Symbolism in the Short Story "Everyday Use"
analytical Essay
571 words
Alice Walker is a well-known African- American writer known for published fiction, poetry, and biography. She received a number of awards for many of her publications. One of Walker's best short stories titled "Everyday Use," tells the story of a mother and her two daughters' conflicting ideas about their heritage. The mother narrates the story of the visit by her daughter, Dee. She is an educated woman who now lives in the city, visiting from college. She starts a conflict with the other daughter, Maggie over the possession of the heirloom quilts. Maggie still lives the lifestyle of her ancestors; she deserves the right of the quilts. This story explores heritage by using symbolism of the daughters' actions, family items, and tradition.
Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," explores Dee and Maggie's opposing views about their heritage by conveying symbolism through their actions. Maggie is reminded of her heritage throughout everyday life. Her daily chores consist of churning milk, helping mama skin hogs on the bench which is the same table her ancestors built, and working in the pasture. On the other hand, Dee moved to the city where she attends college. It is obvious throughout the story; Dee does not appreciate her heritage. When Dee comes back to visit Mama and Maggie she announces that she has changed her name to Wangero. Dee states "I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me" (89). Her stopping the tradition of the name Dee, which goes back as far as mama can remember, tells the reader that Dee does not value her heritage. Another symbolism of her lack of appreciation for her heritage demonstrated through her actions is when Dee asks Mama if she can have the churn top to use it as a ce...
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...e to have them. Tradition symbolizes heritage as an important factor in their lives.
Alice Walker used symbolism to convey the importance of heritage in her short story "Everyday Use," by using the sisters' actions, family items, and tradition. Dee does not appreciate her heritage like her sister and mother. She does not see the importance of family traditions. The churn top, the bench with her ancestor's rump prints, the butter dish, and the quilts are all symbols of their heritage. Dee is only interested in the items because they make great decorations. Heritage is very important factor in a person's life. Everyone should learn to appreciate their family history.
Work Cited
Walker, Alice. "Everyday Use." An Introduction to Reading and Writing. 7th ed.
Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Prentice Hall 2004.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how alice walker's "everyday use" tells the story of a mother and her daughters' conflicting ideas about their heritage.
- Analyzes how alice walker explores dee and maggie's opposing views about their heritage through symbolism through their actions.
- Analyzes how walker explores heritage by using symbolism through family items. the rump prints on the bench, the butter dish, and the churn top are symbols of their heritage.
- Analyzes how the symbolism of heritage and tradition is used in the story "everyday use." the tradition of the bench being passed down from generation to generation symbolizes their heritage.
- Analyzes how alice walker used symbolism to convey the importance of heritage in her short story "everyday use." dee does not appreciate her heritage like her sister and mother.
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- Analyzes how the narrator, mama, describes her life with her daughter maggie and their awaiting homecoming of her oldest daughter dee who left town to pursue her education.
- Analyzes how wangero and mama have different views on the meaning of heritage, arguing that mama and maggie don't understand their heritage.
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- Analyzes how alice walker uses symbols to show the importance of family heirlooms as a part of history and the need to preserve them.
- Analyzes how dee changes her name to "wangero leewanika kemanjo" to be connected with her heritage and dissociation from being named after her oppressors.
- Analyzes how the yard is a place of safety where mama can seek solace alone or with maggie, and where their regrets can be swept away.
- Analyzes how the dasher signifies ageing and preservation. dee recognizes its beauty, but fails to recognize its skin-deep beauty.
- Analyzes how the quilt symbolizes a long line of relatives. it represents the family heritage and values, and was promised to mama to maggie when she married.
- Analyzes how the relationship between mama and maggie is evident in the way the use of the family heirloom is viewed.
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In this essay, the author
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- Analyzes how the narrator, mama, tries to comprehend the true significance of heritage from the encounter she had with her two daughters, dee and maggie.
- Explains that africans were allowed to show their true heritage and practice their ways after the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.
- Explains that the blacks' true colors began to show in colleges and universities, where they were capable of performing with their voice, acting, instruments, and other arts.
- Analyzes how the black power movement did not stop racism and discrimination from both whites and blacks. blacks carried guns as a self-defense weapon.
- Analyzes how dee was an example of a follower in the black power movement.
- Opines that the bible states not to because everyone is one and a family under god. the only way it can be stopped is if we work mutually and fight and stop it.
- Cites law.jrank's "black power movement" and the holy bible: new international version.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how alice walker's "everyday use" characterizes symbolism of heritage and separates the difference between what heritage really means and what it may be portrayed as.
- Analyzes how dee misinterprets the meaning of the quilts because she became deeply influenced by the african culture. they are meaningful to mama and maggie because they see them as irreplaceable objects from their family history.
- Analyzes how the handicrafts mama contains represent heritage in their family's struggles and experiences. dee sees the churn and dasher as artifacts from a historical time that she can put to good use.
- Analyzes how the transformation dee experiences towards the end of the story reveals a symbolism in heritage because she began to embrace her new cultural roots by wearing her extravagant clothing.
- Analyzes how dees' name change symbolizes her "heritage" and authentic heritage in the story.
- Concludes that alice walker exposed two dissimilar generations into one short story to allow the reader to see the time era and what heritage meant to those generations.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how alice walker's "everyday use" tells the story of a rugged, independent mother of two girls who celebrate their african-american heritage in completely different ways.
- Analyzes how walker describes the yard in which the mother is waiting for her daughter to come home. she compares the hard clay to the living room floor being swept smooth.
- Analyzes how uses imagery of sight and smell to appeal to our senses when dee pins an orchid to her mother's dress after they embrace lovingly.
- Analyzes how the reader is brought back to real life and given the imagery of what the mother actually looks like.
- Analyzes how maggie digs a well in the sand with her toe as dee gets out of the car. walker spells out the sound that maggie makes as she sees the male friend.
- Analyzes how dee and her friend come in and sit down to eat dinner. the imagery conveys the thought of the use of these items.
- Analyzes how the title is significant to the quilts at the end of the story in that dee wants to hang them up on the wall in order to display her heritage proudly and thinks that if maggie keeps them, they will become rags.
- Analyzes how the mother is offended by the idea of displaying the quilts instead of using them for what they were made for.
- Analyzes how walker uses brilliant imagery in describing each detail of what the mother sees through the eyes of her world. the theme of love of one's family heritage is within the heart and not on the wall.
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- Analyzes how heritage plays a huge role in alice walker's "everyday use" and how it is used as symbolism in the story between dee and maggie.
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