A Family’s Heritage in Everyday Use by Alice Walker

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A Family’s heritage in Everyday Use Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is a story about a mother and her two daughters and their heritage. Heritage can be defined as a property that is inherited; a birthright; or traditions, and values passed down other generations of family members. The climax in the story is when Dee asks to two particular quilts that Mama had promised to Maggie. “But they’re priceless!” “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags. Less than that.”(2442). But her mother refuses and gives them to Maggie. Dee says to her family, “You just don’t understand your heritage” (2442). But they understand more than Dee. Each woman, Mama, Dee, and Maggie, defines heritage differently. To Mama, heritage is passing down on what family means. She is comfortable with herself. She has worked hard outside of the home to provide for her family. She is uneducated and but set in tradition. She is happy when Dee comes to visit, Later, Dee asks for a milk churn dasher, that she can think to do something creative with it. But Mama could see her family’s past in t...

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