Everyday Use By Alice Walker Analysis

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.

Have you ever noticed that siblings can be polar opposites? In the piece "Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, the facet of individuality is highlighted. The piece focuses on the lives of two sisters. Maggie and Dee are two very different people with dissimilar views about life despite growing up together.

After reading “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, you can understand how great this story is. There is a great lesson that is being taught in this story. The way Dee looks at her house as if it is only a collection of artifacts, and how disgusting and horrible it is, shows how she undervalues the worth of family. The way Dee wanted nice things, showed how she thought how being rich was important. After all, she was wrong, family and being love is more important. It was great to see Mama stand up to Dee, over Maggie’s quilt. I was shocked that Wangnero never really wanted to have the same culture has her family. It is disappointed that kids would leave their family tradition just to have materialistic things.

Something that you can’t control about your life is your family. Good, bad, or ugly, you start your life with them in some capacity. By being present or not, positive or not, they will shape your life. Your family should bring out the best in you. They should encourage you to do what you’ve always inspired to do and to be who you’ve always inspired to be. You should never disregard your family or forget where you come from. When you have your family by your side, you never need to feel that you are alone as you step out into the world.

From cultures to opinions, from sizes to emotions, many families have similarities and differences. These characteristics make every family special. One special family is in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. While having many difficulties, this family still focuses on heritage, similar to my own family that has its own difficulties. Comparing my family to the family in “Everyday Use” , we have similarities and differences regarding unity, helpfulness, and humility.

Within a family there can be different beliefs on how heritage should be appreciated depending on multiple factors. In Alice Walker’s, Everyday Use, Dee and the mother both have opposing perspectives on how they should respect their heritage. On the surface, Dee and her mother’s disagreements seem solely based off of the generation barrier, but after a closer look their disagreements are caused by their different ideas of bringing honor and respect to their heritage.

In the short story "Everyday Use" which was written by Alice Walker's was a story that was revealed in the eyes and of the narrator “Mama”. Mama speaks of her family which is made up of two grown daughters. Maggie still lives with her mother and Dee lives away with her boyfriend named is Hakim A Barber. Through the eyes of two daughters, Dee and Maggie, has lived there life in different ways. From the beginning to the end of this short story there are several themes that keep appearing throughout the short story. The themes should be that the family is very dismayed and not as close. It also showed the shame the sisters had towards each other when Maggie was awaiting the arrival of her sister Dee. It states “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will stand hopelessly in corners homely ashamed of the burns scars down her arms and legs, eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe.”

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

Dupre Johnson Jim Wilson English 102 January 12, 2016 Cultural Heritage in "Everyday Use" This story takes place and is written in 1973. The Black Nationalism movement was going on during this time, in which high-profile blacks were changing their so called "slave names" to Muslim ones, i.e. Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali). The daughter who returns home in Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use," and the man she brings with her, represent a newly fashioned cultural identity for African Americans that is very much at odds with the traditional identities of the south during the 70s. In "Everyday Use," the narrator understands the importance of cultural heritage, suggesting that children should appreciate their heritage as it is passed down.

A Culture Mixed Yet the Same “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker portrays a Southern brute black woman and her two distinctly different daughters, as the audience gets a first point of view on social and family dynamics within a black southern home. By being narrated in first person by Mama, the elder, the audience gets an intimate look on traditions as well as the psychological mind of a black woman with a daughter whom is quite different than how black people typically behaves. Within this family of three women, each are different than the other. Maggie, who is quiet, handicapped, and not very intelligent. Mama, a big-boned woman who can easily do the hard jobs of a man.

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

In today's society, one of the biggest questions is, “What does it mean to be true to yourself?” Another big thing in our society is the question of “How do you be true to yourself?” I think that being true to yourself is to never go back on what you were taught and how you were raised. Now don’t be mistaken, I don’t mean that if you’re raised with parents that are on drugs you should grow up to be just like your parents and also be on drugs, I mean that you should always be true to your heritage. Being true to yourself is different for everyone if you ask me, because in my opinion, almost everyone has different beliefs.

In the short story “Everyday Use” the author, Alice Walker, utilizes numerous elements of fiction in order to create a central theme and award the reader a fascinating experience. “Everyday Use” is set in the late 1960s or early 1970s on a rural farm. The two main characters, Mama and Maggie, are anticipating the arrival of Dee, Mama’s oldest daughter. As the reader makes their way through the story, we experience both feelings of anticipation of Dee’s arrival and conflict by the protagonist characters with the antagonist character, Dee. The author uses the characters, setting, tone and diction to create an interesting reading experience, while also supporting the central theme of knowing and appreciating one’s heritage.

“Everyday Use” Alice Walkers’ short story “Everyday use” shows the audience the life of two daughters with a different personality and a different idea about life. Also the story shows how Mama thinks Dee is a woman that has always been a better girl than Maggie. When Maggie had an accident that happened in their home and caused her burn scars in all her body, Mama describes how Maggie has lost all her confidence. Also the story tells Maggie looks at her sister with envy and awe. In her short story, Walker uses Mama to talk about the characterization, conflict and symbolism.

The short story Everyday use written by Alice walker is about a mother and her two daughters. The story is written in a first person point of view and it starts with the narrator which is the mama waiting in the yard with Maggie her youngest daughter. Mama waits in the yard with Maggie who is scared from the fire that destroyed their old house. We learned that Dee always wanted more than what mama offered and that she hated the old house. As mama hesitantly wait dee in the yard she fantasies about what it would be like reuniting with Dee on a T.V. talk show. Through Mama’s description of Dee, we learn that she is intelligent and headstrong. Finally a car pulls up in the driveway: Dee arrives with a young man by the name of Hakim a barber. Dee is dressed in long dress and she announces that her name is no longer Dee but Wangero which is an African name. Mama argues with her about why would she want to change her name which is her aunts name. They all then head inside to eat. As they are eating Dee starts to request things that were in the house: she requested a butter churn that was made by her uncle along with other things. After eating Dee went and start rifling through mama’s trunk. She found some quilts which was made from bits and pieces of her grandmother cloths. Dee ask Mama if she can have them, mama was surprised at first because those were the same quilts Dee refused sometime in the past. Mama refuse to give Dee the quilts as they were reserved for Maggie. Dee