The Disconnection By Alice Walker

In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use,” the author takes up what is a persistent subject in her work: the illustration of the coherence as well as the conflicts and struggles within African-American culture. “Everyday Use” focuses on an encounter between family members. This reunion takes place when Dee and her boyfriend return to visit Dee’s mother and her sister Maggie. The author uses symbolism to emphasize the difference between both daughters and illustrates that culture and heritage are parts of daily life.

In the story, a dispute comes about, which was who should receive the grandma’s quilts even though they were already promised to Maggie. Dee argued her sister wouldn’t appreciate the quilts; she would put them to everyday use rather than hang them. Mama explained that was the purpose of the quilts to be used; it held no sentimental value because it was a materialistic thing. At this part of the story, Mama conformed to Maggie’s needs by giving her the quilts instead of obeying Dee’s (Wangero’s) demands as usual.

Dee does not truly value the heritage, and her interest in the quilts seem to reflect a cultural trend. This cultural trend becomes evident when the mother says, “I had offered Dee a quilt when she went away to college. Then she had told me they were old-fashioned, out of style”(Walker 96). We learned early in the story that Dee acquired a style at a young age, and she allowed the world around her to alter and manipulate that style.

A daughter who uses her mother's gifts in contrast to a daughter who preserves them, is far more valuable just like in “Everyday use” by Alice Walker because heritage values can be preserved. From here on, Walker utilizes a prideful tone which later shifts into an authoritative tone by illustrating a proud mother who becomes defensive because of her modern daughter’s opposing views.

Alice Walkers “Everyday Use”, is a story about a family of African Americans that are faced with moral issues involving what true inheritance is and who deserves it. Two sisters and two hand stitched quilts become the center of focus for this short story. Walker paints for us the most vivid representation through a third person perspective of family values and how people from the same environment and upbringing can become different types of people.

Dee on the other hand, represents more of a modern, complex, materialistic way of life. She moves to the city to become educated. She is ashamed of where she comes from. In a letter mama receives, Dee writes “no matter where we ‘choose’ to live, she will manage to come see us” (Walker 281). Furthermore, when she comes home to visit she tells mama that she has changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo because “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me” (Walker 282).

Mama had been so excited for Dee’s visit because she hadn’t seen Dee in years, “You’ve no doubt seen those TV shows where the child who has “made it” is confronted, as a surprise, by her own mother and father, tottering in weakly from backstage,” Mama had dreamed of this day to come because she knew she had done something good for her child, something to be proud of. But upon Dee’s arrival both Mama and Maggie had noticed her change as if she was better then them and understood more of African culture because she had an education, “ I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.” Dee had converted not only her name but her clothes and jewelry to make a statement of what “real” heritage is. This quilts led to a controversy between the meanings of their heritage. Ironically for Dee, Mama had offered her the quilts a long time ago but was too interested in appearance rather than the legacy left behind, “ I had offered Dee a quilt when she went away for college. Then she had told they were old- fashioned, out of style.” Then when she comes back, she wants to hang them as décor and doesn’t want Maggie to have them because she’ll ruin them, ““Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!” she said. “ She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.”

Heritage is defined as something that comes or belongs to one by reason of birth. In “Everyday Use”, by Alice Walker, the theme of the story can be considered as the meaning of heritage or even the power of education. Alice Walker uses many symbols and motifs such as the following: quilts, education, knowledge, Asalamalakim, and the renaming of Dee. In the story, African heritage and knowledge takes a major role.

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.

Dee is clearly distancing herself from her mother and sister. She goes so far as to change her name from Dee to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, saying, "I couldn't bear it any longer being named after the people who oppress me." Yet, she wants the quilts that are made by the very people that she despises. Mama is uneducated but not so ignorant as to realize Dee's unrooted, superficial motivation to have the quilts. "For her, heritage is something to be displayed on the coffee table and on the wall." Dee blatantly disrespects her mother's authority and free will.

In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," the message about the preservation of heritage, specifically African-American heritage, is very clear. It is obvious that Walker believes that a person's heritage should be a living, dynamic part of the culture from which it arose and not a frozen timepiece only to be observed from a distance. There are two main approaches to heritage preservation depicted by the characters in this story. The narrator, a middle-aged African-American woman, and her youngest daughter Maggie, are in agreement with Walker. To them, their family heritage is everything around them that is involved in their everyday lives and everything that was involved in the lives of their ancestors. To

The irony was the dee pieced those clothing together to attract accents to her new home and new life. Which means that she is starting new with a new name wangero (an African name). She's changed her wardrobe to African clothing and jewelry. She wants the quilts because she knows Maggie will never treat them right like she will and she will also use them as rags, as it says in the story. Dee (wangero) decided to carry on her heritage and live the life she wants to live. She doesn't want to turn back. In the short story is states "Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they'd be in rags. Less than that!" She really does believe that Maggie would treat them bad. And I believe it too. Wagnero would appreciate and honor her quilt

Finally, the story in its entirety is symbolism itself. The quilts are the main sources of symbolism are the quilts, in how each piece of the quilt tells about the life of each member of a different generation of the family. With Dee’s new attitude, how would she use the quilts? "Hang them”, she says. Like the quilts had little to no meaning to her at all. ‘Dee says that Maggie cannot understand her heritage and cannot appreciate these quilts. Magnanimously, Maggie agrees that Dee can have them so as not to start a conflict. She says, "I can 'member Grandma Dee without the quilts.” This shows that Maggie is more appreciative of her true heritage than Dee is. Dee believes “getting in touch with your roots” is a new style of some sort. Dee doesn’t consider that the very aunt who gave her, her name is the one who made the quilts by hand. She only wants it to have as art. Another thing is how Dee discards her name

Dee comes home with her new husband. She seems to have it all together with her car nice wardrobe. The mother says she makes a sound like” Uhnnnn” like she seen a snake (122). This is where she called home for many years, but she comes back as if it disgusts her to be there. She comes to introduce her husband as Aslamalakim. This is where we can see she has changed from her original heritage. She seemed to have followed her husband and changed what she believes. Dee has even changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo. The mother is confused on why she would do such a thing. Dee explains her name probably came from people who oppressed her. She doesn’t really know where her name comes from. Her mother explains she was named after her great great

The central theme of the story “Everyday Use” written by Alice Walker is a mother’s quarrelsome relationship with her two daughters concerning the significance of their heritage. Specifically, this story argues that the youngest daughter’s practical family traditions and values are more important than the oldest daughter’s insincere understanding of their historical African-American oppression as determined by the revolutionary civil rights movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The rightful ownership of two handmade heirloom quilts becomes the object of Mama’s internal struggle in deciding whether her youngest daughter’s love and respect for their family’s heritage is more important than her oldest daughter’s showy display of their African-American