Everyday Use by Alice Walker How to Appreciate One’s...

Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use† revolves around a conversation the mother has with the Dee, the daughter that went off to college and her sister Maggie. A discussion over who is more deserving of the hand stitched quilts sewed together by their mother, Grandmother, and Aunt Dee. During their conversation, both daughters will demonstrate how they appreciate their family quilts, but sadly, we can conclude that only one of the girls illustrates how to appreciate one’s culture. Maggie uses the quilts to remember her Grandmother Dee, while her sister Dee changes her name and only wants to use the quilts to decorate her home. Dee, a family name that the mother can trace beyond the civil war (464), but in spite that lineage Dee goes and trades†¦show more content†¦The perspective Maggie gives us shows the value and care she has for her immediate family heritage, while Wangero (Dee) would rather have them lying around her home as furniture. Dee cannot fully appreciate the culture she left with her new identity Wangero. When they sat down to eat Hakim-a-barber did not eat the pork on his plate, claiming that it was â€Å"unclean† (465) Dee on the other hand enjoyed everything prepared by her mother. This shows at the very least that she is not completely committed to her new identity and that she is still trying to enjoy her culture. This is one instance where the two identities clash. At an earlier point in the story, Dee declined the offer of her Grandmothers quilts before heading off to college, but on her return, she cried out furiously, â€Å"But they’re priceless!†Ã¢â‚¬ (467) this shows how little her culture meant to Dee before she left and when she continues to yell, â€Å"You just will not understand. The point is these quilts, these quilts!†(467) Dee is trying to convince her mother that her new identity can fully understand her culture. She fails to convince her mother by simply a cting and expressing her views on their family, but the mother and Maggie doShow MoreRelatedEveryday Use By Alice Walker996 Words   |  4 PagesIn the short story â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker, the author describes different ideas about one’s heritage. Culture and heritage is at the main point of the story â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker as symbolized by the quilt. The bond that Mother and Maggie share is brought by their common talent to make works of art like quilts. Dee does not have similar capacity because she does not appreciate manual labor nor believes in her heritage. The idea of pride in culture, heritage, and family is the mainRead MoreEveryday Use By Alice Walker1372 Words   |  6 Pagessociety as a whole, but more specifically in the African American Community. Alice Walker gives slight insight into   what being forced   to assimilate is like. She says in her short story Everyday Use: She will stand hopelessly in corners homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe. Statements such as these are a regular occurrence in her works. Walker often speaks on the ever so disheartening topic of cultural assimilation and theRead More Essay on Appearance vs Reality in Everyday Use and The Gilded Six-Bits1200 Words   |  5 PagesAppearance versus Reality in Alice Walkers and Zora Neale Hurstons Everyday Use and The Gilded Six-Bits  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Gilded Six-Bits it appears that Otis D. Slemmons, the towns newest arrival, is rich, but by closer inspection by Joe Banks and Missie May, is found to be poor.   In Everyday Use, Maggie doesnt appear to be smart enough to honor and appreciate her heritage, but she and not Dee/Wangero is really preserving the family traditions as well as heritage.   Both The Gilded Six-BitsRead MoreEveryday Use, And Seamus Heaney s Digging1152 Words   |  5 Pagestraditions/heritage is an aggregate of attitude, ideas, ideals and the environment, which a person inherits from his parents/ancestors. Individual identity entails aspect of one’s life that no one has control over, i.e., race, the color of skin, beliefs, etc. These family traditions and cultural legacies play a detrimental role in influencing one’s self-identity, which can be both negative and positive. A positive legacy consists of the trait that is inherited from consistent, diligent and thoughtful fa miliesRead MoreEssay on Alice Walkers Everyday Use1658 Words   |  7 PagesAlice Walkers Everyday Use In the short story â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker, the author portrays opposing ideas about one’s heritage. Through the eyes of two daughters, Dee and Maggie, who have chosen to live their lives in very different manners, the reader can choose which character to identify most with by judging what is really important in one’s life. In Dee’s case, she goes out to make all that can of herself while leaving her past behind, in comparison to Maggie, who stays back withRead MoreEssay on Alice Walkers In Search of Our Mothers Gardens1483 Words   |  6 PagesAlice Walkers In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The essay â€Å"In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens† by contemporary American novelist Alice Walker is one that, like a flashbulb, burns an afterimage in my mind. It is an essay primarily written to inform the reader about the history of African American women in America and how their vibrant, creative spirit managed to survive in a dismal world filled with many oppressive hardships. This piece can be read, understood, and manage to conjure up manyRead MoreTwo Kinds and Everyday Use Comparison918 Words   |  4 Pagestimes. Throughout a variety of different cultures, the level of respect and obedience for one’s parents has diminished while the negotiation of conformity and rebellion has risen. This statement is supported and evidential in two different stories, â€Å"Two Kinds† by Amy Tan and â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker. Although these stories represent different cultures, they both exemplify the values and importance of f amily relations; as well as demonstrate in every culture families face social problems. In bothRead MoreCritical Analysis Of Alice Walker s Everyday Use2414 Words   |  10 PagesCritical Analysis of Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use† Alice Walker, most revered African American writer of the present time was born on 9th February 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia. She started her career as a social worker/activist, followed by teaching and and being a writer. She has won many awards for her fantastic social and literary works. Everyday use† was published in 1973, when African Americans were struggling to revive their original African culture, to stay connected with their culture. As a result ofRead MoreIn Search of Our Mothers Gardens Essay1505 Words   |  7 PagesAmerican novelist Alice Walker is one that, like a flashbulb, burns an afterimage in my mind. It is an essay primarily written to inform the reader about the history of African American women in America and how their vibrant, creative spirit managed to survive in a dismal world filled with many oppressive hardships. This piece can be read, understood, and manage to conjure up many emotions within the hearts and minds of just about any audience that rea ds it. However, Walker targets African AmericanRead MoreEveryday Use, Lorraine Hansberry And The Sun, And Langston Hughes s Poetry Essay1055 Words   |  5 Pagesthat they have true roots to what is being written and what they actually represent. When looking at the similarities of how literature is represented it obvious to see that there are certain socially constructed groups presented. Although these socially constructed groups do vary throughout literature, they still tend to be very similar. In Alice Walker’s short story â€Å"Everyday Use,† Lorraine Hansberry play â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun,† and Langston Hughes’s poems â€Å"Harlem† and â€Å"Theme for English B† they evaluate