Family And My Family

Most families share similar issue. Regardless of race, wealth, or even religion, all families, at some point, hardships or even joys to share. In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” a family is force to face issues caused by poverty, misunderstandings, and separations. Momma, Maggie, and Dee all seems to appreciate their heritage, but the problem is that they do not view the same way. This lack of understanding is universal. In “Everyday Use” the family shares similarities and differences with my family concerning the disrespect, sibling relationships, and hard working parents.

From all of the vivid descriptions used to describe Dee and Maggie, it is obvious that Maggie and Mama's perspective of heritage is more respectable than that of Dee's, because of the way that Dee acts as though she is ashamed of it. It is ironic that Dee wants the family quilts so badly, when in many ways she tries to disown her family in attempts to lose her heritage. Washington argues that Dee is a character who "is awakened to life by a powerful political force... and puts up a consequent effort to reintegrate themselves into their culture to rediscover its value"; which explains her actions when she comes back for her family items only when it seems fashionable to display them (23). Maggie and Mama both know that a true appreciation of one's heritage comes from learning their family history and about personal experiences. Dee fails

“Everyday Use” is a short story written by Alice Walker that tells the story of two sisters that choose diverse lifestyles that cause them to view heritage differently. Walker portrays two characters whose views on heritage contrast each other. Dee is a woman who bases her views on material items and other people’s opinions. Maggie, on the other hand, is a humble, down home woman that creates her own perspective of heritage. Because these characters go down different paths, there is a disparity between what they think heritage actually is. This allows Walker to develop the differences between Dee and Maggie through indirect characterization.

Walker develops an important theme of some people do not truly understand heritage through her excellent use of events and characters. At the beginning of the story, Dee is returning after being away from her home for a long time. She features many changes, apparent through the event of her changing her family name. An argument between Dee and Mama reads, “‘She’s dead,’ Wangero said. ‘I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.’” Mama responds, “‘You know as well as me you was named after your aunt Dicie’” (Walker 55.) Dee’s event of changing her name, though it has been in her family for years, shows a true lack of understanding heritage. She believes that she was named after a white individual, although, as far back as her mom can recall, Dee’s name has been in their family. If Dee had a true perception on what heritage truly was, she would have kept her name the same, realizing that it was a significant reflection of her family. As the story progresses, Dee tries to take the quilts Mama has put aside for her. The character, Maggie,

“Everyday Use” Cultural Studies explored the disconnections that people can have even though they share same background and heritage. Alice Walker successfully shows the disconnection by showing different the character’s personalities and characteristics that express the dissatisfaction of not acknowledging how each value their own culture in their own way. Alice Walker shows some of the cultural influence, by having Dee describing some household items as unique items to show off. She describes Dee as this strong willed person, not afraid to speak her mind. It is a mixed with her mild temper sister Maggie and mother/narrator, who don’t really share the same perspectives that Dee does. This does not deter the idea that there was not only a cultural influence from the time that this short story was written but, also forms the character that brought the ideas. It describes different struggles from different perspective it also shows how they want to handle the same situation in different ways. This short story if nothing else brought the struggles to the public eye. It showed how there was a determination in showing that there is a cultural value and individuality that has to be shared with the world because it is important to talk about. It also shows value and pride in the way a person takes a hold of their culture and how each person values it. Another side where the narrator describes her culture and take it as enjoying the small thing for their own purpose. Alice Walker

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.

The conflict in the story centers around Dee, the eldest and the most educated daughter. Dee has arrived home with her boyfriend named Hakim-a-Barber and she announces that she has changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo from the African culture. During this time period many black families had a strong heritage background that set the structure of families. In most cases, the parents had given their children names from their great-grandparents or other relatives. In this case, Mama got Dee 's name from her Aunt Dicie. In those days the changing of the name given to an individual was greatly frowned upon in the family and was seen as a disloyal act.

“Family” differs in meaning for each and every individual. Memories can either break down the mind, or be a recipe for success. We as a society all come from different backgrounds, some more pleasant than others, but no two families are the same. Ancestors, culture, and heritage bring us all together, but not everyone is capable of visioning that. Human beings do not ask to be born, it just so happens to be our natural instincts, so we must adjust to the circumstances we are placed in. Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” portrays characterization, symbolism, and conflict through pain in family differences.

Have you ever read a book or saw a movie that made you think to yourself that the family or person is similar to someone in your family or someone you know? Well, I never thought about that until I read the short story and watched the precise clip, “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. “Everyday Use” is a short story about a single African American Mama that has two daughters. One of her daughters falls in love with college a little too much and the younger daughter is shy and loves her Mama and the basic lives they live.

We all have families, mine may be crazier than yours, but what can you do about it. Most of us know Alice Walker for the famous book The color purple, but her short story “Everyday Use” is more comparable to mine. A story about a mom and her daughters who have an appreciation for their heritage, but look at it from different perspectives. With looking from different perspective comes a struggle. My family and the family in Everyday use share some similarities when it comes to insecurities, a hardworking mother, and disrespect.

In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker we see many different struggles within an African American family. “Everyday Use” focused on a situation between different members of the Johnson family. This situation takes place when Dee and a friend from college return to visit Dee’s mother and her sister Maggie. Walker uses characterization and symbolism to highlight conflicts and struggles of being an African American including showing and appreciating one’s culture and heritage.

Alice Walker is a twentieth-century writer that shows various conflicts about life through her writing. In her short story, “Everyday Use”, Walker uses the setting, the characterization, and the point of view to develop the theme of appreciating one’s family and the values of it. Walker uses the circumstances of the family and why it is important to appreciate it. The family that she writes about does not have many valuable items, but they have what they need.

Many people find the history of their family’s heritage and ancestry to be interesting. In the short story “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker focuses on defining heritage in the African American community. The story was published in 1973 in a collection called In Love and Trouble, and takes place in the Deep South during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. During this time, many African-Americans desired to define their cultural identities by connecting to more “authentic” culture. “Everyday Use” is a story told through the eyes of Mrs. Johnson (Mama), a woman with little education who asserts the value of her heritage. When Mama’s oldest, successful daughter, Dee, returns home to visit her impoverished family, conflict arises over the proper use of

The Theme of heritage and how best to honor it in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use.” Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” takes up the recurrent theme of heritage, with the representation of harmony and also the struggles and conflicts that come up with it within culture of African-Americans. The story centers on happenstances between three members of a countryside family headed by a woman. Walker describes the encounter of the liberated and a well-educated daughter Dee, her mama and Maggie, who live a humble and old-style life together. This story concerns the manner different characters understand their heritage about their present life.

Historically that statement remains accurate, presently this experience still remains accurate, but in a rather inconspicuous form of miseducation and deplorable standards. This timeless experience does not translate well for Dee, as it makes her appear ungrateful and selfish in her thoughts and actions. Whilst Maggie seems content with her culture, and heritage, an argument could also be made that Maggie only appears content due to her deformity, which seem to deter her from being ambitious and renders her timid enough that she barely makes eye contact with Hakim-a-barber or tried to flee at the sight of her sister upon arrival. Dee being more educated, seem to have a different perspective of her culture, and not her heritage. Culturally speaking, Dee was more than willing to go back to her African roots and reject that of what was of her African American culture to the extent that she gave up a family name that was bestowed upon her in exchange for an African name. she believes that the name Dee takes root from “people who oppress [her]” (318). Clearly Dee cherishes her heritage to the extent that she was more than willing to fight to preserve a piece of