My Mother The Crazy African American

In her short story “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker summarizes the representation of the beauty, the conflicts and struggles within African-American culture. “Everyday Use” focuses mainly between members of the Johnson family, consisting of a mother and her two daughters. One of the daughters Maggie, who was injured in a house fire and has living a shy life clinging to her mother for security. Her older sister is Dee, who grew up with a grace and natural beauty. “Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure… (716) She also grew up determined to have a better life than her mother and sister. This takes place when Dee (the only family member to receive a formal education) returns to visit Dee’s mother and younger sister Maggie. Again this portrays a slight issue between two different views of the African-American culture. Alice uses symbolism to empathize the difference between these interpretations, showing that culture and heritage are parts of daily life. The title of the story, Everyday Use, symbolizes the living heritage of the Johnson family, a heritage that is still in “everyday use”.

I believe that the short story clearly presents the stereotypes of rural Black women, and the challenges and struggles that African women faced with regard to heritage, personal fulfillment, and family relations as the past collided with the present realities. The concepts of family and Black women within this short story are highlighted by the fact that the three main characters among who the story revolves are all Black women and members of the same family. The clash of the past and future, personal fulfilment, heritage struggles, and the stereotyping of rural Black women is visible in the clear contrast of attitudes and ambitions of Dee and her boyfriend, who represent the future, and mama and her daughter Maggie, who in this case embody the past.

When analyzing Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use,” tells a story about a mother’s internal conflict with her two daughters, which later depicts the struggle of accepting one’s true ancestries and heritage. The setting of this short story is set in the 1970s when African Americans were struggling to find their personal identities and establish themselves a culture. As Mama, the

The short story “Everyday Use” focuses around a middle aged African-American woman who lives in an impoverished home in a time frame around the mid-20th century. This woman is described as having a rough life, having very manly attributes and somewhat a very simple woman. She has two children, one that lives with her still and another that has left home and pursued a vastly different lifestyle than that of her and her other daughter. The older daughter named Dee seems to have abandoned her emotionally in pursuit of an alternative way of embracing her heritage which appears to be towards traditional African values and culture.

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

The story “Everyday Use” is set in the southern part of the US in the early 1970’s, a time when many african americans were still being mistreated and were adapting to the changing times just after a civil rights period. Alice Walker presents two of the main characters in the story, Mama and Dee, as culturally opposite and having different views towards the role of their shared heritage. The style dialogue between them and the structure of the story highlight these conflicting values and send a message to the reader that black southern culture and one based on African roots can’t coexist. Rather, they will attempt to cut each other out and end up hurting their overall culture.

   Historically, the job of women in society is to care for the husband, the home, and the children. As a homemaker, it has been up to the woman to support the husband and care for the house; as a mother, the role was to care for the children and pass along cultural traditions and values to the children. These roles are no different in the African-American community, except for the fact that they are magnified to even larger proportions. The image of the mother in African-American culture is one of guidance, love, and wisdom; quite often the mother is the shaping and driving force of African-American children. This is reflected in the literature of the

In “everyday Use,” Alice Walker tells a narrative of a mother’s frustrating relationship together with her two daughters. At this facet, “,Everyday Use”, tells that how a mom little by little refuses the cursory values of her older, successful daughter at the aspect of the useful values of her younger, much less lucky daughter. On a deeper outlook, Alice Walker takes on the theme of heritage and its norms as it applies to African-Americans.

Novelist Chimamanda Adichie brings into consideration to Keim discussion, by emphasizing the connection between a “single story” and “stereotypes” regarding the subject of Africa. One of the dangers Adichie includes in her discussion are individuals being denied the opportunity to tell their story. Adichie draws similarities to Keim when discussing her own personal journey to find her authentic cultural voice, and she emphasizes the many misunderstanding that society, including herself, have made. Adichie admits to not only facing stereotypes, but addresses her own opinion regarding the topic. Adichie admits that as a child, she had initial biases regarding a servant that was employed by her family. According her explanation, she believed that the capability of someone “the servants family” coming from a certain background, made them incapable of such artistry. The same misconceptions can be seen in present day society, we often are prejudiced on who or what can be cultured.

If you're the mother of an African-American child then you'll appreciate my struggle. You know the one of washing and combing your African-American child's hair. Madison was born with a head full of hair and the older she got, the thicker it became. Our hair is characterized by numbers, with the higher number, the kinkier the hair is. Like most of my kids, Madison has different textures throughout as we're a mixture of heritage. My maternal great-grandmother was European from Portugal, while my paternal side of the family are Carib Indians who originate from the Caribbean, so while she does have kinky hair, it's also curly with looser curls. Nevertheless, it can be hard to manage especially after washing. You may remember me saying that I very

Alice Walker, a protuberant African American writer from the rural South, understood all too well this idea of “double consciousness”, which she demonstrated in many of her writings. In her short story, “Everyday Use”, Walker makes the African American struggle palpable and brings it into the present by interlacing the double consciousness into characters and settings that investigate the social and personal struggles facing the African American people. In her story, she has three main characters Mama, Dee, and Maggie. Walker incorporates the struggle of being an African American as the centerpiece of her story “Everyday Use.” The author uses Mama, who is unwilling to submit to the expectations of white America and what it must offer. Mama is not in a rush to pick at herself to be accepted into America. The next character Maggie is also not in a rush to grow up and get in line with the rest of society and being a part of the White supremacy that her nation must offer. Finally, Dee, Mama’s oldest is returning from college and does

Society can be a smooth talker, it can slyly belittle someone until they fit the stereotype society has placed upon them. Some people are willing to sever past the constant bigotry and persevere towards the person they want to become, but others get stuck and fall into the trap called the pigeonhole. The line separating those who ignore society’s harsh accusations and those who listen are classified directly with how the targets react towards discrimination. Ifemelu, the main character from Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie, was a Nigerian women that lived in America who received an abundant amount of discrimination towards her African race and accent. Within a short story by Gabriel Marquez, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, people treated

Using the colorful character of Aunty Uju, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie finds fault in the American guarantee of opportunity, and shows how Uju’s hard work simply isn’t enough in American society to overcome racism and disrespect. The author of the novel Americanah initially depicts Aunty Uju as a vibrant and hopeful woman that sees America as a land of opportunity for her and her son, but once she arrives in the United States, she is dulled and subdued by the amount of racism obstructing her goals when she is studying for her medical recertification. Her color lacks its luster, her spirit is dimmed, and she loses touch with herself in an effort to thrive in America. Adichie is critiquing American society by showing the reader how working hard is not the only element required for success in America, yet she also illuminates how Aunty Uju reclaims her color when she moves to Willow. settles in, and learns to live in America without completely losing herself, thus showing a redeeming side to American society as a whole.

Race is a complicating factor that creates differential treatment upon the superficial relationships in Americanah. Ifemelu experiences this firsthand during her first day at American college, in which Cristina Tomas, the lady at check-in, speaks to her in a slow, clipped tone. Tomas assumes that because Ifemelu is a black international student, she cannot speak English well: “Cristina Tomas was speaking like that because of her, her foreign accent” (163). This is, in part, due to the American perception of Africa and Africans, the fact that the continent and its diverse peoples are generalized to a stereotype consisting of banging drums, hunting in the Serengeti, and speaking in “tribal tongues.” The fact that English is the official language of many African countries has likely not even crossed Tomas’ mind, and so she treats Ifemelu based on her preconceived notion of Africa and of Africans. The same stereotype reappears with a carpet cleaner who visits Kimberly’s home and is startled when Ifemelu opens the door: “He thought she was a homeowner, and she was not what he had expected to see in this grand house with the white pillars” (204). The cleaner does not associate blacks with wealth and is hostile when he first sees Ifemelu. In addition, the black women in the novel feel the need to relax their hair for job interviews, lest they suffer the consequences of feeding into the “wild” stereotypes with their natural hair. The fleeting relationship of an interview demands straight hair and Eurocentric features, and having hair

In Americanah by Adichie Ngozi Chimamanda, the characters Ifemelu and Dike undergo two different experiences of race in America. Ifemelu, coming from Nigeria, has never witnessed what it means to be “black” because in Nigeria she is simply Nigerian; there are no grey areas with race there. Her cousin Dike, on the other hand, has only experienced “blackness” in America because he is born into it. Throughout the novel, Ifemelu struggles to assimilate because she is trying to understand race in America. While, Dike is seemingly numb to any social injustices that occur to him because he has grown up around it. Using Ifemelu and Dike, Adichie highlights how the realities of racial inequality force Non American Black people to confront their expectations surrounding their immigration; but ultimately their confrontation often results in a major loss of identity in hopes of dealing with reaching the ideal American dream.