Alice Walker Influence

Alice Malsenior Walker is a well-known novelist, poet and feminist, born on February 9, 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia. Walker is best known for the creation of her best-selling novel “The Color Purple”. Another classic story that has readers raving about is “Everyday Use”, published in 1973. Walker comes from humble beginnings and is the last of eight children born to sharecroppers. Money was scarce for the Walker family and life was hard for Alice, however, she still loves the Georgia countryside where she grew up. Based on the life of Alice Walker, one can conclude that many details in the story “Everyday Use” are influenced by her life as a child. Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” addresses socialism within the African American family structure,

The Black Panthers believed that the “non-violent campaign of Martin Luther King had failed and any promised changes to their lifestyle via the 'traditional' civil rights movement, would take too long to be implemented or simply not introduced”. The Black Panthers view on society is simply that its “white-dominated” and unfair. Dee changing her name to Wangero, in her opinion, symbolizes her joining this movement and refusing to be controlled by a “white-dominated” society and promoting freedom and equality for African

However, journalist David White states that, “In ‘Everyday Use’, Alice Walker argues that an African-American is both African and American, and to deny the American side of one’s heritage is disrespectful of one’s ancestors and, consequently, harmful to one’s self”. He also goes on to state that “She uses the principal characters of Mama, Dee, and Maggie to clarify this theme”. One might simply assume that in “Everyday Use”, Walker gives an insightful look at the way people struggle with their heritage and how the story exemplifies how far some will go to shun their