Connection To The Quilts In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

The short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker follows a myriad of women all of whom are connected by their ties of kindred, however differ by their identity and connection to the infamous quilts. The quilts,as clarified in “Everyday Use”, contains patches of clothing worn by generations of their family. The story grazes over Mama, Dee and Maggie’s special connection to the quilts. In “Everyday Use”, Alice Walker illuminates how the quilts are inherently symbolic of their heritage. In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use”, each woman’s particular connection to the quilts suggests that females are instrumental in preserving and handing down a family’s history. Mama knows the story behind each piece of cloth used to make

Dee’s initial attachment to the quilts stem from her pride in her attempt to embrace her African heritage. She goes so far as to changing her name to Wangero to celebrate her African roots and when questioned about her given name, she claims "I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me” (Walker ) She changes her name due to the fact that she believes its background is muddied by fact that it may be traced back to white oppressors. Although she was initially named after her Aunt Dicie. She embodies many African-Americans of the particular decade the story was set all of whom take great pride in their race in spite of the social injustices they endured. Dee wants to take the blankets along with the other trinkets she picked up from Mama’s home due to their sentimental value stemming back from the Civil War. Dee is educated and enlightened by her social surroundings unless it pertains to her sister or mother. She hopes to adorn the quilts and appreciate them in a way her sister Maggie never could. Dee represents a keen example of women who preserve their history in her hopes to take the butterchurn and the quilts all of historical value within her family and place them in her