The Quilt As A Metaphor In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

In the story Everyday Use Alice Walker uses the quilts as a metaphor. The quilt is used to describe how things that have been discarded like scraps can be turned into something unified and beautiful as a whole. This basically means that something useless and unimportant can be revamped into something that is valued by someone else. This quilt is used by Walker to describe African- American lives which have been misinterpreted and ignored throughout history. Although Walker uses the quilt as a metaphor for women, they have always been represented through textiles throughout history. Walker wants people to reconsider whether the quilts are counted as art since she suggests that the most artistic objects are those that have an everyday use. Walker dramatizes the "use and misuse of the concept of heritage" using the quilt as merging object and metaphor, but also challenging our definitions of what counts as art in our culture at the same time.

The conflict that arises between Dee and Maggie is about heritage and whether is exists in spirit or in things. At this time Dee was returning to her black roots that see left prior to make a new identity for herself which involved her changing her m=name, getting an education and finding a man; something Dee’s mother and Maggie weren’t too fond of. When she goes home she starts picking things out from around

Unlike Dee Maggie actually knows how to quilt and will not need the quilt because she will remember Grandma Dee without a quilt. Maggie’s body also resembles the patches of the quilt because of all her scars from the fire and the healing of her scars resemble stitching. Dee then disrespects her sister so her mother snatches the quilts from her hands and then dismisses her. Her mother then realizes that the scarred daughter’s sacred status as a quilter is the best gift she could have gotten as a woman and