The Theme Of Change In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

One of the main themes that Alice Walker wove throughout her short story

"Everyday Use" is that of change. She wrote the story in 1973, an era when change was

the order of the day. The hippie movement was prominent, and people everywhere were

being encouraged to do whatever they felt like doing, without worrying about what other

people thought, even if that meant completely changing who they are, and casting off

former traditions and familial attachments.

Perhaps the biggest change we see is that which has apparently occured in Dee.

Though we are told by Mama, who is the narrator of the story, that she has always held

herself higher than the rest of the family, she undergoes new alterations. She comes

Mama gives her what she desires in life, namely, a college education.

Mama plans to give Maggie the quilts that she has made, as well as other

belongings in the family household. They do not see the point in presenting their

possessions to those around them, but would rather use them sensibly in their everyday

lives. They use the quilts as they were intended to be used, as coverings to keep

themselves warm at night, and they use the dasher to churn butter. As shocked as they are

by Dee 's appearance and mannerisms, Mama and Maggie are pleased to see their

daughter/sister. She gives them new details about her life, and tries to encourage them to

be more like the modern world, taking on new identities and becoming less naive about

what is going on in the day to day culture around them. However, they are happy with who

they are, where they are in life. They care very much about their ancestry, but as David

Coward says in his article "Heritage and Deracination in Walker 's 'Everyday Use '", "for

Maggie and her mother the idea of heritage is perpetually subordinate to the fact of a living

tradition, a tradition in which one generation remains in touch with its predecessors