Everyday Use By Alice Walker Point Of View

In Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" Mama is the narrator. She speaks of her family of two daughters Maggie and Dee. Through the eyes of two daughters, Dee and Maggie, who have chosen to live their lives in very different manners, the reader can choose which character to identify most with by judging what is really important in one’s life. Throughout the story three themes consistently show. These themes show that the family is separated by shame, knowledge, and pride.

The short story of “Everyday Use” was written by Alice Walker. Mrs. Johnson is the narrator of the story. In this petite narrative, Mrs. Johnson and her youngest daughter Maggie gets a visit from her oldest daughter Dee who came from college and Mrs. Johnson and Maggie both bear witness to Dee’s change. As Dee is trying to embrace the modern culture in the twentieth-century. Thus, in Alice Walker’s story, Mrs. Johnson’s perspective changes at the end, at first favoring Dee and eventually favoring Maggie instead.

When a story is written in the omniscient point of view, the reader will have a variety of reactions to different characters because he/she knows a lot of information about all of them.

“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is a short story written to exhibit the contrasting natures of individuals in a southern family. In this story, three characters of the mother, Dee/Wangero, and Maggie are highlighted. Similarities between the mother and Maggie are drawn throughout, describing both characters as loyal to their southern cultural roots.

Culture is an element of our being that follows us where ever we go. From an early age we began witnessing and leaning mentalities and activities that stick with us through our life span and make up the moral fibers of who we are. Through the story “Everyday Use”, author Alice Walker paints a vivid picture of cultural interaction among an African American household who faced some challenges within their family. By using the family in the story as a buffer to translate her intended message and connect with her audience, Walker is able to showcase how cultural aspects among the African American community varies per generation and led to the advancement in areas of education, politics, and religion.

In the short story “Everyday Use”, written by Alice Walker, conflicts arise between a mother and her two daughters. The narrator of the story, Mama, is a tough and burly woman who raises her two daughters, Dee and Maggie, on her own. Maggie is a quaint, shy, and quiet girl with burn scars down her arms and legs while Dee is an intelligent, confident, and beautiful girl who will look anybody in the eye. After Dee shows disrespect and rejection of their family heritage for many years, she decides that she wants to take the family heirlooms away for artwork. As a result, Mama takes charge and finally says no.

Fiction stories often leave a reader with the question, “Who exactly is the narrator?” In third-person narration, readers gain insight on other characters, but not the person who is telling the story. Telling a story through third-person hides the identity of the narrator. As a non-character, a narrator’s role is limited to providing information of other characters. For instance, in the story “The Lady with the Dog,” by Anton Chekhov, the focal characters are Dmitri Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna. Neither Dmitri nor Anna are the characters telling the story. In the beginning of the story, the narrator begins to shine the light on Dmitri, giving readers

“Literature, written works, especially those considered superior or artistic lasting merit.” ( oxford English dictionary ) Alice walkers “Everyday use” is a short story that focuses on family, heritage and how education can change people. This story strikes sudden and urgent, it takes you away by touching on bonds between women of different generations and their enduring legacy.

The narration determines the entire environment of a story. Things can change from the plot, setting, feeling, etc. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Gilman’s use of the first point of view plays a vital role in the story. Jane, a mother and wife, unfortunately has a mental illness, but her husband believes that she is completely fine. She emphasizes her solitude in trying to escape from her room. Regardless of how many times she cries for help, she is denied every ounce of it. The narration from her point of view allows the reader to have a new lens that gives the experience and thought of only the protagonist.

The point of view that a story is being told can have a major effect on the amount of information the readers/listeners are given causing the event to be misinterpreted. Similarly, The Storm and The Story of an Hour both written by Kate Chopin, are intriguing because both short stories are narrated in third person point of view which helps the readers understand all the characters’ point of views this also allows Kate Chopin to tell a full story that isn’t limited to a protagonists’ point of view. Point of view contributes to the story’s overall meaning because the information given to the reader can be from either one character or all the characters which determines the amount of information given. Using third person omniscient to narrate a novel is more effective because the narrator allows the reader to know every feeling, thought, objective, and action of all the characters rather than one character.

Point of view is an important element when reading any type of story. Point of view tells the reader about who tells the story and how it's being told. There are three different types of point of view which would be first person, third person limited, and third person objective. First person is defined as the author disappears into one of the characters, who tells the story in the first person. Third person limited the story is told in the third person, but from the viewpoint of one character in the story. Lastly, third person objective the narrator disappears into a kind of roving sound camera. They can go anywhere but can record only what is being seen and heard.

When the story is told in second person, we have no idea what the characters are thinking. The girl, who the story is named after, only ever speaks twice and the narrator only speaks the single sentence. This puts the reader into the position of the character

The mom is waiting on her daughters Dee in the front yard. The other daughter Maggie is nervous to see her sister; because of the burns all over her from a house fire that occurred 10 years ago. Maggie is jealous of the success and easier life her sister Dee has had. Mamma is imaging her daughter Dee coming home and praising her for the success Dee has made for herself. When Dee arrives to the house with her boyfriend, Hakim the mother disapproves of him and the clothing she is wearing. Then Dee sees some old quilts that were made a long time ago and were used by her ancestors in the Civil War. Dee continues to insist on the quilts saying Maggie is not mature enough to have them, then Maggie comes in the room and tries to make peace

Third person omniscient point of view is an old literary technique that is used to to help the readers understand the characters. There are details that the readers might know but the characters won’t know about each other. Sandra moved from one character to another character and it made the story easy to understand. A story with so many characters can get confusing and boring but Sandra didn’t let her readers feel that way. The story was interesting to read because of the techniques that Sandra used in her work. Authors choose the third person omniscient point of view to present their story because this way their audience is able to picture everything and know everything about the characters.

Additionally, each author has their own way setting characters and telling the story either by the third point of view or the first point of view to make the best effect on readers. The meaning of point of view it self is something refers to the story which is told or it also can be said that point of view is a strategy, technique, that purposely chosen by the writer to show their idea of their story (Al-Aziz, 2011). If “My Oedipus Complex” use the first person to narrate the story about Larry when his father returns from war, “A shocking accident” is told by the third person