More handpicked essays just for you.
Themes in everyday use by alice walker
Themes in everyday use by alice walker
How does literature shape our world when it comes to culture
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Our identity is our most valuable treasure. It defines who we are. Sometimes we get confuse by events that happen in our life that makes us think about who we are. Alice Walker demonstrates in her short story “Everyday Use” the conflict of identity, using the setting and irony to explore the confusion and poor self-esteem of the characters, and how they can affect the identity of a person.
The setting which in this short story is the quilts. This short story focuses on the bonds between women of different generations and their legacy. The quilts symbolize this legacy. The connection between generations is high, but the lack of understanding of Dee’s history shows that those bonds are vulnerable. Dee does not understand the significance of
…show more content…
Confusion plays a significant role in Alice Walker short story Everyday Use. In this topic, we can see how each one understands his present life concerning the traditions of his people and culture. The matter of Dee’s name is an excellent example of confusion towards her heritage. Dee decided to change her name for a new one. The new name she chose was Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo. The goal of this new name was to support her African ancestors and to back up the oppression implied by taking an American name being a black slave. The mother explains that the name Dee is kind of symbolic to her: “you know as well as me you was named after your aunt Dicie” (28). The mother could trace it back to the time of the Civil War (32). To the mother, this name is significant because it belonged to a particular beloved individual. Dee chooses an African name that better represent her family heritage. She does not realize that by doing this, she is separating from her family. Changing her name is not the only example of confusion in Dee. Dee is confused about the meaning of her heritage, and we can see it in her attitude towards the quilts and other household items. Dee admires the old handmade goods made by her ancestors; such as the hand-carved benches made for the table because the family could not afford to buy chairs. It never comes to Dee’s mind to think that these objects could be seen as symbols of oppression because her family made them since they could not afford to buy them. Dee desires the family quilts, but she sees them just as artifacts suitable for display. Dee does not have any plan to use them for their intended purpose of everyday use. For Dee, the objects are strictly aesthetic. It seems that her admiration reflects a cultural trend of valuing handmade objects, without any sincere interest in her heritage. We can back up this with the fact that she was
In Alice Walker’s story “Everyday Use,” symbolism, allegory, and myth stand out when thinking about the characters, setting, and conflict in the story. The conflict is between the mother and her two daughters (Maggie and Dee). There is also the conflict between the family’s heritage (symbolized by the quilt, bench, and butter chum) and their different ways of life. Dee chose a new African name, moved to the city, and adopted a new way of life while Maggie and her mother have stay behind. The quilt (the most important symbol) represents the family’s heritage in that it is made of scraps of clothing worn by generations of family members. The quilt has been sewn by family hands and used on family beds. It has seen history and is history. Maggie and her mother see that that history is alive but Dee thinks it is as dead as her name. Dee does not see that name as part of her heritage. By analyzing these symbols, a number of possibilities for a theme can be seen. Walker could be suggesting that to understand the African-American heritage, readers have to include the present as well as the past. However, the theme could be that poverty and a lack of sophistication and education cannot be equated with ignorance. Lastly, she could be telling her readers that dignity or self-respect rise from and are virtually connected to one’s entire heritage- not just a selected part of it.
The main objects of topic throughout the story are the quilts that symbolize the African American Woman’s history. Susan Farrell, a critic of many short stories, describes the everyday lives of African American Women by saying “weaving and sewing has often been mandatory labor, women have historically endowed their work with special meanings and significance” and have now embraced this as a part of their culture. The two quilts that Dee wanted “had been pieced together by Grandma Dee and then Big Dee and me [Mother] had hung them on the quilt frames on the front porch and quilted them” (par. 55) showing that these quilts were more valuable as memories than they were just blankets. The fabrics in the quilts “were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and more years ago. Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell’s paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece, about the piece of a penny matchbox, that was from Great Grandpa Ezra’s uniform that he wore in the Civil War” (par. 55) putting forth more evidence that these are not just scraps, but have become pieces of family history. The q...
Mama is hoping that Maggie will use the quilt as a practical everyday item. She sees the quilts for their functional use that they were made to use in everyday life. Meanwhile, Dee finds this absurd. She thinks they are too valuable and priceless to be using as everyday necessities. Instead she will hang them. These two ideas of how to use the quilts are in complete contrast of one another. Mama finds them practical, Dee finds them fashiona...
The daughter pursued an education and a college career and found her way into a different social class. In the midst of her pursuing her goals she went through an identity change, and changed her name to keep up with her African heritage. One day, she decides to visit her mother and her sister. Before she left she went through her mother’s trunk and started searching for valuable items. The daughter finds two pairs of quilts tell the great significance those quilts have because they had been quilted by her grandmother, her aunt, and her mother. In the end of the story she tells her mother she wants them, but not the one with any machine stitching. The mother finds out her daughter only wants the quilts for display and not for bedding as they are meant to be used for. She decides to give them to her youngest daughter who will use them for herself, not as a pretense of displaying heritage. Alice Walker story exposes the theme of heritage. Throughout the story Walker uses indirect characterization to describe Dee, and direct characterization to describe Maggie and Mama, in order to reveal the different ways that people embrace
exactly what's going on and begins to resent Wangero even more. The quilts themselves are symbols in the story, interpreted in different ways, by the narrator, the author, the reader, and Wangero. Again, Walker uses the narrator's simplicity to her advantage. While Wangero sees the quilts as a symbol of her heritage, the narrator. sees them only literally, as blankets to be used, not saved for. cultural posterity.
The objects that lead to the final confrontation between Dee and Mama are the old quilts. These quilts are described as being made from old material by family members, which enhances their value to Mama, and the detail with which they are described increases the sense of setting.
The story 'Everyday Use', written by Alice Walker, is a story of heritage, pride, and learning what kind of person you really are. In the exposition, the story opens with background information about Dee and Maggie's life, which is being told by Mama. The reader learns that Dee was the type of child that had received everything that she wanted, while Maggie was the complete opposite. The crisis, which occurs later in the story, happens when Dee all of a sudden comes home a different person than she was when she left. During the Climax, Mama realizes that she has often neglected her other child, Maggie, by always giving Dee what she wants. Therefore, in the resolution, Mama defends Maggie by telling Dee that she cannot have the household items that she wants just to show others, instead of putting them to use like Maggie.
Author Alice Walker, displays the importance of personal identity and the significance of one’s heritage. These subjects are being addressed through the characterization of each character. In the story “Everyday Use”, the mother shows how their daughters are in completely two different worlds. One of her daughter, Maggie, is shy and jealous of her sister Dee and thought her sister had it easy with her life. She is the type that would stay around with her mother and be excluded from the outside world. Dee on the other hand, grew to be more outgoing and exposed to the real, modern world. The story shows how the two girls from different views of life co-exist and have a relationship with each other in the family. Maggie had always felt that Mama, her mother, showed more love and care to Dee over her. It is until the end of the story where we find out Mama cares more about Maggie through the quilt her mother gave to her. Showing that even though Dee is successful and have a more modern life, Maggie herself is just as successful in her own way through her love for her traditions and old w...
Prior to the 1970s, life was incredibly hard for African-Americans. Racial segregation was at the forefront of these times as it interfered with daily life and efforts to achieve African freedom were blocked by white-conservative efforts (“African Art” 1). African-Americans struggled through adversity, prejudice, violence, and fought for racial equality. The 1970s marked the beginning of a new era: the post-civil rights movement era. It was full of ‘firsts’ for African-Americans which socially empowered many of them and allowed them to be proud of who they were. The author of the short story “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker, grew up when the Jim Crow Laws were enacted and was an activist during the civil rights movement, where she met Martin Luther
“Everyday Use” is a story based in the era of racial separation between communities of diverse ethnicity. “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker merely scratches the surface of racial heritage and the elimination of previous ways of living. This discontinuation of poverty driven physical labor shines through Dee as she grows to know more of her heritage throughout her years in school. An example of this is when Dee changes her name; this is an indication of Dee/Wangero wanting to change her lifestyle after the harsh truth she is hit with while going to school. Dee learns about the struggles of African Americans during this time, which changes her view on the unforgiving reality of her family’s lifestyle. In “Everyday Use”, the author opens the mind
Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is a short story about an African American family that struggles to make it. Mama tries her best to give Maggie and Dee a better life than what she had. In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use,” Dee is the older sister and Maggie is younger. Dee is described as selfish and self-centered. Maggie is generous, kind, and cares the family’s history together. She would go out of her way to make sure that her older sister, Dee has everything she needs and wants. Maggie is also willing to share what she has with her sister. Maggie is also shy and vulnerable. Mama is the mother of Maggie and Dee. Mama is fair and always keeps her promises to her children. Hakim-a-barber is the boyfriend
The quilts play an important role in depicting symbolism of heritage because they signify Dee’s family origins. For instance, Dees’ significant family members all have pieces of their fabric sown on to the quilts as a remembrance of who they were and their importance in the family. Nevertheless, Dee is overlooking important facets of her family history because she does not see the quilts her ancestors made as valuable, hand-made, pieces of fabric that should be passed down and taken care of to keep their history alive. As Mama stated, “In both of them were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty years and more years ago. Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell’s paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece, about the size of a penny matchbox, that was from Great Grandpa Ezra’s uniform that he wore in the civil war.” (1129). Despite her family’s history, Dee continues to misinterpret the...
The main conflict in Walker’s Everyday Use revolves around the mother of the two girls and her need to make a choice in how she treats her daughters. The girls are very different from one another, differing not only in appearance and education, but also in their views of their family, the heirlooms, and the quilts. As we read Everyday Use, we as the reader are encouraged to the side of either Maggie or Dee. Does Dee truly know the meaning and have the capability to appreciate the family heirloom? Or is it Maggie who possesses this appreciation, despite her lack of education? Dee returns home having changed her name to show appreciation of her African roots. She claims ‘Dee’ is a tribute to those who have oppress her and her family. When her mother explains that Dee was named after her aunt, grandmother and great grandmother (the women who have created the quilts and many of the other family heirlooms), Dee fails to
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.
Two daughters brought up by a single, uneducated, African American woman in the Deep South during the late 1960’s to early 1970’s amid one of the nation’s largest civil rights movements to date. During this time not only was Mama struggling to control the fate of her own identity in American society, she struggled to manage the relationships she has with her children, allowing one of them to make her feel insecure. Caught between the two very different personalities of her broods Mama does the best that she can provide for her family, physically, mentally and emotionally in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use.”