Self-Identity In Alice Walker's 'Everyday Use'

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In order to learn or move forward in life people have to learn from the past. Alice Walker knows how to put this idea into words. Her short story called “Everyday Use” is based off the idea of heritage and family. Alice Walker supports her story by writing about the meaning of heritage, the value of intelligence, and dealing with self-identity. “Everyday Use” is based off of family ties, culture, and traditions, which is most commonly known as heritage. The oldest daughter of the family, Dee, refuses to accept her given past. She’s lost between what she thinks is her culture and what actually is. Dee believes that her past relatives are back in Africa. It’s apparent that she has a false and empty sense of reality to what her family should be. Dee also denies any ties to her family’s heritage. An example of this is when Mama talks about their first home that caught fire. “I see her standing off under the sweet gum tree she used to dig gum out of; a look of concentration on her face as she watched the last dingy gray board of the house fall in toward the red-hot brick chimney. Why don’t you dance around in the ashes? I’d wanted to ask her. She hated the house so much” (Walker 71 ). It isn’t a normal emotion to feel joy when a house burns to the ground. Regardless of when this story took place, a family home should be something that’s celebrated. Dee’s character acts out in a juvenile manner in response to this situation. Walker is demonstrating the kind of personality that Dee possesses in this scene. Mama is carrying Maggie out of the fire with burns all over her body. Dee is standing beneath the tree alone, this proposes the idea that she ran out of the house without giving a second thought to her family’s safety. Alice Walker ... ... middle of paper ... ...ple who restrict her, only demonstrates her confusion and lack of faith. Dee often contradicts herself believing in something that isn’t relative to her life. She has no personal connection with anyone or anything in Africa. It’s absurd for Dee to believe she has a relation with another country’s culture. It is easily said that Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use” demonstrates the meaning of heritage, the value of intelligence, and dealing with self-identity. Dee had a hard time accepting her family as they were, using arrogance to get what she wanted, and coming to terms with her self-identity. This short story by Walker is timeless. It teaches how valuable family can be and why it’s important to stay acquainted with past and future generations. Family should be the most important thing in a person’s life, regardless of how socially unacceptable they may be.

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