Cultural Conflict In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

In her short story “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker reveals a conflict within African-American culture in the 1970’s. This short story focuses on the Johnson family, and their interactions when the educated daughter, Dee, and her male partner visit Dee’s mother and younger sister Maggie. This interaction represents the cultural conflict that arose as a result of the Black Power movement (1968-1970). The author uses characterization and imagery to identify the difference between the two ways of being African American-- ultimately approving one of them, and displaying the importance that culture should play in our daily lives. The opening of the story introduces the character of Mama, Mrs. Johnson, the story’s narrator. Mama doesn’t hesitate to

That is the way my Maggie walks. She has been like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire that burned the other house to the ground” (337). The scars that she bears on her body have likewise transcended to scar her soul; her own mother admits, “like good looks and money, quickness passed her by” (338). However, Mama knows that Maggie has a beautiful personality, and is a person who honors her ancestors and her history. For example, Maggie is the only daughter that learned to quilt from her grandmother. Dee, however, is Maggie’s complete opposite. Dee is educated, poised, ambitious, but is distant from her family in the story in both ideology and physical appearance. Her education was vital in shaping her character, but divides her from her family. Dee is on a quest to trace and connect with her African roots. In doing so, she changes her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, and also rejects the heritage and culture she inherited-- the immediate culture that her mother and sister

Blacks were told that it was their own responsibility to improve their lives and their socioeconomic standings. Black Power advocates preached the advancement of the black culture, to turn away from their slave past and redefine what it means to be of African descent. In turn, Wangero, “Dee”, rejects her family, socially, economically, and physically; to reject inferiority. Her mother and sister live the same lives that their ancestors, slave ancestors, lived, and Wangero leaves, almost escapes, these surroundings. The quilts, obviously, hold a huge symbolic meaning, representing the family’s traditions: “[They were} pieced by Grandma Dee and then Big Dee” (342), both key figures in the family’s history and worked to keep traditions alive by teaching their culture to their children. The quilts are literally made of history, scraps of clothing, and cloth used every day, all of which represent the history of the Johnson family, heritage, culture, and family