Everyday Use By Alice Walker Analysis

The Black Power movement, a political movement that occurred from the late 1950’s to the early 1970’s, saw various forms of activism, all striving to achieve black empowerment. This movement happened during a time when African-Americans were struggling to define their personal identities in cultural terms. Many blacks chose to identify with their African roots, instead of their American roots, because they had painful memories associated with what it meant to be a black person in America. As a result, they strove to reject their American heritage. But, was that possible? “Everyday Use”, a short story by Alice Walker, addresses the complex ideology behind the Black Power movement and tries to answer what heritage really means to black Americans.

Mama, the narrator of the story, describes herself as “ a large, big-boned woman with rough. man-working hands. In the winter I wear flannel nightgowns to bed and overalls during the day. I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man”( Walker, “Everyday Use” 78). This helps the reader conclude thatMama is not the type of person who takes the time to think about the abstract concept of heritage, she instead choose to focus of the more physical aspect of her nature. However, this does not mean that Mama cannot have an appreciation or a love for the heritage that has been left for her. Mama has two daughters, Maggie and Dee. Maggie, Mama’s younger daughter, is a young woman who hasn’t quite come into her own. This may be due to the fact that she was scarred in a house fire as a child, and is self-conscious about her burns. Dee, is Mama’s older daughter and can be described as loud and judgmental. When she comes home to visit Mama and Maggie, the reader learns that she has adopted a new persona, one that is derived from Africa, in an attempt to reject her American culture. She even changes her name to Wangero saying, “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me” ( Walker, “Everyday Use” 78). Additionally, she operates under the guise of “Black Pride” and a return to pre-slavery identity that was popular with many black college students in the 1960’s ( Thakkar,

That is the way my Maggie walks. She has been like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire that burned the other house to the ground” ( Walker, “Everyday Use” 78) , Maggie is conscious of her heritage. This becomes evident when Dee (Wangero), begins to ask about the history of a milk churn. Maggie, not Mama, is able to answer who whittled the churn for the family. “Aunt Dee’s first husband whittled the dash,” said Maggie so low you almost couldn’t hear her. “His name was Henry, but they called him Stash” ( Walker, “Everyday Use” 81). Maggie’s understanding of her heritage becomes even more apparent when she tells her mother that Dee (Wangero) could have the family quilts when she says, “I can ’member Grandma Dee without the quilts” ( Walker, “Everyday Use”