Throughout the modernization of the world, African Americans have experienced a great number of cultural shifts and self-established independence from the white majority. “Values are developed in childhood and adolescence and are transmitted between generations,” (Maercker and Heim 178). Alice Walker's "Everyday Life" and James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues'' are two works of literature that examine the everyday struggles faced by African Americans. Both short stories explore complex family relationships and the importance of cultural heritage. To contribute to the themes, the settings are located in the rural South and feature characters who struggle to reconcile their past with their present. The two authors' works demonstrate themes that are …show more content…
Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" follows the story of a mother and her two daughters, Dee and Maggie, who represent three different generations of African American women. Dee, a modern, educated woman who seeks to embrace her African heritage but does so in ways that put a strain on her relationship with her mother and sister. Maggie, on the contrary, is shy, unassuming and lacks self-confidence, but she has a deep appreciation for her family's history and traditions. Less ambiguous than Dee, Maggie is content to remain in the background and conform to society's expectations. Dee perceives her family's sedentary way of life as backward and unenlightened, and she is determined to take possession of the handmade quilts that Mama has kept for many years to display in her own home. Mama ultimately decides that she wants to keep the quilts for their sentimental value and to pass them down to future generations. Mama makes an effort to counteroffer and convince Dee to take some other quilts that have less sentimental value. Dee declines, “No, I don't want those. They are stitched around the borders by machine,” and instead asks for “pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear,” (Walker 320). Her decision to keep them symbolizes her desire to maintain the family’s traditions and protect their history. Dee dreams of nothing more than to have her family break away from their …show more content…
Walker's "Everyday Use" highlights the oppressive effects of racism on African Americans. Mama discloses to her daughters that “[She] never had an education [herself]. After second grade [her] school was closed down…In 1927 colored asked fewer questions than they do now.” (Walker 316). Additionally, Mama described how she was just as capable of success and hard work as any other man. She recounted how she “was always better at a man's job. [She] used to love to milk till [she] was hoofed in the side in '49. Cows [were] soothing and slow and [didn’t] bother you, unless you [tried] to milk them the wrong way,” (Walker 316). Both Maggie and Dee knew that their mother’s way of life was different from their current life, but Dee's desire to embrace her African identity is a response to the oppression felt by her ancestors. Through Dee, Walker critiques the modern trend of superficial appropriation of cultural symbols without deeper knowledge or understanding. Dee only values the quilts for their aesthetic beauty and the cultural stereotype they represent, disregarding their historic value and sentimental connection to her family. In contrast, Mama and Maggie understand the quilts' worth lies not in their surface appearance but their emotional meaning and historic significance. The quilts are passed down from one generation to the next as a way of maintaining their family history and culture. Walker uses
This starts by the inclination Dee has to approach the world without fear. She views the world as a white woman, back then, rather than an African American woman like her mother and sister-timid and afraid. She then comes back from getting educated and allows this to cloud her judgement and think that she is above those who aren’t educated. She continues this attitude all the way to the end of her visit where she tells her mother that she doesn’t understand her heritage and then continues on condescending to her sister, “’You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It’s really a new day for us.
Walker uses the identity of a quilt to symbolize Dee’s family history, representing her family’s African American heritage. Dee chooses to see the quilt as art rather than use it as it is meant to function. On the other hand, Maggie and her mother believe the quilt represents something more on a personal level. The ancient quilt is described as having “scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and more years ago, bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell's Paisley shirts…” showing the cultural heritage the quilt signified (Walker, pg. 5). The quilt represents family history and connection to the family’s older generations.
Dee breaks this rule by saying, “But they’re priceless!” Furiously; for she has a temper. “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags. Less than that!”(67). Dee is very upset that she is losing and as a result, she loses her temper and says mean things about maggie which mama is not ok with.
It’s really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live you’d never know it" (6). While Dee was at school, she learned about her heritage, and because she got that education that Mama and Maggie didn’t get, she thinks she is superior to them and knows more. Dee also thinks that they need to be exposed to the outside world and see how much it has changed. As you can see, since going to school, Dee has become a more confident character and thinks she knows the most about their heritage out of everyone in the family.
On the other hand, Dee embraces her African heritage instead. While this is an important part of her identity, she is forgetting her family’s culture and where she came from. Dee even changes her name to “Wangero” and explains “couldn’t bear.... being named after the people who oppress me.” Despite the fact, her name is a family name that has been passed down through the generations. Throughout the story, it does not indicate whether Dee knows the skills of her family.
Maggie uses the quilts to honor their memory because she and her mother view the quilts for daily use. On the other hand, Dee’s view on culture is seldomly influenced by her experiences. This is because when the house burnt down Dee watched it be engulfed with flames, and she hated the house so much she could care less if it burnt down. Dee detests everything about her family’s culture. One way she despised it was by finding the meaning of her culture that does not relate to her family.
Characterization in “Everyday use” In “Everyday Use” Alice Walker creates the characters of Mom, Maggie, and Dee in order to explore the appreciation and values of African American culture and what it stands for. The story grows around one daughter Dee coming back home to visit her family. As one is introduced to the characters in “Everyday Use”, it becomes noticeable that the two sisters, Maggie and Dee, are very different. Maggie is portrayed as a homely and ignorant girl, while Dee is portrayed as a beautiful and educated woman.
Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo [Dee] is a fascinating character in “Everyday Use” written by Alice Walker. The story is over an African American mother and her two daughters. The story focuses on one daughter, Dee that is coming home to visit her family. She grew up wanting to become a different a person, and she hated how she lived when she was with her mom and sister. Dee is spoiled, tenacious, and ignorant in this short story.
To Dee, these quilts and other items are not to be used but rather show off, but she doe not understand that her family is still in the position where they need them and will still be using them for their purpose. The quilts and the setting of the house they were eating in showed the disconnect between the family and the disconnect Dee had to her heritage. However, it also showed Maggie's heart and willingness to give her the quilts without a fight, even though they had been promised to her and her future husband, and she had significantly less than her sister. The end of the story also makes great use of the setting to help develop the characters as Mama and Maggie sit in the yard “just enjoying until it was time to go into the house and go to bed.” (Walker 276).
What does heritage mean to you? Momma and her youngest daughter Maggie value a very simple and cultural lifestyle. When Momma´s older and more futuristic daughter, Dee, comes home unexpectedly demanding quilts, arguments arise causing tension. In "Everyday Use", by Alice Walker, Dee uses body language and tone to persuade Momma that she, and not her sister Maggie, should own the quilts; She ultimately fails, revealing the theme that you should respect your heritage and where you come from.
Then we are on the stage and Dee is embracing me with tears in her eyes.” Her dream shows how the mother dreams of a better relationship with her daughter than the one she has. Dee seems to be embarrassed by her mother and where she comes from. The author shows this when she talks about the burning of their house. She seemed happy to see her house burn down, “Why don’t you do a dance around the ashes?
Dee always stood higher than her family, her town, her community, which made her mother and sister learn to roll with her punches. Finally, Mama says no to Dee, she takes a stand and we see the courage that the heritage and family behind mama help her take a stand and protect the family quilts for Maggie. In the end Alice Walker, author of “Everyday Use,” signifies the meaning of heritage and how it is remembered through symbolism, specifically through the making of the quilts and the courage that it brings to the
Mama describes herself as a big-boned woman with hands that are rough from years of physical labor. She wears overalls and has been both mother and father to her two daughters. Poor and uneducated, she was not given the opportunity to break out of her rural life. She doesn’t understand Dee’s life, and this failure to understand leads her to distrust Dee. Mama sees Dee’s life as a rejection of her family and her origins.
(pg. 1512). Dee, described in this quote as “her”, is an outsider to Mrs. Johnson. She is simply a stranger - a guest that she is preparing to host. By allowing the reader to witness the divide that Mrs. Johnson and Maggie have with Dee, it sets up a platform for Walker to illustrate her views of memory and tradition. Dee’s mother and sister