems pointless and useless. Everything they eating looks nasty and/or taste nasty. Alternatively, being the younger sibling that is under their older sibling that is better than you in almost everything. Even being the older sibling use to getting everything a teen should want never being told no, and finally being told no you cannot. If the story “Everyday Use” by