Events Happening during the 1960’s The short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker and the drama “Los Vendidos” by Luis Valdez both are during the 1960’s. Luis Valdez was born and raised to a migrant farm worker family. As well as in the play, it is meant to entertain and raise awareness in the lives of different social classes. Also, to inform the public of the stereotypes and prejudices that were applied to the Chicano experience. Alice walker, the author of the drama “Everyday Use” was active in Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s. The purpose of the drama was to express and explore the traditional versus the progressive attitudes of young African American females. In the drama, Ms. Johnson is uneducated but uses sophisticated diction to …show more content…
explain her narrative. She expresses mixed emotions about her two daughters as they view there heritage differently. Both works of literature, “Everyday Use” and “Los Vendidos” have similarities in historical context, characterization, and irony. During the time 1960’s there was several movements taking place. In the short story “Everyday Use” the Black Power movement is where a lot of African Americans began to have pride in their heritage and seek to learn more about their roots. “The black power movement was a model for others who began to see themselves as members of identifiable groups that were excluded, demeaned, and discriminated against” (Breines). In the drama “Los Vandidos” it was also in the 1960’s where a Chicano movement was taking place. This movement consisted of the fighting for education, workers’ rights and political voice. Both literary works have their historical context involved in the short story as well as in the play. They both are sending messages to the public to see what is happening during the 1960’s. It is a way to inform others of what people are going through during that time. In the short story “Everyday Use” the two daughters Maggie and Dee are being shown as two different girls that view their heritage differently. Maggie is shy, devoted, sweet natured and domesticated. On the other hand, Dee is outspoken, stylish, “educated”, and free spirited. Dee was named after her grandma, but she did not like that name. She changed her name because, “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me” (Walker). She denies her authentic heritage by changing her name. Later in the short story she comes back wanting to have the quilts to show off her heritage. However, Dee never wanted to belong to her family’s heritage until her friends were showing off where they have come from. There are similarities in the character of “Los Vendidos”. Miss Jimenez is representing the average person that looks into the Mexican American culture. She is sent to buy a “model “for Governor Reagan. She is portraying the model stereotypes of Mexicans in an American society. She is also an example of the racial and cultural ignorance through a Chicana by correcting others of the pronunciation of ‘Jimenez’. In the drama she denies all Mexican type “models” because they are not like her except for one “model” who is Eric Garcia. In the drama he is described as very sophisticated, social, and able to give speeches (Valdez). Eric fulfills the roles of what Miss Jimenez is looking for. He represents the Mexican Americans and their ability to take office and be able to lead. This demonstrates the difficulty that Mexican Americans face when their loyalty to their ethnicity is conflicted. Also, how the social injustice is presented and based on the looks not the ability. Both literary works also contain irony based on the main events that are happening.
In the short story “Everyday Use” Dee hated her house and everything that had to do with her heritage. Once she comes back she decides to take pictures of the house to show them off to friends. She also wanted the quilts that she had refused before. But now she wants them because she knows she can show them off to her friends and wants to display them by hanging them up. There are many differences between Maggie and Dee. One main difference is that Dee perceives the quilt as an ordinary quilt, one artifact that she can have of her culture. Maggie on the other hand, perceives the quilt as both a product and a process. As stated in the story, Maggie thinks quilts should be put to “everyday use” rather than to hang them up on a wall so they can be decoration (Walker). In the drama“Los Vendidos” it is ironic how the play ends. The “models wake up and they all chase Miss Jimenez out of the store. The “models” then begin to converse among each other revealing that they are real people not robots. They carry Honest Sancho out, revealing that Sancho is the real robot in the drama. The salesperson ends up being the model and everyone else are human beings. They are the ones taking over the store and running everything. It shows how Honest Sancho is not being honest since he is the actual model. He represents a balance between the mainstream and the origin
culture. Both the literary works can be put into Marxist criticism. In the drama “Los Vendidos” the play benefits all of the people living during the 1960’s. The play shows the distinct differences between social classes. It examines Latinos in California an how they are treated by the local, state, and federal government. It was meant to raise awareness in the lives of many people based on their race. Also, to inform the public of the stereotypes and prejudices that were applied to the Chicano experience. The social class of the author, Luis Valdez was born and raised to a migrant farm working family. The class that we work claims to represent are those of the working class. Those who are not rich but have to work somehow to survive. The values that are reinforced is to value where you come from and not act like someone else. The pride that you should feel from where you come from should be more important than what others think. The value that they subvert are those of thinking you are better than others by the ethnic group. It should not matter where you come from but what your values are. The conflict between these values in the play is that Sancho ended up being the robot and came out smarter than Miss Jimenez. All of the others were smart by planning to sale real human beings and having a robot as the salesperson. The social class that the characters represent in” Los Vendidos are those of the working class. They all has different roles but at the end they proved to have come from the same ethnic group and worked together to make people believe they were not. Knowing how judgmental people are during that time they decided to dress everyone up from different social classes. Miss Jimenez and Honest Sancho are considered to be of a high level of social status. All the other Mexican types are considered to be of a low level of social status. Miss Jimenez and all the others do not interact well since she is looking for a specific type of “robot”. Mexican American Eric Garcia, is described as a “polite machine” the purpose for purchasing him is to appeal a minority. On the other hand, in the short story “Everyday Use” the benefit if the effort is accepted would be to inform others that is it important to value your heritage before it is too late. No one should deny where they come from because one day you will want to take everything back and accept from where you belong. The social class of the author is “as the daughter of sharecroppers in Georgia as she struggled in higher education” (Hickok). The class that the work claims to represent is of a family being pore after their house burned down. The values that the short story reinforce is to value your family more than the materialistic things. Also, to always value where one comes from and be proud of the heritage that people belong to. In the story, Dee just wants to have the quilts to show them off to her friends. But before that her mother had tried offering them to her, but she didn’t want them until now that she wants to have it as an artifact of her culture. “The quilts contain scraps of dresses worn by the grandmother and even the great-grandmother, as well as a piece of the uniform worn by the great-grandfather who served in the Union Army in the War Between the States” (Cowart) . It shows how you should value things since the beginning because later it could be too late. The values that is subverts is those of valuing the family that loves you more than materialistic things. Showing Dee that is it more important to put things to everyday use rather than having them shown off to others is a very important message in the story “Everyday Use”. The main conflict would be the denying of Dee’s heritage as this is the main topic of the story. The characters represent the pore social class after their house was burned down. Dee was embarrassed and even decided to deny her family and change her name because she was named after her grandma. The characters from a different social class do not interact well in the story because they also didn’t view the heritage as being important until they knew they could show it off to friends. In conclusion, both literary works of art, “Everyday Use” and “Los Vendidos” have similarities in historical context, characterization, and irony. They are both about the historical context that is happening during the 1960’s. In “Los Vendidos” is examines Latinos in California and how they are treated by the local, state, and federal government. All of the characters are treated differently based on their social class and their culture. In the short story “Everyday Use” talks about Dee denying her heritage. It was during the time of the Black Power Movement. This movement was when a many African Americans began to have pride in their heritage and seek to learn more about their African roots. Both literary works have many things in common with their history, characters and irony. Works Cited Breines, Wini. "Sixties Stories' Silences: White Feminism, Black Feminism, Black Power." NWSA Journal, vol. 8, no. 3, 1996, pp. 101-121. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/docview/233239665?accountid=40160 Cowart, David. "Heritage and Deracination in Walker's "Everyday use"." Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 33, no. 2, 1996, pp. 171-184. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/docview/195681019?accountid=40160 Hickok, Kathleen. "Zora Neale Hurston & American Literary Culture/Alice Walker: A Life/Warrior Poet: A Biography of Audre Lorde." NWSA Journal, vol. 19, no. 2, 2007, pp. 247-251. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/docview/233234724?accountid=40160 Valdez, Luis. Los Vendidos. https://mastxeducationdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/los-vendidos_revised.pdf. Accessed 17 April 2018. Walker, Alice. Everyday Use. http ://intensiveenglish1.weebly.com / uploads/1/3/0/4/13041485/everyday_use_full-text.pdf
Susan Farrell in her, “Fight vs. Flight: A Re-evaluation of Dee in Alice Walker’s ‘Everyday Use’” writes in response to Alice Walker’s short story Everyday Use. Farrell’s article is published by Newbury College in spring of 1998 in Studies in Short Fiction (179). Farrell in her article writes to argue that although Dee is inconsiderate and egotistical—supporting what she is arguing against— to a certain degree, she offers a way for a modern African American to manage with the harsh society that is, in a few ways more substantial than that described by Mother and Maggie— which is her thesis (179). Most people who have read Walker’s short story Everyday Use are prone to agree that the character Dee is ‘shallow,’ ‘condescending,’ and ‘manipulative,’;
To begin with, in Walker's Everyday Use, the conflict is a result of clashing cultural values and of cultural point-of-view. Dee, who has adopted the Islamic culture and name the Wangero, returns to her African-American family for a reunion. While there, she asks that a pair of quilts from her deceased grandmother be given to her, not her sister, Maggie. Dee claims that her sister will ruin them through "everyday use." In fact, she charges during a discussion, "[Maggie would] probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use" (89). To these charges, her mother, the story's narrator, says, "I reckon she would [use the quilts daily] ... God knows I've been saving (the quilts) for long enough with no body using 'em. I hope she will" (89). Dee counters by saying, "You just don't understand ... your heritage" (90). She charges that her mother does not understand her heritage and therefore should give the quilts to her since she will preserve them. This conflict...
Symbols are displayed in both stories; the quilts in “Everyday Use” symbolize the memories of Mama’s family. The quilts are made of pieces of old clothing from Mama’s family. Each piece of the quilt represents that person and who they were. They are passed on to future generations along with stories of the ancestors’ past. The quilts represent pride of their ancestors’ struggles, where they came from and the fight to preserve their individuality. Unlike Dee, Mama and Maggie acknowledge their heritage from memories of their family members. Dee bases her heritage off ...
Alice Walker integrates the connotation and symbolism of traditional quilts through her short story, “Everyday Use”. More importantly, Walker illustrates her point through the reasoning of the quilts between Dee and her mother. During Dee’s visit home, she found the quilts in a “trunk at the foot [of her mother’s] bed, then visualized the patches of art work hanging against a wall. Dee also knew that the quilts were priceless. Miss Johnson asked Dee, “What would you do with them?” Dee said, “Hang them. As if that was the only thing you could do with the quilts” (Walker 456). In contrast, Maggie and her mother kept the quilts in a safe place, because they understood the significant role the quilts played in their
The search for identity in "Everyday Use" written by Alice Walker uses the family's contrasting views to illustrate the importance of understanding present life in relation to the traditions of ancestral culture. Using careful descriptions and attitudes, Walker uses the voice of the protagonist (the mother) to demonstrate which factors contribute to the values of one’s heritage and identity; she illustrates that these are represented not by the possession of objects or mere appearances, but by one’s lifestyle and attitude. Also, in the illustration “Girl”, Jamaica Kincaid uses a mother’s voice, like Walker, to illustrate the mother’s meaning of identity. Both mothers in each story have their own outlook of what defines a person’s identity. Although each mother has different...
After evaluating the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, I came to the conclusion that the narrator made the right choice of giving her daughter, Maggie, the family quilts. Dee (Wangero), her older sister was qualified for the quilts as well, but in my opinion Maggie is more deserving. Throughout the story, the differences between the narrator’s two daughters are shown in different ways. The older daughter, Dee (Wangero), is educated and outgoing, whereas Maggie is shy and a homebody. I agree with the narrator’s decision because of Maggie’s good intentions for the quilts and her innocent behavior. In my opinion Dee (Wangero) is partially superficial and always gets what she wants.
Everyday Use, a short story about the trials and tribulations of a small African American family located in the South, is an examination of black women’s need to keep their powerful heritage. It 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. A sociological landmine, it was written to awaken the concepts of feminism as well as the civil rights movement, while being able to focus on just three women and their relationship to one another. Everyday Use give its black female characters an identity of their own, each in their own right, and observes the internal conflicts of two sisters who have made two very different life choices, all the while scrutinizing the underlying sibling rivalry between them.
In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, we hear a story from the viewpoint of Mama, an African American woman, about a visit from her daughter Dee. Mama, along with her other daughter Maggie, still lives poor in the Deep South while Dee has moved onto a more successful life. Mama and Maggie embrace their roots and heritage, while Dee wants to get as far away as possible. During her return, Dee draws her attention to the quilt. It is this quilt and the title of the piece that centers on the concept of what it means to integrate one’s culture into their everyday life.
Tate, Claudia C. "'Everyday Use' by Alice Walker." African American Review 30.2 (1996): 308+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 2 Feb. 2014.
She doesn’t envy her sister Dee’s new style of life, even though she lacks a higher level of education. The opposite, she enjoys her lifestyle, “Maggie still lives in poverty with her mother, putting “priceless” objects to “everyday use” (‘everyday use”). Despite the fact she always felt inferior to her older sister Dee, Maggie expresses her respect for family’s heritage collaborating with Mama, cleaning the house for Dee’ visit, “I will wait for her in the yard that Maggie and I made so clean and wavy yesterday afternoon” (Walker 23). Maggie gives the quilts to Dee because she wanted it even though she was preserving them for her wedding day. It represented for her an invaluable symbol of her heritage, “The quilts contains pieces of family history, scraps from old dresses and shirts that family members have worn” (“everyday
Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is a short story about a mother and two very different daughters set in rural Georgia during the late 1960’s. The plot is centered around on the two daughters, Dee and Maggie, and focusing on the differences between the two and who will gain possession of two hand-made quilts that are seen as a coveted trophy by Dee and are viewed as everyday items Maggie. The final decision of which daughter ultimately receives the quilts will be made by Momma Johnson. Momma, who is never given a first name in the story, is a strong black woman with many man-like qualities. “In real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands. In the winter I wear flannel nightgowns to bed and overalls during the day.” (DiYanni 744) Momma is a tough woman and has had to be both father and mother to the daughters although the story never comments on the absence of the father. The story revolves around a visit home by Dee who has been away at college and has recently discovered the true meaning of black heritage with her adoption of ideas and practices from black power groups while simultaneously rejecting her own upbringing. Upon arriving home, Dee announces that she has changed her name to “Wangero” in defiance of her white oppressors and to embrace her newly found African heritage with a more appropriate black name. Dee and Maggie are complete opposites in appearance, education and desire to escape their childhood surroundings. Maggie has little education and no noticeable desire to improve her situation and prefers to be left alone in the shadows where she can hide her physical and emotional scars from a house fire when she was a child. Hand sewn quilts become the objects of Dee’s desires; objects ...
How does the difference between the way Dee (Wangero) and Maggie would use the quilts represent their two different ways of defining and treating their family’s heritage? Does the narrative give approval to Dee’s way or Maggie ’s?
“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
Heritage is one of the most important factors that represents where a person came from. In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, this short story characterizes not only the symbolism of heritage, but also separates the difference between what heritage really means and what it may be portrayed as. Throughout the story, it reveals an African-American family living in small home and struggling financially. Dee is a well-educated woman who struggles to understand her family's heritage because she is embarrassed of her mother and sister, Mama and Maggie. Unlike Dee, Mama and Maggie do not have an education, but they understand and appreciate their family's background. In “Everyday Use,” the quilts, handicrafts, and Dee’s transformation helps the reader interpret that Walker exposed symbolism of heritage in two distinctive point of views.