Everywhere we look, we are constantly surrounded by images that create symbolism for a certain idea or object; an American flag to represent patriotism, a cross to represent religion, and an apple with a bite out of it to represent our modern generation's reliance on technology. When reading short stories or other pieces of literature, symbols can be much more difficult to pick up on than these symbols that we uncover in our everyday lives. Recognizing and describing symbols in a story or poem requires “great tact and perception” (Arp 305). Stories might even have to be read more than once to discover and understand the symbolism that his hidden within a word. The most significant symbols used in a piece of literature assist in creating a complete …show more content…
Dee indicates that “the churn top is what I need,” however, she isn’t intending on using it for its actual purpose but instead for her own keepsake (Walker 171). The top of the churn symbolizes Dee’s fondness for materialistic items to have and keep, rather than something to honor by using it everyday. This symbol helps the reader further understand Dee as a character because throughout the story it allows us to continue to see her manipulation of objects for her own purposes rather than their true significance. This symbolism is significant to the story because it helps establish the idea that family value is missing from Dee’s life and she feels that objects, like the churn top that her “Uncle Buddy whittled out of a tree” will make up for her loss of family heritage (Walker …show more content…
The quilts, consisting of “bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell’s Paisley shirts,” “scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn,” and faded pieces of “Great Grandpa Ezra’s uniform,” represent the binding together and value of family heritage (Walker 173). Since Maggie has lived her heritage when making the quilts with her Grandma, she doesn’t have as powerful of a desire for the quilts as Dee. She even says that “She can have them, Mama… I can ‘member Grandma Dee without the quilts.” when talking to her mother about giving them to Dee (Walker 173). The quilts are necessary to reiterate the idea that Dee feels she must make up for her lack of embracing her family heritage, and the author uses these symbols in order to do
There are many examples of symbolism in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use.” Whether it’s representing Mama Johnson, Dee or Maggie. Even everyday household objects. Symbolism is used to express or represent ideas or qualities in english, art, mathematics, science,etc. In many ways symbolism can be used to represent an idea that means more than the literal meaning.
The quilts themselves, as art, are inseparable from the culture they arose from. (topic sentence) The history of these quilts is a history of the family. The narrator says, "In both of them were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and more years ago. Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell's Paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece . . . that was from Great Grandpa Ezra's uniform that he wore in the Civil War." So these quilts, which have become an heirloom, not only represent the family, but are an integral part of the family. Walker is saying that true art not only represents its culture, but is an inseparable part of that culture. The manner in which the quilts are treated shows Walker's view of how art should be treated. Dee covets the quilts for their financial and aesthetic value. "But they're priceless!" she exclaims, when she learns that her mother has already promised them to Maggie. Dee argues that Maggie is "backward enough to put them to everyday use." Indeed, this is how Maggie views the quilts. She values them for what them mean to her as an individual. This becomes clear when she says, "I can 'member Grandma Dee without the quilts," implying that her connection with the quilts is personal and emotional rather than financial and aesthetic. She also knows that the quilts are an active process, kept alive through continuous renewal. As the narrator points out, "Maggie knows how to quilt."
In “Everyday Use,” the quilts play an important role in depicting symbolism of heritage because they signified Dee’s family origins. For instance, Dees’ Grandma Dee, Grandpa Jarrell, and Grandpa Ezra all have pieces of their fabric sowed on to the quilt as a remembrance of who they were and their importance in the family. Nevertheless, she does not see the quilts as valuable, hand-made, pieces of fabric that need to be taken care of and used. Dee misinterprets the essential meaning of the quilts and how they were created because of her understanding to the traditional African culture she became deeply influenced. However, these quilts were a representation of Dee’s significant family members, and they were meaningful to Mama and Maggie because they understood the importance of these quilts that were so carefully sown. “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” (Walker 1129). These quilts not only embraced Mama and Maggie’s family origins, but also, exemplified a profound piece of fabric...
The quilts show the past of their people. Going back to the the days of the Civil War. The quilts are very valuable to their culture, and not only signifies the past, but also represent the work of their family members. In other words, the quilts are symbols of African American tradition. Although people, like Dee, see the quilts as jus a decoration. These quilts are made to symbolize and to show gratitude and admiration of African American culture, including herself. In "Everyday Use," the quilts are the most important part in the story, and Walker uses the quilts to represent the backgrounds of African-American
Each of the symbols that are used throughout, to help show how much meaning the mother’s heritage means to her. Walker uses the quilts as a major symbol for family heritage. “These are all pieces of dresses Grandma use to wear. She did all this stitching by hand” (Walker, 320). These quilts so how their family has lived, and what they went through. Such as the only remains of their past family members. “In both of them were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn…bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell’s paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece…that was from Great Grandpa Ezra’s uniform that he wore in the Civil War” (Walker,
She hears that Dee tells Mama that she is going to put the quilts to “everyday use”, but she does not seem too upset about it. In addition, Maggie does not seem too upset because she knows she can make another quilt. Maggie has been with Mama her entire life, and has already learned how to quilt from Mama, her grandmother, and Aunt Dee. An indication in the story is, “I can ‘member Grandma Dee without the quilts”(321). Maggie knows the history that the quilts have and Dee does not understand the family, as Maggie
Three different key symbols in this short story “Everyday Use”, Walker, 1973), is the meaning of living, the meaning of culture and the use of things, giving this story a metaphor tone.
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 ...
Although all of the character’s views on heritage are expressed, Dee’s character is given the more detailed description of ways she strays from her heritage. From the beginning, Dee despises the home that they live in. When it is destroyed in a fire, her mother wants to ask her, “Why don’t you do a dance around the ashes?,” expressing Dee’s utter aversion towards the home (Walker 409). Most people take pride in their home and cherish it for all of the memories that it holds for them, but Dee is insensitive to the family’s loss. After becoming of age, Dee decides to go to college, where she begins to hold her newly found knowledge against her family because of their lack of it. This opportunity to go out of her town and see the world gives Dee a taste of a better lifestyle that she wants to become apart of, and leaves her family behind. While Dee is away at college, she denies the quilts that her mother has offered her saying that “they were old-fashioned, and out of style” because she is still longing to separate herself from her family as much as possible (Walker 413). One of the main things that Dee does to distance herself from her family, and tarnish part of her family’s tradition is the changing of her name Dee Johnson, to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, because she feels that it comes from “the people that oppressed me” (Walker 411). This act comes to Mama...
In the short story, “Everyday Use”, Alice Walker uses three different symbols, that both Mama and Dee view differently, to strengthen the central theme of perception. The three symbols, in my opinion, that she uses are Maggie’s character, Dee’s name, and the family quilts. Walker’s story begins with Mama and Maggie waiting on Dee to arrive for a visit. Mama describes her two daughters very differently. Before the visit, Mama’s view of Maggie is that of pity and empathy, but for Dee, she sees strength and success. Following the visit, Mama has a revelation concerning Maggie; see begins to see that Maggie is wise and far more in touch with their heritage than Dee. Dee, however, states, “you ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie…”
In “Everyday Use”, the line between worth and value may tear two sisters apart. First, each character symbolizes something they are going through. Second, Dee does not understand the purpose of items passed down. Lastly, an argument breaks out about the quilts. Dee makes a visit to Mama and Maggie for many reasons.
Symbolism in literature is unique because it can give a simple object a much more complex meaning. Symbols can stand for a variety of things, including ideas, beliefs, actions, visual images, and many others. Skilled writers in literature often use symbols so the readers can further interpret a story. Sometimes, the same object can even symbolize two different meanings in a story. The birthmark, the hot-air balloon, and the yellow wallpaper are all symbols that represent a deeper meaning in the stories they play a role in.
Dee starts by taking an old churner that has been in the family for years. While the mother seems to hope that is the end of Dee’s selfish nature, she alludes to the fact that it is not. Dee next attempts to take what the reader can tell is one of the mother’s most prized possessions. This possession is a hand quilted quilt, made by the grandmother, that the mother has cherished for many years and intended to pass down to her youngest daughter who would cherish the quilt just the same as she has. While Dee saw the blanket as a piece of wall décor that could help prove her heritage, Maggie saw the quilt for the labor of love that was put into it. Maggie would use the quilt to its fullest purpose and not feel the need to display it to prove to everyone else who she was because she knew who she was. Maggie could see what Dee could not and that is the people behind the quilt. This is why the mother wanted Maggie to have the quilt, stood up for herself, took the quilt from Dee, and immediately gave the meaningful blanket to Maggie, the quilt’s new rightful
To begin with, a quilt is defined as a “coverlet made of scrapes and fragments stitched together to form a pattern” (Webster). The quilt in “Everyday Use” was made by Grandma Dee, Big Dee, and Mama from scraps of dresses and shirts and is part of Grandpa’s Civil War uniform. It is filled with memories and was hand stitched by the family. Mama suggests that Dee take other ones, but Dee rejects the offer because they were “stitched by machine”(Walker, p.114) and the old ones were done by hand. Mama says that she had promised them to Maggie.
The most important symbol in “Everyday Use” would be the quilts. The quilts represent the heritage of the family. Each piece of cloth had a significant tie with a past family member which makes it valuable. They aren’t valuable in the sense of them being ancient artifacts, as Dee sees it, but as treasures that are protected to be passed down to the future generations of the family (i.e. Mama saving the quilts for