“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker Essay

In the short story “Everyday Use”, by Alice Walker she represents the conflicts and struggles of the African-American culture in rural Georgia around the early 1970’s. Alice Walker introduced 4 main characters; Mama and her two daughters, Maggie and Dee as well as Dee’s boyfriend Hakim a barber. Mama is the narrator of the story, she is both a mother and father to her daughters as she is uneducated but worked years of physical labor and lives in poverty. Maggie is the youngest daughter who’s shy and lives with Mama, she lacks confidence and is unable to be open nor make eye contact with the people talking to her. Mama’s older daughter, Dee who renamed herself as “Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo” is educated, determined, and confident. She declares that she is the one who is looking at the important aspects of her family history and Mama and Maggie aren’t aware of it. “Everyday Use” carries many different meanings that highlight the issue of how things are used on an everyday basis. Understanding their family African heritage was a big concept for Dee. As Mama and Dee had two different opinions about heritage which caused conflict about whom should keep the quilts from Maggie and Dee. “Everyday Use” is a focus on the bonds women have between different generations and legacies for example, the Quilts. Mama and Maggie see a different usefulness to the quilts compared to Dee, the quits represent matters such as reading, race and class, among others.

The examination of black women's need to keep their powerful heritage and identity is important to the protagonist in “Everyday Use.” Walker uses the mother’s voice to show the trials and tribulations of a small African American family located in the South. She speaks on multiple levels, voicing the necessity and strength of being true to one's roots and past; that heritage is not just something to talk about, but to live and enjoy in order for someone to fully understand themselves. Unlike Kincaid, Walker gives her black female character’s an identity of their own, each in their own right, and observes the internal conflicts of each mother and daughters struggle with identity. The mother represents a simple content way of life where identity and heritage are valued for both its usefulness, as well as its personal significance. In order to illustrate how the mother viewed identity versus her daughters, Walker quickly acknowledges that the mother has inherited many customs and traditions from her ancestors. She describes herself as a large big-boned woman with rough man-working hands (485). She also describes here various abilities including, killing and cleaning a hog as mercilessly as a man. Being able to work hard and not care about being such a lady, is how the mother defines identity at this point. On the other hand, the two daughters each have opposing views on the value and worth of the different items

Through contrasting family members and views in "Everyday Use", Alice Walker illustrates the importance of understanding our present life in relation to the traditions of our own people and culture. Using careful descriptions and attitudes, Walker demonstrates which factors contribute to the values of one's heritage and culture; she illustrates that these are represented not by the possession of objects or mere appearances, but by one's lifestyle and attitude.

Dee really happy with her family and their heritage. As I read this story, it reminded me

Walker explains the importance of heirlooms in families. Dee comes home after a while, and she asks to take things from the house. She asks for her grandmother's quilts, before this she took a churn and a picture of the house and her family. Both of those were important and had a lot of meaning but not as much as these quilts. Walker states, “Some of the pieces, like those lavender ones, come from old clothes her mother handed down to her.” (page 1319) These quilts had memories and old clothing all over them. The mother did not want to give those away so easily, she wanted to give it to someone who would actually appreciate the quilts. Maggie would treat them as they should be treated, whereas Dee just wanted them to decorate her own house more. Another great thing that could've been passed down through families is Lewis and Clark's journals. In an article is says, “Hundreds of Lewis and Clark books are flooding the market—everything from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to Gary Moulton’s magnificent 13-volume edition of the expedition’s journals” There was much written in these journals, there were also very many written and published. These are the kinds of things people need to treasure in life.

     On the other hand, the younger of the daughters, Maggie, is portrayed as a more homely and loyal daughter who is deeply in touch with her heritage. On a personal level, Maggie does not contain the strong willed personality of her sister, but is very content with her family’s past, and the direction that her life is taking. Maggie is so accustomed to her strong family ties and the family history that surrounds her everyday in the house, that it is not a priority to have the quilts passed along to her. She does not need a tangible object to hold on to as her past. Mama knew that “it was Grandma Dee and Big Dee who taught her how to quilt herself”,

Through the use of symbolism and characterization, Walker displays how Mama’s perception of her two daughter changes regarding the importance of heritage.

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.

Alice Walker, author of “Everyday use”, shows how the characteristics and her life behind her childhood and her past life evolved, therefore life changes. The adoption of her Background made her to write this passage, about an African American daughter named Dee and her sister Maggie and her mother. There is always going to be a person in the family that does not accept who they are in, general speaking, Dee learns about her society. In the 60’s, for Dee’s family, there were brutal times for Dee but her character changed with her conflicts Both internally and externally, though for Maggie and her mother symbolize traits that appear to some as inhabitable.

In the reading, Everyday Use, there are three characters who all seem to be different, but are from the same bloodline. Though this story can be interpreted to have a lot of meaning, I am going to use this story uses this story to signify characterization, comparing the women in the story, introducing each characters motives of life, and also the meaning of Family Heritage for African Americans. Walker, who is the author of this piece, includes a woman in the story referring to her as, Mama. The author of this story is interpreting everything from Mama’s perspective. She gives specific characterization to each character talked about in this story.

Most importantly, however, these fragments of the past are not simply representations in the sense of art objects; they are not removed from daily life. What is most crucial about these quilts—and what Dee does not understand—is that they are made up of daily life, from materials that were lived in. This, in essence, is the central point of “Everyday Use”: that the cultivation and maintenance of its heritage are necessary to each social group’s self-identification, but that also this process, in order to succeed, to be real, must be part of people’s use every day. After all, what is culture but what is home to us, just as Mrs. Johnson’s yard is home to

Alice Walker truly values her culture and heritage. So much so that many of her books tell a story of her upbringing. Alice Walker uses symbolism, character development and setting to express her own feelings about culture and heritage. She feels that it is extremely important to maintain and respect the value of family and traditions. The bench, butter churn with the dash and the quilts help show the history of African American culture and heritage. Character developments takes place with Mama, Maggie and Dee which allows the reader to see each person’s point of view when it comes to African American culture and heritage. Mama has an epiphany close to the end of the story and realizes which daughter truly appreciates African American culture

In Alice Walker's short story ¨Everyday Use¨, it shows us how what we value and the choices we make shape our identity. Mrs. Johnson and her daughter Maggie wait for Mama´s younger daughter Dee and her boyfriend. Maggie and her mother picture seeing a wonderful woman, but when Dee arrives, she surprises them by wearing traditional African clothes, changing her name, and having them meet her Muslim boyfriend. Dee forgot about her background and recovered her African heritage. As Dee was a child, she was disgusted of her mother’s way, but now she appreciates the house and asks to take the quilt made by her grandmother. Maggie agrees to let Dee take the quilt but the Mama refuses, Dee got upset and left, and explains that Mama

The great pioneer Walt Disney said it best, “Our heritage and ideals, our code and standards - the things we live by and teach our children - are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings.” To truly understand your heritage you must be able to accept it. Your family legacy is passed down from generation, to generation. Creating a false heritage in which you know nothing about doesn’t help you understand your true heritage. Alice Walker uses the theme “Everyday Use” to demonstrate her approach about the meaning of one’s heritage.

one- This story , in my opinion, does not possess the warm-hearted, jolly, and happy side of a short story, we’d expect from a title, such as Everyday Use. Instead, this story is a more refreshing realistic tone of life and the harshness it may possess. There is a perfectly adequate amount of crudeness in the story, especially within the lifestyle of these individuals. The tone changes as the story continues on. In the beginning the story has a more worrisome, jealousy, and a want to be accepted feel, especially at the opening when it discusses Maggie and how she is ashamed of her burns, then peering at her sister in envy and awe. Then the mother’s want to be accepted by her daughter, Dee, who