A Critique of the Effectiveness of Alice Walker’s Text Everyday Use

“Walker, as an artist, tells a story in which she explores the limits of both art and the authentic. She plays with the problem by knowing that art cannot simply or purely give voice to the voiceless. . .” (Whitsitt) Everyday Use is still regarded as one of the most significant texts of Alice Walker’s writing career. It was first published in 1973 as a part of her short story collection In Love and In Trouble. The story follows the significance of cultural heritage, materialism, and the importance of having a voice. All of this centers on the main symbol of the quilt. It is the main item throughout the entire text that holds together all aspects of the theme. The introduction to the conflict comes about here, “Out came Wangero with two quilts. They had been pieced by Grandma Dee and then Big Dee and me had hung them on the quilt frames on the front porch and quilted them.” (Use, 1318) Dee, Mama’s more materialistic daughter wants to take the quilts for really superficial purposes, and Mama decides against giving them to her, because she knows about the loss of heritage that will come about if Dee acquires the quilts. Everyday Use by Alice Walker entertains multiple themes that are, and always will be incredibly significant in a variety of ways, solidifying its effectiveness.

The main theme entertained by Walker’s text is the idea of giving people a voice through art and culture. Throughout the course of this text, we watch one character use their voice to give voice to another character. Mama has always had her voice, and it is made known that she has always used it when the time came, however, Maggie has remained without any real say her entire life, but that all changes when, as Tuten states, “. . . when Mama takes the quilts ...

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... a grander scale, the ways in which materialism in the modern world is on its way to destruction. The relationship between Maggie and Mama is like a quilt, it speaks for itself, their lives pieced together through centuries of culture. Mama and Maggie speak on a cultural level that Dee will very likely never know.

Works Cited

Cowart, David. Heritage and Deracination in Walker's "Everyday Use." Vol. 33. N.p.: n.p., 1996. Print. Studies in Short Fiction.

McGill, Bryant. Voice of Reason: Speaking to the Great and Good Spirit of Revolution of Mind. Sarasota: Paper Lyon, 2012. Print.

Steinbeck, John. East of Eden. 1902 ed. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.

Tuten, Nancy. Alice Walker's "Everyday Use." N.p.: Taylor&Francis, 1993. Print. Vol. 51 of The Explicator.

Whitsitt, Sam. In Spite of It All. 3rd ed. California: n.p., 2000. Print. Vol. 34 of African American Review.