Everyday Use Symbolism Essay

As the women walk through the house, they begin to get a feel for what Mrs. Wright’s life is like. They notice things like the limited kitchen space, the broken stove, and the broken jars of fruit and begin to realize the day-to-day struggles that Mrs. Wright endured. The entire house has a solemn, depressing atmosphere. Mrs. Hale regretfully comments that, for this reason and the fact that Mr. Wright is a difficult man to be around, she never came to visit her old friend, Mrs. Wright.

Symbols: we see them on the street, on the walls, and in our homes, plastered on backpacks, jackets, and even fast food receipts. From the generic images that guide us through our daily lives to the shapes we see on television screens, these symbols are everywhere—and their importance as guides that tell us how to live, what to do and whom to believe is undeniable. Of all of these symbols, perhaps some of the most important are the symbols found in literature. In using simplistic symbols to represent profound ideas, authors construct a kind of “key”: one that allows readers to look past the

Different types of symbolism are used to add significance to point out uniqueness in connotations that a writer uses when writing literature. An author’s literary works may include multiple symbols to give perception to his or her readers. When a writer uses a symbol, it is intended to heighten the sense a reader’s communication of literary works. The three key symbols in the short story in “Everyday Use” is that of quilts stored away in a trunk, the house, and hands. The quilts represented the African American’s women talent of creativity from those that were made from by other individuals from other people. It is noted that the quilts depicted that a guiding principle during the time of slavery for which they were used to send a form of communication to other slaves (Kirszner and Mandell, 2012). As stated by Kirszner and Mandell (2012), “One design, the Log Cabin, was hung outside to mark a house of refuge for fugitive slaves. Other quilts mapped escape routes out of a plantation or county, often by marking the stars that would act as a guide to freedom for those escaping at night” (page. 345). When slavery came to an end, the quilts created during this period of time were remembered for their significance of ethnicity and legendary importance by the African Americans. Dee was the daughter of the momma who thought it would be better to change her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo as she did not want to carry the heritage name as it seem to trouble her. Dee looks around for items that she can back home with rather than spend valuable time with her mama and Maggie. Suddenly takes notice a truck that is sitting at the end of her mama’s bed, and she pulls out two quilts that were made by her very own ancestors. Dee requests to take the quilts home with her; however, the mama informs her that she had plans to give them to Maggie upon her marriage. Dee was selfish as she wanted them for herself only to display them on a wall, and requested the ones that were completely sewn by hand. The mother suddenly reminisces how the different pieces had a story behind them about herself and her heritage. Why, the quilts were made to be put on a bed. Dee had an opportunity to take a quilt with her when she went off to college

Alice Walker is a well-known African- American writer known for published fiction, poetry, and biography. She received a number of awards for many of her publications. One of Walker's best short stories titled "Everyday Use," tells the story of a mother and her two daughters' conflicting ideas about their heritage. The mother narrates the story of the visit by her daughter, Dee. She is an educated woman who now lives in the city, visiting from college. She starts a conflict with the other daughter, Maggie over the possession of the heirloom quilts. Maggie still lives the lifestyle of her ancestors; she deserves the right of the quilts. This story explores heritage by using symbolism of the daughters' actions, family items, and tradition.

Far from showing a brand-new Dee or in fact, trying to hide who she really was, the new persona, Wangero, comes across as a self-righteous ploy. Dee says she is claiming her heritage, but she has actually disowned it more than ever before. Dee embraces an alternative persona when she renames herself Wangero, Mama didn’t care for a conventional gender role when she worked to provide for her daughters and took on the role of both mother and father which could come across as a somewhat masculine persona. She is proud of her tough nature and her ability to butcher hogs and milk cows all before nightfall. In the story, she turns her back on her

In Dee’s eyes the pasture that her Mama lives in is not comparable to her fast pace high style world. This caused her to not even bring her friends over to their house (Walker 290). Her friends even put her on a pedestal, just like Mama. “They were nervous girls who never laughed. They were impressed with Dee they worshiped the well-turned phrase, the cute shape, and scalding humor that erupted like bubbles in lye” (Walker 290). This description of how Dee’s friends view her is told by Mama. This is another example of how Mama puts Dee on an unneeded pedestal. She describes her as some kind of God that her friends worship. In reality, it is Mama worshipping Dee.

In a time when women were thought of as airheaded and unconcerned with matters of importance by men, a woman’s compassion and intuition can hold incredible power. “In a Jury of Her Peers”, Minnie Wright is judged by her peers, and by their knowledge of her prior life, her current circumstances, and forced destitution, she is found innocent. In the story, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters accompany their husbands to the Wright home in a quest to find evidence implicating Minnie Wright in the murder of her husband. From the moment they enter the home, Mrs. Hale is sympathetic to Minnie Wright. When the county attorney looks over Minnie Wrights kitchen and states, “Not much of a housekeeper, would you say ladies?” Mrs. Hale’s stiff reply is, “There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm.” Although Mrs. Peters begins the story with a firm stance of support for her husband saying, “Of course it’s no more than their duty,” in response to Mrs. Hales comment about the men snooping. However; as the story progresses, Mrs. Peters views begin to match with Mrs. Hale.

Mama decided to keep her word and give the quilts to Maggie because she understood what these quilts meant, “ You will not understand. The point is these quilts, these quilts!” The representation of the quilts is the symbol of the family and Dee couldn’t understand it, even with her education. Mama had more life experience and understanding of her culture then Dee would ever learn in a

Although her name and the food are not good enough for them, Dee immediately sets her site on the butter churn and dasher, which were hand-carved by the husband of Aunt Dee (the oppressor) from a well-loved tree in their front yard. Indicating years of everyday use and hard work, hand prints on the butter churn and "rump" seat outlines on the table benches are noted. She wraps the dasher and churn to take with her, although the churn still has clabber in the bottom, ."..to make something artistic out of it." Although she rejects the familiarity and history of her family, she is eager to "cash in" by taking heirlooms from her family to serve as art in her lofty life somewhere faraway.

Symbolism was everywhere from objects to characters in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. In Alice Walker’s 1973 short story, symbolism implies a deeper meaning to the story. Symbols are used to catch the reader’s attention or represent a true meaning of something or someone. Symbols can sometimes be much easier to explain something very difficult to break down in words. Like in a gas station there is always a picture of a cigarette with a slash going through it, people who do not know how to read can understand the picture better that they do words.

Characterization and symbolism are prominent aspects of Walker’s story “Everyday Use”. Walker brilliantly writes about the use of everyday items to portray symbolism encountered between members of the Johnson family. During the Story each character perceives and approaches each element differently. Walker highlights each element in the story as each character expresses their different views of items showing that people or objects are more important than decoration or style.

As the story begins, Walker introduces “Mama”. She, the narrator of the story, describes herself as a “large, big-boned woman with rough, man working hands”

It represents a blissful escape of peace and safety for Maggie and Mama. In fact, the yard is so important to them that they wait for Dee “in the yard that Maggie and I made so clean and wavy” (Walker 88). The emphasis on the physical characteristics of the yard, the pleasure in it manifested by the word “so,” points to the attachment that Mama and Maggie have to their home and to the everyday practice of their lives. The yard, in fact, is “not just a yard. It is like an extended living room” (Walker 71), confirming that it exists for them not only as an object of property, but also as the place of their lives, as a sort of expression of themselves.

Symbols in literary works can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Symbols can appear in a novel as an event, action, or object. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author, Zora Neale Hurston, uses the symbols of the gate to show Janie’s transitions to womanhood, independence from oppression, and realization of what love is to Janie.

The behavior of overlooking her sister's, Maggie, and Mama's feelings since her childhood to the present indicates Dee's character as a person who disregards others. Mama ponders that while the house where they used to live burned to the ground; Maggie was burning, her "hair smoking and dress falling off her in little black papery flakes." Although she saw that Maggie needed her sister's aid, Dee stood "off under the sweet gum tree" at a distance (87). Walker reveals that Mama still finds Dee carrying her self-centeredness when she excludes herself from the pictures and "never [took] a shot without making sure the house is included" (89). Dee wants to capture the signs of poverty from her past so that she can show how much success she has gained in spite of being poor to her friends. Dee is so egotistical that she declares her sister is "backward enough to put [the quilts] to everyday use" (91) whereas she considers herself smart and would appreciate the quilts by hanging them. Her coldness and lack of concern make