The Complex Nature Of Culture In The Color Purple By Alice Walker

Throughout the latter portion of the 20th century, Alice Walker changed the literary scene with her bold poetry, short stories, and novels about the difficulty and richness of the African American experience. Known best for her novel The Color Purple, Walker also dabbled in other forms of literature, including short stories. Her best known, “Everyday Use” from the 1973 short story collection In Love and Trouble, follows the story of a black southern mother, her two daughters, and their differing relationships with their culture and heritage. Though more light in tone than many of her other works, Walker still presents a thought-provoking narrative. Waker utilises the complexity of her characters’ opinions in “Everyday Use” to contrast different

Through the conflict between the two sisters Dee and Maggie, Walker illustrated the cultural tension in her 1970s deep south setting. She makes note of such groups as the Black Nationalists and the Nation of Islam throughout the story by way of Dee’s fiancé and her new outlook on her experiences as a black woman. By referencing such radical groups through the eyes of a poor southern mother, Walker underscores the diversity of black experiences as well as the cultural turbulence of the time. Though post-Voting Rights Act and Martin Luther King Jr, the central characters Mama and Maggie still live in a rather poor and isolated environment, relegated to lives controlled by racial restrictions imposed upon them though aware of the changes around them- Mama notes that she grew up in a time when “coloreds asked fewer questions” than they do now (Walker 2). The oldest sister Dee, however, boldly illustrates the new opportunities that black people in America face, walking up to her old house with a “dress so loud it hurts [Mama’s] eyes,” a college degree, and a new fiancé (Walker 4). The contrast between Dee and the rest of her family illustrates the wildly differing and diverse experiences felt by African Americans at the time and establishes the central conflict between differing

Mama initially lacks self-esteem, imagining herself as “a hundred pounds lighter, [her] skin like an uncooked barley pancake” in her mental depiction of meeting Dee (Walker 2). Though Mama’s narrations would have the reader believe these thoughts show Dee’s disapproval of her mother, the fact that they represent just thoughts and not something directly stated by Dee herself show that these expectations reflect society’s expectations for women more than Dee’s expectations for her mother. Throughout the piece, however, Mama gains more confidence, even able to stand up for herself against Dee when asserting that Maggie should have their family quilt. Farrell, who differs from other critics of “Everyday Use’ in claiming that Dee represents not a villain but an alternative mindset in the work, notes here that in standing up for herself, Mama actually assimilates to Dee’s most defining trait of self-confidence, validating Dee’s opinion narratively even as Mama spurns it. This gradual acquisition of confidence accompanies Mama’s realization of the value of community and her family to her- her self-confidence and identity spawn from both “the acquisition of an individual voice” and “integration into a community” (Tuten). By highlighting this method of growth, Walker also highlights the value of honoring and appreciating from where one comes. Connecting with