Leaving the Past Behind in Everyday Use
Everyday Use by Alice Walker is a short story about how people get caught up in the superficial value of material things, and the jealousy this desire causes. In this short story Dee, the eldest daughter, was always ashamed by the way she lived during her childhood years. As she was educated more and more, her feelings of hatred for poverty and ignorance grew intensely. After she finished college her abhorrent feelings grew immensely, and she tried to take advantage of those less educated than her.
Dee always hated the way she lived when she was being raised by her mother. Dee was obviously overjoyed when the house that she hated so much, was finally destroyed. "A look of concentration on her face as she watched the last dingy gray board of the house fall in toward the red-hot brick chimney. Why don't you do a dance around the ashes? I'd wanted to ask her. She hated the house that much." The destruction of this symbol of poverty gave her a spark of hope that she and her family would move up in the world, that eventually snowballed into a much larger hatred. She was always ashamed of her past and did everything in her power to improve her status. Even when she was sixteen years old, her mother recalls the urge Dee had to improve everything she could. Her mother said, "Dee wanted nice things. A yellow organdy dress to wear to her graduation from high school; black pumps to match a green suit she'd made form an old suit somebody gave me." Even though she knew her family couldn't afford "nice things" she had a burning desire for them. This desire made her take the time and effort to alter a suit her mother was given, into a nicer ...
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...and her chin. She was making a last ditch effort to try to make a distinction between her financial class and her mother's. The fact that she hid her entire face behind a pair of dark shades, is symbolic of her trying to put a barrier between herself and her poor past.
Works Cited
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Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” centers on a mama, Mrs. Johnson, and her two daughters, Maggie and Dee, and how they view their heritage. In “Everyday Use”, the author, Alice Walker, uses symbolism not just to convey imagery and increase the story’s emotional impact, as is typical for most literature, but also to tell parts of the story, be more descriptive with her depictions of characters and objects within the story, give back story, and communicate more of her characters’ personalities. Like most writings, “Everyday Use” contains symbolism in the form of objects and actions, but the symbolism in Everyday Use is very notable and striking because it is materialized in rather unorthodox ways and places, such as characters’ names, in the back
In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use” is about a girl named Dee that is
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing, Compact. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner., and Stephen R. Mandell
Eshbough. “A Literary Analysis of Alice Walker’s Short Story ‘Everyday Use’.” YAHOO! VOICES. Yahoo, Inc., 21 Aug 2008. Web. 17 Mar 2014.
Schakel, Peter J., and Jack Ridl. "Everyday Use." Approaching Literature: Writing Reading Thinking. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 109-15. Print.
The characters in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker serve as a comparison between how family heritage and traditions are viewed. Walker illustrates that heritage is represented not by the possession of items or how they look, but buy how they are used, how one’s attitude is, and how they go about a daily lifestyle. Every memory or tradition in “Everyday Use” strengthens the separation in the relationship between Dee and her mother, the narrator, which involves different views on their family heritage.
In “Everyday Use”, Alice Walker is exploring the concept of heritage as it applies to African-Americans. It appears to be set in the late ‘60s or early ‘70s. This was the time when African-Americans were struggling to define their personal identities. Many blacks who had stories of pain and injustice wanted to rediscover their African roots, and they were denying their American heritage to do so. In “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker argues that an African-American is both African and American.
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. 4th ed. Robert DiYanni, Ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 1998. 408-413.
DiYanni, Robert. "Literature, Reading Fiction, Poetry and Drama." Walker, Alice. Everyday Use. Boston: McGraw Hill, 1973. 743-749.
Author Alice Walker, displays the importance of personal identity and the significance of one’s heritage. These subjects are being addressed through the characterization of each character. In the story “Everyday Use”, the mother shows how their daughters are in completely two different worlds. One of her daughter, Maggie, is shy and jealous of her sister Dee and thought her sister had it easy with her life. She is the type that would stay around with her mother and be excluded from the outside world. Dee on the other hand, grew to be more outgoing and exposed to the real, modern world. The story shows how the two girls from different views of life co-exist and have a relationship with each other in the family. Maggie had always felt that Mama, her mother, showed more love and care to Dee over her. It is until the end of the story where we find out Mama cares more about Maggie through the quilt her mother gave to her. Showing that even though Dee is successful and have a more modern life, Maggie herself is just as successful in her own way through her love for her traditions and old w...
“Everyday Use” is a story based in the era of racial separation between communities of diverse ethnicity. “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker merely scratches the surface of racial heritage and the elimination of previous ways of living. This discontinuation of poverty driven physical labor shines through Dee as she grows to know more of her heritage throughout her years in school. An example of this is when Dee changes her name; this is an indication of Dee/Wangero wanting to change her lifestyle after the harsh truth she is hit with while going to school. Dee learns about the struggles of African Americans during this time, which changes her view on the unforgiving reality of her family’s lifestyle. In “Everyday Use”, the author opens the mind
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.
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Robert DiYanni, ed. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007.
"Everyday Use" is a short story written by Alice Walker. Walker did a wonderful job illustrating her characters. There are all types of characters in this short story from round to static. Her use of simple symbolism prompts the reader to take a deeper look into the story. Walker’s humble way of conveying the theme makes the reader take a second look at him or herself. Walker did an excellent job in writing this story, so she could warn people of what might happen if they do not live properly.