Everyday Use by Alice Walker  African-American Perspectives

Introduction

In Everyday Use, Walker deals with controversial topics for African-Americans, both generations and cultures. The author raises the question of rather do individuals need to give up their African-American roots and more common families when they leave home and embrace the African-American heritage. The problem is primarily African-American, but it can also be seen as a universal problem for modern youth who do not know the ideals of their ancestors and relatives. Everyday Use addresses an issue of heritage through the relationship between the characters and their relation to the cultural background.

Everyday Use. Heritage

Heritage and tradition might be perceived differently by people who belong to the same culture. The story Everyday Use, written by Alice Walker, portrays two different overviews of ones heritage under the circumstances that the two polar viewpoints belong to people within the same family. Yang (2021) supports the statement that Walker emphasizes the differing attitude and views of the main characters on heritage and culture throughout the work. On the one hand, Mama is a continuation of generations that have lived through slavery and have changed, alternating the traditional African ways of life while remaining loyal to the values exacerbated by direct ancestors. On the other hand, Dee, the daughter, discovers new ideas about her African roots and disregards the more Westernized values of her family, emphasizing the ethnical connotations of the cultural background she belongs to. However, the two life choices related to how one portrays the heritage are not only different concerning values but also in their physical manifestation. The short story illustrates the theme of heritage, its subjectivity, and how one interprets and externalizes it.

Heritage as a Value

Mama and Dee have opposite overviews of the meaning and value of heritage. Specifically, the ideas differ based on how they interpret cultural preservation. In Mamas case, she preserves the culture by sharing the experience of her ancestors, continuing the legacy of her family, and maintaining strong family bonds. On the other hand, Dee disregards the history of her family since it was critically shaped by oppression and slavery. An example is when she mentions Dee being dead and wanting to be called Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo since she couldnt bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me (Walker, 1973, p.3). On the other hand, her name has a meaning related to the history of her family. As Mama points out, you were named after your aunt Dicie (Walker, 1973, p.3). However, since the name is not traditional, Dee disregards it as a result of westernizing Africans being given names that align with the oppressive history. Bell (2019) suggests that the mothers interpretation of heritage is also influenced by her issues such as low self-esteem. Nevertheless, heritage has a different value for both. For Mama, it is about honoring the culture as it changed through the generations before her since each ancestor had a personal history that changed them. Dee, however, believes in traditional values, and if they change because of adaptation to oppression, they lose authenticity and value. Edmondson (2020) says that the values toward heritage are shaped by the experience of black women. Thus, the theme of heritage is illustrated through the perception of ones self through heritage, which each of the characters interprets constructively.

Manifestation of Heritage

The theme of heritage is also portrayed through how the characters choose to manifest it. The manifestation is critically different and is illustrated through how both Mama and Dee chose to implement parts of their culture in their lives either through direct involvement or showcasing. Everyday Use describes the issue of cultural trauma concerning identity and heritage (Elmore, 2019). An element that best illustrates the diversity in approaches is the quilt. It serves as the symbol of cultural heritage in work (Zheng & Zhang, 2018, p. 462). As a traditional African textile, the quilts have a deeper meaning in terms of the characters heritage. However, Mama believes they have to be used for the tradition to be expressed. Thus, she points out that she is leaving them to the other daughter, Maggie, stating that God knows I been saving em for long enough with nobody using em. I hope she will! (Walker, 1973, p.4). Based on this approach, the manifestation of ones heritage is how one chooses to apply tradition in day-to-day life and give physical meaning to the culture. On the other hand, Dee chooses to showcase the pieces, suggesting that Maggie cant appreciate these quilts! (Walker, 1973, p.4). Instead, she chooses to hang them and create a visual representation of her heritage. The difference is that Mama would rather see the tradition live rather than be showcased. In one case, the culture has a deeper meaning, connecting generations and continuing to live on. In the other one, it becomes imagery, which ultimately defeats its purpose and turns it into a spectacle or a performance.

Conclusion

The central theme of heritage is exemplified through constructivism about the difference in perception and manifestation of ones cultural background. Both Mama and Dee have deeply rooted respect and honor for where they came from yet choose to externalize this in different ways. Mamas heritage is the traditional way of life of her ancestors, the memories they left behind, and the experiences they had, both good and bad. Dees heritage is a less subjective one as she views culture as an artistic experience and a way to visually and behaviorally represent her ethnicity. Thus, heritage, while remaining alive in how both the mother and daughter perceive the world around them, contrasts in how it is externalized. The contrast between the two viewpoints illustrates the significance of the theme in the short story and the ambiguity of the subject as illustrated by the authors polar representation of the same notion.

References

Walker, A. (1973). Everyday Use. Harpers Magazine.

ZHENG, L. S., & ZHANG, S. S. (2018). On Characterization Through Syntactic Foregrounding in Everyday Use. US-China Foreign Language, 16(9), pp. 460-46410. Web.

Elmore, R. T. R. (2019). Cultural Traumas Influence on Representations of African American Identity in Alice Walkers Everyday Use. University of Dayton. Web.

Bell, J. Like Mother, Like Daughter: Parental Expectations in Alice Walkers Everyday Use. 2019. 4 Kevin Ung, Director of McNair Scholars Program Introduction 5 Sara Baker, TRIO Logistics Manager & Coach Note from the Editor, Lee University 1(1), pp. 6-15. Web.

Edmondson, D. (2020). In Our Mothers Quilts: How Womanism Connects the Quilts of Gees Bend with Alice Walkers In Search of Our Mothers Gardens and Everyday Use. Merge, 4(1), p. 4. Web.

Yang, X. (2021, March). Study on Black Woman Spirituality in Alice Walkers Everyday Use. In Proceedings of the 2020 International Conference on Language, Communication and Culture Studies (ICLCCS 2020). Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research (Vol. 537, pp. 363-368).

Tradition in Everyday Use by Walker and The Lottery by Jackson

During the semester, several works were studied. Everyday Use by Alice Walker and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson were exciting pieces of literature. The Everyday Use is a short story that highlights the plight of African -Americas who were trying to redefine their social, cultural, and political identity. It mainly focuses on the African culture that had survived for several centuries in America. During this period, many Africans tried to trace their background by reconnecting with their African roots. However, The Lottery is a narrative that demonstrates an annual event that occurs in a small town in the contemporary US. The community members organize the event, and it takes place on June 27, and randomly selected persons are brutally murdered by the mob during the function. Although the two stories use tradition as their central theme, Everyday Use illustrates the beauty of tradition while the lottery demonstrates its brutality.

In Everyday Use, the theme of tradition is highly defined by the single-family members, showing its beauty. It is mainly depicted on the physical materials meant for daily use, such as the quilts. The tradition is still practiced by Mama and her daughter, Maggie, which is illustrated from their lives. Dee, Mamas elder daughter, regards the quilts as traditional, but she only appreciates them in the academic context. She views the quilts as a long history that she has neglected and not representing a family. As a result, she wants to use them for display instead of the function they are intended for, which Maggie understands, and, therefore, she gains entitlement over the quilts. Thus, the quilts demonstrate making the traditions thrive instead of making the quilts appear as mere artifacts.

Additionally, Dee believes that she is entitled to the quilts than Maggie since she is more learned, and, therefore, she understands that the objects have historical importance. In her observation, her college background should supersede the promise Mama made to Maggie of giving her the quilts as a marriage gift. However, Mama asserts her decision by maintaining the tradition of keeping the quilts as they are supposed to be passed from one generation to another. Mamas refusal to offer the quilts to Dee illustrates the rejection of Dees idealized view of tradition, and instead, she embraces a continually developing heritage. Although Maggie and Mamas knowledge of tradition could be influenced by the education and understanding of their African roots, their loyalty to their family history makes their knowledge about using the quilts more authentic than Dees since she is distanced from her familys way of life.

Moreover, Dee and Mama have divergent views about the meaning of tradition. Mama believes that objects that are made for the family are embedded within the family that made and used them. The family treasures are critical to defining ones heritage and origin, but her elder daughter has less knowledge about her past. This is illustrated when Dee confuses how the objects were made and the materials used for making the quilts, although she pretends to be connected to her heritage (Walker, 1973). Therefore, the objects are foreign to her, although she admires them and wishes to use them as artifacts. Mama, therefore, believes that Maggie is the right person to own the objects because she will respect them by using them for the correct purpose.

However, in The Lottery, the theme of tradition is used to show its brutality. The villagers depicted in the story perform a lottery every year because it has been conducted ever since their ancestors existed. The ritual is not a typical lottery that one may believe, but it is a practice that villagers are selected randomly from the community to be murdered by being subjected to mob justice. The lottery is pointless because it does not keep order, neither does it maintain social order nor encourage villagers to adopt certain ways of living. However, the lottery is conducted because it is simply a tradition but not attached to any spiritual belief. Even though there is no value in practicing the lottery, the villagers believe that abandoning the practice will bring trouble to the community, yet, there is no evidence to support this notion.

Additionally, Jackson uses the theme of tradition by showcasing the universal idea about the brutality of humans. The author illustrates traditions supersedes humans by holding power by continuing to exist while at the same time resisting the will to change and critical thought (Jackson, 1948). Through this interpretation, people can think that the author is attacking the tradition; however, he gives the vices of following a tradition blindly without evaluating the importance and why it is practiced. Additionally, the theme provides one with a chance to avoid letting custom controls ones action regardless of the immorality levels associated with the practice.

In conclusion, the theme of tradition has been used differently in the short stories Everyday Use and The Lottery. Walker beautifully illustrates the theme by showing the importance of continuing the practices initiated by the ancestors. Besides, tradition shows the connection between the present and the past generations, thus enhancing the continuity of family lineage. However, Jackson provides a different view of tradition by showing the brutality of the practice if the villagers blindly follow it. Therefore, tradition should be questioned before upholding the practice that at times may be immoral.

References

Jackson, S. (1948). The lottery. The New Yorker. Web.

Walker, A. (1973). Everyday Use. Hapers Magazine. Web.

Language of Everyday Use Story by Alice Walker

The short story Everyday Use (1974) by Alice Walker is a representation of earlier works by the author. In fact, the story is about the hardships of African American women in everyday life. It is about the milestones of heritage and ancestry that is implied in terms of African American mothers in their sometimes hard relationships with daughters.

The story by Alice Walker is narrated through the vision of Mama or Mrs. Johnson, a mother of two daughters. She is apt to bring up her old daughter Dee and her younger one, Maggie. However, the concept of the story is in the entire question of what is right for people living in the rural area and sharing particular traditions. Mrs. Johnson examines the whole situation along with an accident happened in their house (when it was burnt). Her love for her daughters is unchangeable. She understands what is right or wrong with them. However, she makes no attempt to hurt Dee in her refusal to live in their house or to impinge Maggie in her adoring rural life. Education and illiteracy are contradicting in the story. Other implications presumed through the eyes of Mama are considered with how both daughters are interested in their ancestry. Here comes a dilemma that evaluates the role of Mama in the story. She poses her understanding and estimation that becomes distinct between characters of Dee (Wangero) and Maggie.

The thing is that some traditions are century-long and have roots going even to other continents and countries. The important thing is that Maggie values it, as the feature of her belonging. She is dedicated to such sphere of her identity sincerely. The symbolic meaning of quilt goes across the story. It is a sticking point for a reader to make conclusions about culture, time and trendy motives of in-crowd that are supposed to be normal for Dee.

The language and wording in this short story is represented in a very open manner. It fits descriptions and reasoning of Mrs. Johnson while analyzing things going around her and in terms of her daughters. On the other hand, the wording was chosen by Alice Walker to show some points on the illiteracy that characterized African Americans for a long time. Needless to say, various conversations between Mama and Dee, Dee and Maggie and Maggie with Mama are patterned by different words mainly of rural simplicity. When reading, one does not feel like it is hard to recognize the sense of the story. Walker did her best in order to illustrate moments of everyday life in one African American family so comprehensive for an ordinary reader. Although, such awkwardness of the language is imposed in some names, such as: Wangero, Asalamalakim or Hakim-a-Barber (Walker 30).

It goes without saying that an ordinary life of those who were oppressed once is blamed by some representatives due to the ancestry and identity. In other words, African American people that are described in the story are struggling for their survival in a varied society (Dee). On the other hand, some other representatives of this part of American society are going well with what they have and of how they are developing at the time (Mama and Maggie). These points make the short story by Alice Walker one that is more realistic in features worrying African Americans in everyday life. In fact, a reader should take a glance that these problems are not concerned with racial discrimination or segregation.

Works cited

Walker, Alice and Christian, Barbara. Everyday use. NY: Rutgers University Press, 1994.

Author’s Craft Essay In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

The Author’s craft among the article “everyday use” uses transition and flashbacks as a result of throughout the story someone is either puzzling over the past or puzzling over the long run.

Introduction

In ‘Everyday Use,’ Alice Walker stresses the importance of the main character’s heritage. She employs varied ways that during which to reveal many aspects of heritage that unit of measurement otherwise arduous to be noticed.

In the story, she introduces a pair of sisters with nearly opposite personalities and altogether completely different views on heritage: Maggie and Dee. She uses the excellence between the two sisters signifies but one got to accept and preserve one’s heritage. on the so much aspect, the excellence between a pair of sisters there exists the decide figure mama, the teller, and additionally Dee’s irony. The irony of Dee’s opinion is that the key to understanding the story and why the mother let Maggie keep the quilts, that symbolize the heritage.

Another example of Dee’s confusion relating to her African-American heritage is expressed once she announces to her mother and sister that she has changed her name to ‘Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo.’ once her mother queries her relating to the change, Dee says, ‘I couldn’t bear it to any extent additional being named once the parents that oppress me”. in step together with her mother, the name has been among the family since before the war and presumptively represents family unity to her. However, Dee does not perceive that. She believes that by dynamic her name she is expressing commonness together with her African ancestors and rejecting the oppression understood by the fascinating of yank names by black slaves.

Walker’s browse is unbelievably clear at the tip of the story. By Dee desperate to droop the family heirloom on the wall to look at from a distance, she is antagonistic herself from her family heritage. that is exactly what Walker thinks is that the incorrect issue to do and do. Walker would favor the quilts to be used and integrated into existence, like Maggie and her mother like. an identical set up applies to all or any or any of the alternative home things that Dee has her eye on the churn high, dasher, and benches for the table that her begetter created. all of the units of measurement a part of life for Maggie and her mother. Walker believes that the only real value that they hold for Dee is that they may be sensible trinkets to signifies off in her house. By exploitation the quilts throughout this symbolic manner, Walker is making the aim that family heirlooms can entirely have which means if they still are connected to the culture they sprang from – in essence, to be placed to ‘Everyday Use.’

It is not correct to want sides to decide between Mama and Dee. Every one of the units of measurement corrects and each of the units of measurement wrong once it involves specific areas of their lives and their worldview. Mama cannot force her daughters to be like her – uneducated ANd living in a mud hut. On the alternative hand, it’s wrong for Dee to chop back everything into Associate in Nursing intellectual writing. She knew the worth of the quilts from a historical and analytical perspective but she is unable to signify her mother and sister what amount she respects the spiritual and emotional price of those quilts. every mother and feminine offspring ought to learn to live among this time whereas not forgetting where they came from.

Conclusion

The variations in perspective that Dee and Maggie portray relating to their heritage unit of measurement seen early among the story. once the family’s house burned down ten or twelve years were gone, Maggie was deeply packed with the tragedy of losing her home where she grew up. Dee, on the alternative hand, detested the house. Her mother had wanted to boost her, ‘Why don’t you dance around the ashes’. Dee did not hold any significance in the house where she had big up.

The Significance Of Heritage In The Story Everyday Use

Heritage is one of the most important factors that represents who you are and where you came from. In “Everyday Use “by Alice walker the meaning behind this story is to show that your heritage may not be exactly how the textbooks will tell you they are and that everyone has a different idea or perspective of what their heritage is and there is not right or wrong way to perceive it so you can’t tell someone that the way they interpret their heritage is wrong.

This story is set in rural Georgia with an African American family. Mrs. Johnson “Mama” and her two daughters Dee and Maggie. Throughout this story you can obviously tell that mama’s perceptions of Dee and Maggie are very different. She describes Maggie as “a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car.” basically she is comparing her youngest daughter to a dog who has been run over by a car. But on the flip side she describes her older daughter Dee as everything Maggie isn’t” Dee is lighter than Maggie with nicer hair and a fuller figure. She’s a woman now” this also insinuates that she still sees Maggie as a child. Starting out you can see the prejudice mama has on Maggie. Dee and Maggie were always different anyway Maggie is usually the very furtive unconfident one while dee is the exact opposite. For example, when their house burned down Maggie was burned while mama was pulling her out the house, while Dee was outside dancing by the burning house. So, we can plainly see that dee is the stronger and favorite one.

The story begins with mama waiting for dee to come home after years away at school. She is already set on welcoming dee back as the pride of the Johnson family, Mama sends dee to Augusta Georgia for her education because she believes Dee is the only hope of the Johnson family to climb up the social ladder. she’s very excited about her return so much that she even cleaned the house and prepared the whole yard yesterday afternoon. This is just one example of how mama goes above and beyond for dee. Mama has this dream that her daughter will come home and thank her for all the sacrifices and hard work she did to get her to school mama even raised money in the community of the church just to send her to Augusta.

Mama is expecting her daughter to come back as this amazing well-rounded person, but the reality is Dee comes back as this snobbish brat who finds her African identity while at school she even adopts an African name “ Wangero Leewankia Kemanjo”. Dee who now goes by wangero decides she doesn’t want to go by the name of the people who oppressed her. But as mama tries to explain to her she was named after a series of Dee’s in her family like her aunt and her grandma. So, the name dee had a lot of significance in their family history. While reading you can tell that dee has a very superficial understanding of what being African American is. So instead of embracing her own family’s ancestry she decides to care more about the text book kind of African ancestry. She wants to become like the Africans that used to roam free before white people enslaved them. Now it’s not a bad thing that she wants to feel more connected with the African culture but at the same time she really doesn’t understand her own family history.

After the welcomes and pictures everyone goes in the house and has the lunch mama prepared. Dee soon tells mama that she wants to take two artifacts in the house that she thinks represents the ancestry, which are the churn top and the quilts. The churn tops represent a part of her family history because the churn was made by their aunts two husbands but for dee she just wants to make it a center piece on her table at home. The other artifact is the quilt which was sewn and patched up by different little pieces of fabric that each have a certain significance in the family such as the one little piece which is from their great grandpa Ezra’s civil war uniform. Dee probably wants to hang up the quilt to show people how African and cultured she is. But that would mean the quilt would be of no use. Dee thinks she understands African heritage fully and that mama and Maggie don’t deserve the quilt and won’t be able to appreciate the quilt fully.

Mama quickly tells dee that she cannot have the quilts and that she is saving those for when Maggie gets married. Dee starts to get upset and says” Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts! She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use. ‘She goes on to say Maggie would probably put them on the bed and after 5 years they would be rugs”. Mama explains to dee that she had been kept them safe and away for this long that she hopes Maggie will put them to everyday use and if they are to be torn or messed up that Maggie knows how to make another quilt. And this is the turning point of the story when mama has an epiphany and realizes Maggie is the true embodiment of her family’s history and heritage, she is the one who will continue the Johnson legacy not dee.

Lastly, dee leaves home still believing that her mama and sister still don’t understand heritage, but little did she know she was the one who didn’t understand her own family’s heritage. Now by the end of the story most people see Dee as the antagonist of the story and she doesn’t deserve the hate because of the way she wants to embrace her heritage. She is just thinking from another perspective about what heritage is. While mama and Maggie are thinking about how to put their heritage into everyday use Dee is thinking about cultural preservation. It’s like museums, you wouldn’t say museums are bad ideas because it’s not putting things to everyday use but instead its preserving culture. But what really makes people despise dee is her attitude towards the family. She hated the house she stayed in while growing up and then comes back to take certain items that she deems culturally valuable. To be far she was probably taught at school that the way to promote culture is to preserve things. Which causes her to forget that some of the items like the churn and quilt have everyday uses.

In conclusion the meaning of this story is to show that your heritage may not be exactly how the textbooks will tell you they are and that everyone has a different idea or perspective of what their heritage is and there is not right or wrong way to perceive it so you can’t tell someone that the way they interpret their heritage is wrong. I feel both mama and Maggie and Dee all understand why heritage and culture are important, but both decide to embrace and cherish it in a different way.

The Main Ideas Of The Short Story Everyday Use By Alice Walker

The short story Everyday Use written by Alice Walker, is written in Mother’s point of view. As the story starts, she reluctantly anticipates the arrival of her oldest little girl Dee. Mother remains close to her pulled back and physically scarred more youthful girl Maggie. As they anticipate Dee’s arrival, the peruser is given insights regarding Mother’s life and her close to offense with Dee. We discover that Dee constantly needed more than her family ancestry or Mom could offer her. While Dee is entirely keen and driven, we get the unmistakable sense that her achievements have come to the detriment of her mom and younger sibling.

In the short story, I really wanted to feel a lot of compassion toward Mom. She appears to be a desolate, dismal, uncertain mother who doesn’t have an incredible association with one of two little girls. Her one little girl Dee, acts like her mom isn’t adequate. ‘I am the way my daughter would want me to be: a hundred pounds lighter, my skin like an uncooked barley pancake. My hair glistens in the hot bright lights.’ This citation, as I would see it, truly justifies itself with real evidence. Plainly there is a type of strain between her girl Dee. Despite the fact that I felt frustrated about Mother, I could likewise identify with Dee and Mom’s rough relationship. At the point when mother says ‘Dee wanted nice things.’ When I was growing up, my family has run over cash issues so I and my more seasoned sister couldn’t have the most delightful things that every other person had. I was down on myself and I began to have low confidence since I felt humiliated contrasted with my other companion who had all that she needed. Despite the fact that Dee puts on a show of being an imp, Dee is unquestionably relatable to the run of the mill young person. I additionally related a great deal Maggie. The way Maggie is depicted, ‘ Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to them? That is the way my Maggie walks.’ Growing up, my more established sister for the most part got all the spotlight since her and my mom were continually battling, leaving me, feeling left immaterial. I unquestionably feel as though Maggie was experiencing something very similar with Dee and Mom. In the story, we discover that Maggie had not exactly Dee. Once more, this is relatable to any individual who has a kin who gets more than the other.

Lastly, I felt that this short story was relatable from numerous points of view which made it all the more fascinating to peruse. I would prescribe perusing this short story to anybody.

Narrative Imbalance In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

Humans differ in personality. What a man love may be a dislike to another. We are also associated with one culture or the other, which often shape our choice to life, culture, and heritage. It is however not uncommon to see people reject their culture and heritage. They tend to go after a culture which seems to be more valuable or modern. They, however, view their culture as barbaric and archaic. In the short story, Everyday Use by Alive Walker, there are three siblings that tend to have different view pertaining to culture and heritage. The story portrays cultural conflict among siblings.

Dee declines to represent her heritage in the noteworthiness of her name since she profoundly trusts that they have conveyed a past filled with mistreatments and pains. In addition, Mama couldn’t comprehend the reasons Dee chooses to change her name, to her, changing name implies changing family customs and an abandonment of traditional legacy. This extract from the story has it that: “‘well,’ I say. ‘Dee.’ ‘No, Mama,’ she says. ‘Not Dee,’ Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!’ ‘What happened to Dee?’ I wanted to know. ‘She’s dead,’ Wangero said. ‘I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me’” (Walker 5). One could question Mamas response to Dee’s change of name. Why does she feel what Dee did was not right. If Dee has thought within her that her name points to sorrow and remind her of pains, she is free to have done that for happiness. Mama’s choice of heritage over her daughter’s choice of happiness demands to question. Dee couldn’t retain her identity stating that I can’t be named after the people who oppress me. Does this suggest that Dee’s life has not been that rosy as the narrator presents it to look like?

Is Dee a materialistic character?

Dee was portrayed to speak to a materialistic, complex, and current lifestyle where culture and legacy are to be esteemed just for their patterns and stylish interest. Same cannot be spoken of her mother who believes that culture and heritage should speak to a straightforward substance lifestyle where culture and legacy are esteemed for the duo; its value and its own centrality. Dee’s appreciation is for aesthetic purposes. Her response to Mamas inquiry suggests that. ‘’Well,’ I said, stumped. ‘What would you do with them7’ ‘Hang them,’ she said.”’ She is only interested in identifying with her culture on the surface level. Why the mother did sees this as a being uncultured? Culture and heritage can also be promoted by appreciation and exhibition, Mama hasn’t discovered this. Dee could have been able to use the quilts for such. There could have been people in the city who could have got to know more about Dee’s heritage and cultural background by seeing the quilts hung in her house. The mother did not permit that, as the quilts were withdrawn.

Imbalance parental upbringing

One could ask why the mother brought forth two different distinct individuals. Maggie was a quiet personality, whereas Dee is a goal setter that always gets what she needs. Moody and Walker clarify the noteworthy contrasts between the storyteller’s girls by stating that ‘the more seasoned little girl Dee is an accomplished and refined young woman who leaves home to acquire extra training. Maggie, the specific bashful and generally talented little girl experiences physically and sincerely a house fire.’ (Walker 327). Ms. Johnson describes Dee’s delightful feet as: “God himself had shaped them with a certain style” and later refers to Maggie’s walk like that of a lame animal.’ Mama seems to like Maggie by giving her the quilts, but her description of her personality is contrary and this is not expected of a mother. She could sell all her belongings for Dee’s education whereas she has done little or nothing for Maggie.

If the story were to be shared by Dee, will it have been the same?

Mama seems to be a stereotypical narrator who presents details from her pleasing point of view. There seems to be more to those characters than what was explained by the narrator. Mama was willing to complete her education but she was not opportune to have done that. One is pressed to ask that if she has the privilege of completing her formal education, would she still hold such opposing view about her daughter newly found culture. For instance “A dress down to the ground, in this hot weather. A dress so loud it hurts my eyes. There are yellows and oranges enough to throw back the light of the sun. I feel my whole face warming from the heat waves it throws out. Earrings, too, gold and hanging down to her shoulders. Bracelets dangling and making noises when she moves her arm up to shake the folds of the dress out of her armpits”. (Walker, 1944, Para 20). If she has the same opportunity her daughter has, she would have appreciated Gee’s outfit than she did.

Dee is a beautiful and stunning lady. Her choice of ornament presents her to be a classic lady, who likes to look good. On the contrary, the mother seems to present to readers that she was not finding her dressing to be cultured. She devotes this by stating thus: ‘A dress down to the ground, in this hot weather. A dress so loud it hurts my eyes. There are yellows and oranges enough…’ (Walker, 1944, Para 20). The narrator seems to be blind to beauty. She described Dees dressing sarcastically by trying to ridicule the stunning regalia.

A controversial personality

Dee could be said to be a controversial personality. Her likeness for cultural crafts and quilts does not find expression in her actions. She didn’t see her culture as what should find expression in her dressing and way of life. She rather prefers the aesthetic value of the culture and heritage. She wants the quilt not for its purpose but for aesthetic. She is willing to take pictures of her family house than getting to know how her parent feels and they are living. ‘Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags. Less than that!’ she spoke like one who would use the quilts better. Dee could be referred to as an educated elite who sees herself to be more important than the rest of her family. One could ask that, did education made her forget her values and respect. Could she have been able to balance her newly found culture and her old culture? She is a hypocritical personality.

Mrs. Johnson is a biased mother. She is willing to give Maggie the quilts but she withdrew it from Dee. “Then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap.” Is her action justified? Both ladies are her children. She has done that due to what Dee would use the quilt for. She wanted to hang it in her house. Does Mama’s action negate Dee’s right to the material? This and more question are to be asked by the narrator.

Conclusively, Maggie and her mother hold the sentiment that one’s culture depends on the establishment of acquired values and. Then again, Dee sees culture as something that is never again pertinent in the cutting edge society since it has been washed away by history.

Everyday Use By Alice Walker: Contrast Between The Sister’s Beliefs About The Guilt

At some point in life, we realize the simplest things mean a lot to you In the short story “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker contrast the characters Maggie and Dee and their connection to their family towards the heritage of the quilts, details took place in the early 1950s and 1960s in the yard that they call “An extended living room” they want to continue the tradition of a simple hand working life.

Maggie is characterized as quiet, scared, loyal, insecure, and reserved, Maggie did not have a good relationship with her sister since she left for college and the old house caught on fire, she got burned and she has trouble walking when there are people around them she doesn’t like making eye contact with them. “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: 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. She thinks her sister has held life in the palm of one hand, that ‘no’ is a word the world never learned to say to her” it gives us an idea of how Maggie’s and dee relationship is like off the bag, it also shows how sensitive the narrator is to what her daughter is thinking and feeling.

When we meet Dee the narrator describes Dee as a pretty young lady, she graduated from a well-known university with the help of her mom and people from her church, she has been a black sheep since a young age and she has that resentment of her family of the type of life she lived, she gets embarrassed to say where she came from because her family lived in a poor humble house. She hated the way she was living at her house where Mama and Maggie were so comfortable and it caught on fire, “I used to think she hated Maggie, But that was before we raised the money, the church and me, to send her to Augusta to school. She used to read to us without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks’ habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice Pressed us to her with the serious way she read, to shove us away at just the moment, like dimwits, we seemed about to understand.’ The narrator spends time and money so Dee could go to a fancy school and all the sacrifices she made for her so badly, She may or may not have caused the fire in Alice Walker’s short story “ Everyday Use” she watched the fire consume the house as she was standing close to a tree, but she does nothing to prevent the house from burning.

When she arrives home she tells Mama that she’s no longer Dee “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me” she didn’t want people to recognize her and to disassociate with her family the fewer people knew who she was, it was better to her. Dee believes that she is the best in the family causing a huge problem when Mama was trying to decide who should keep the cherished quilt that represents in the “Everyday Use” pattern was that was made by Grandma Big Dee, the quilt has been passed down from generation to generation, Mama couldn’t decide if Maggie should keep it that plan’s to use it when she gets married or Dee that wants it to hang it up in her wall.

Maggie seems to be dominated by her sister, she does not want to get in the way if Dee gets the quilt, Maggie tells Mama just to let her have it .’She can have them, Mama,’ [Maggie] said, like somebody used to never winning anything, or having anything reserved for her. ‘ I can ‘member Grandma Dee without the quilts.’ she says something to reveal how much better off than Dee she may actually be. After all, she can still remember her grandmother without the quilts she probably has that strong connection with the family .“Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts,” Dee said. ‘She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.’ Dee calls Maggie backward because she is going to put it to use the way it’s supposed to be, everyday use. Maggie with the time she got to learn how to make the quilts, can easily make one for her own. Mama offered Dee (Wangero) the quilt when she went away to college but she thought they were old fashioned, out of style, “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags. Less than that!” , Dee thinks Mama and Maggie don’t understand their heritage she thinks that should be preserved because it is something that means a lot, Mamá decides that the quilts are for Maggie, “Your heritage,’ Dee said, And then she turned to Maggie, kissed her, and said, ‘You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It’s really a new day for us. But from the way, you and Mama still live you’d never know it.’ Maggie smiles at her without being scared because the quilts mean a lot to her just like her grandmother, Walker establishes a stark contrast between Dee and her family.

The author contrasted the sister’s differing beliefs about the quilt and what represents for them, Maggie gets the quilts At the end of walker’s “Everyday Use” Mama already decides that all quilts were going to Maggie but when Dee shows up she tries to convince her to give them to her because Maggie was going to turn them into rags, Mama believes that using them quilts it’s a way to live those old days when Grandma Big Dee was alive and the memory of the whole family and Maggie was ready for that and she had that connection with the family and she got them all.

Works cited

  1. ‘Everyday Use.’ Short Stories for Students, edited by Kathleen Wilson, vol. 2, Gale, 1997, pp. 36-50.
  2. Gale eBooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/. doc/.CX2694900012/GVRL?u=j070911001&sid=GVRL&xid=9b7f66f0. Accessed 8 Dec. 2019.
  3. ‘Explanation of: ‘Everyday Use’ by Alice Walker.’ LitFinder Contemporary Collection, Gale, 2010. LitFinder, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/LTF4000000393CE/LITF?u=j070911001&sid=LITF&xid=03b90293. Accessed 8 Dec. 2019.
  4. Dick, Jeff. ‘Alice Walker: Everyday Use.’ Booklist, 1 June 2004, p. 1761.
  5. Gale OneFile: High School Edition, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A118675709/GPS?u=j070911001&sid=GPS&xid=73124e8f. Accessed 9 Dec. 2019.
  6. Walker, Alice (American novelist). ‘Everyday Use.’ In Love & Trouble, by Alice Walker, Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1973, p. 47+. LitFinder, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A264014338/LITF?u=j070911001&sid=LITF&xid=b42b5d54. Accessed 8 Dec. 2019.

Everyday Use By Alice Walker: Analysis Of The Character Of Hakim

In the story “Everyday Use”, the author uses heritage to Even though he is marginal to the story in “Everyday Use,” I want to discuss the character of Hakim, as his presence is significant to the topic at hand and discussing him provides some entry into the concepts I want to explore. While never explicitly stated, one may surmise that Hakim is or considers himself to be a Black Muslim. The story infers this by his greeting of, his refusal of pork at the meal and calling it, and the mother’s own inference, saying to him, “‘You must belong to those beef-cattle peoples down the road”. His alliance with Black Islam seems to portray Hakim as politically minded or that communities of racism and promotion of African-American independence and self-initiative. Certainly, the mother’s admiration for the commune for its refusal to succumb to racist threats is apparent. She says of them, “When white folks poisoned some of the herd the men stayed up all night with rifles in their hands. I walked a mile and a half just to see the sight” (54). In this way, Black Islam embodies the ideals of African-American pride and empowerment. But the pursuit of these ideals is maintained through practical means. The mother says of the commune’s members, “Always too busy: feeding the cattle, fixing the fences, putting up saltlick shelters, throwing down hay” (54). And Cowart concludes that “the neighboring Muslims have immersed themselves in agrarian practicality” (173). The purpose of the commune, undoubtedly, is to provide its members with enough economic support to be self-sufficient, thereby reducing the influence from those on the outside who do not share the commune’s ideals. Moreover, the overt threat made on the commune is not idealistic but practical poisoning the cattle, the commune’s primary means of economic support. Or, more accurately, the poisoning threatens the commune’s ideas through its practical support as the two are interconnected. Hakim, however, does not appear to be a good representative of these or any other ideas. He acts respectfully when he greets the mother and Maggie. But he soon behaves in a rather pretentious manner when he tries to shake hands with Maggie in a “fancy” way she does not know and then “soon gives up on” her (53). Rather than considering a form of greeting with which Maggie would most likely be familiar, or rather than taking the time to teach her something new, Hakim does just enough to demonstrate what he knows; his actions are self-serving rather than relationship-building. More significantly, Hakim’s initial respect for the mother is undermined by the condecension he and Dee/Wangero1 exhibit during the conversation they have over Dee/Wangero’s decision to change her name. At one point, the mother observes, “He just stood there grinning, looking down on me like somebody inspecting a Model A car.

Occasionally, he and Wangero sent eye signals over my head” (54). Here, Hakim looks down on the mother not only literally but also figuratively, giving the impression that he is rather shallow and self-centered, far from idealistic. In the case of idealism and pragmatism, it is not that one is good, Even though he is marginal to the story in “Everyday Use,” I want to discuss the character of Hakim, as his presence is significant to the topic at hand and discussing him provides some entry into the concepts I want to explore. While never explicitly stated, one may surmise that Hakim is or considers himself to be a Black Muslim. The story infers this by his greeting of, his refusal of pork at the meal and calling it, and the mother’s own inference, saying to him, “‘You must belong to those beef-cattle peoples down the road”. His alliance with Black Islam seems to portray Hakim as politically minded or that communities of racism and promotion of African-American independence and self-initiative. Certainly, the mother’s admiration for the commune for its refusal to succumb to racist threats is apparent. She says of them, “When white folks poisoned some of the herd the men stayed up all night with rifles in their hands. I walked a mile and a half just to see the sight” (54). In this way, Black Islam embodies the ideals of African-American pride and empowerment. But the pursuit of these ideals is maintained through practical means. The mother says of the commune’s members, “Always too busy: feeding the cattle, fixing the fences, putting up saltlick shelters, throwing down hay” (54). And Cowart concludes that “the neighboring Muslims have immersed themselves in agrarian practicality” (173). The purpose of the commune, undoubtedly, is to provide its members with enough economic support to be self-sufficient, thereby reducing the influence from those on the outside who do not share the commune’s ideals. Moreover, the overt threat made on the commune is not idealistic but practical poisoning the cattle, the commune’s primary means of economic support. Or, more accurately, the poisoning threatens the commune’s ideas through its practical support as the two are interconnected. Hakim, however, does not appear to be a good representative of these or any other ideas. He acts respectfully when he greets the mother and Maggie. But he soon behaves in a rather pretentious manner when he tries to shake hands with Maggie in a “fancy” way she does not know and then “soon gives up on” her (53). Rather than considering a form of greeting with which Maggie would most likely be familiar, or rather than taking the time to teach her something new, Hakim does just enough to demonstrate what he knows; his actions are self-serving rather than relationship-building. More significantly, Hakim’s initial respect for the mother is undermined by the condescension he and Dee/Wangero1 exhibit during the conversation they have over Dee/Wangero’s decision to change her name. At one point, the mother observes, “He just stood there grinning, looking down on me like somebody inspecting a Model A car. Every once in a while, he and Wangero sent eye signals over my head” (54). Here, Hakim looks down on the mother not only literally but also figuratively, giving the impression that he is rather shallow and self-centered, far from idealistic.and the other is evil but that both have the potential to be both good and evil. Or, perhaps more to the point, every idealistic pursuit involves pragmatic action, and every pragmatic pursuit implicates some ideal. And this understanding is crucial because it reveals the instabilities in polarized debates and uncovers the wider issues at stake. Even though he is marginal to the story in “Everyday Use,” I want to discuss the character of Hakim, as his presence is significant to the topic at hand and discussing him provides some entry into the concepts I want to explore. While never explicitly stated, one may surmise that Hakim is or considers himself to be a Black Muslim. The story infers this by his greeting of, his refusal of pork at the meal and calling it, and the mother’s own inference, saying to him, “‘You must belong to those beef-cattle peoples down the road”. His alliance with Black Islam seems to portray Hakim as politically minded or that communities of racism and promotion of African-American independence and self-initiative. Certainly, the mother’s admiration for the commune for its refusal to succumb to racist threats is apparent. She says of them, “When white folks poisoned some of the herd the men stayed up all night with rifles in their hands. I walked a mile and a half just to see the sight” (54). In this way, Black Islam embodies the ideals of African-American pride and empowerment. But the pursuit of these ideals is maintained through practical means. The mother says of the commune’s members, “Always too busy: feeding the cattle, fixing the fences, putting up saltlick shelters, throwing down hay” (54). And Cowart concludes that “the neighboring Muslims have immersed themselves in agrarian practicality” (173). The purpose of the commune, undoubtedly, is to provide its members with enough economic support to be self-sufficient, thereby reducing the influence from those on the outside who do not share the commune’s ideals. Moreover, the overt threat made on the commune is not idealistic but practical poisoning the cattle, the commune’s primary means of economic support. Or, more accurately, the poisoning threatens the commune’s ideas through its practical support as the two are interconnected. Hakim, however, does not appear to be a good representative of these or any other ideas. He acts respectfully when he greets the mother and Maggie. But he soon behaves in a rather pretentious manner when he tries to shake hands with Maggie in a “fancy” way she does not know and then “soon gives up on” her (53). Rather than considering a form of greeting with which Maggie would most likely be familiar, or rather than taking the time to teach her something new, Hakim does just enough to demonstrate what he knows; his actions are self-serving rather than relationship-building. More significantly, Hakim’s initial respect for the mother is undermined by the condescension he and Dee/Wangero1 exhibit during the conversation they have over Dee/Wangero’s decision to change her name. At one point, the mother observes, “He just stood there grinning, looking down on me like somebody inspecting a Model A car. Every once in a while, he and Wangero sent eye signals over my head” (54). Here, Hakim looks down on the mother not only literally but also figuratively, giving the impression that he is rather shallow and self-centered, far from idealistic.

1 Identifying this character poses a challenge to critics. Her given name is “Dee,” and she is largely (though not exclusively) identified by that term in the story itself. However, she makes it clear that she prefers to be called “Wangero,” and the mother makes some attempt to comply with this wish. Some critics will continue to use her given name while others address her by her chosen name. I attempt to have it both ways by identifying her as “Dee/Wangero” (despite its awkwardness) because both names and their implications are vital to the story’s dynamics. In a sense, one may think of “Dee/Wangero” as the binary oppositions with which the character struggles, which in turn may inform the issues of African-American identity and identification. Yet Hakim is seen as most pragmatic in his response to the mother’s question about his affiliation with the commune. When she asks if he is one of them, he responds, “‘I accept some of their doctrines, but farming and raising cattle is not my style’” (55). By stating that the hard, hands-on labor of the commune is not his “style,” Hakim unwittingly reveals the limitation of his idealism and the extent of his pragmatism. He will “‘accept doctrines,’” but whatever support he lends for their maintenance cannot cramp his “style.” Certainly, it is this laughable notion that the practical support for ideas must accord with a sense of style that infers that Hakim embraces Black Islam not out of a sense of devotion but out of a sense of personal fulfillment that does not go so far as making sacrifices or promoting community (as the members of the commune do). Of course, it would be a mistake to condemn Hakim too vigorously; he follows a long line of idealists who could not or would not submit to the practical rigors of communal life. The significant point to remember is that his character serves as a basic introduction for the ways ideals can be employed to mask one’s pragmatic pursuits. But the portrayal of Hakim as idealistically superficial pales in comparison to that of Dee/Wangero. Indeed, most readers see her in a negative light despite the admirable ideals she maintains. Undoubtedly, this is due in part to the story’s narrative perspective. This is the mother’s story, and she tells it in the first person. Dee/Wangero is her antagonist and the mother do a good job portraying herself in a sympathetic light. The mother is not without her shortcomings, however. Particularly, her speech and behavior strongly suggest that she has conflicted thoughts and feelings toward both of her daughters as well as herself. Toward Dee/Wangero she exhibits pride, anger, envy, and resentment; toward Maggie, she exhibits pride, guilt, sympathy, and disgust; toward herself, she exhibits pride, inferiority, and shame. The ramifications of these issues are beyond the scope of this study, so it is necessary to point out that her attributes that do fall within the scope of this study and therefore receive close examination here, do not exhaust the analysis of her character.

In any event, this character most readily exemplifies how idealism and pragmatism are always already intertwined. Dee/Wangero’s ideas are revealed in her espousal of the Black Pride movement. She has left the family’s rural and impoverished state in pursuit of college education, and she returns with a strong appreciation for African heritage. The appreciation is initially shown in her manner of dress (the clothing consists of “yellows and oranges enough to throw back the light of the sun,” earrings “hanging down to her shoulders,” and “Bracelets dangling and making noises” [52]) that appears—at least stereotypically—African. Even more significantly, she now has taken an African name, Wangero, over her gave European-derived name, Dee. Dee/Wangero’s sense of heritage is expressed further as she recognizes several household items to be significant folk artifacts. She marvels over “how lovely [the] benches are” (55). And she recognizes the ornamental potential of such implements by desiring to turn the butter churn top into a centerpiece and “‘to do something artistic with the dasher’” (56). Yet her value of heritage is most seen in her appreciation of the mother’s hand-sewn quilts. Rather than put them to use, Dee/Wangero wants to hang them, recognizing them as works of art. In fact, she even declares that “‘they’re priceless’” (57, emphasis original). Here, Dee/Wangero’s belief that the worth of these heirlooms cannot be measured by money reflects an idealization of both her African and African-American heritage. It is not difficult to discern the shortcomings in Dee/ Wangero’s ideals, however, and most critics of the story effectively point these out. But among the criticism, I have found, only Susan Farrell discusses at length the positive attributes of the character. Farrell points out that “While Dee is certainly insensitive and selfish to a certain degree, she nevertheless offers a view of heritage and a strategy for contemporary

African-Americans to cope with an oppressive society that is, in some ways, more valid than that offered by Mama and Maggie” (179). Dee/Wangero understands the value of what the dominant society says is worthless. And as such, she recognizes the value of her heritage and herself. Also, while most critics discuss what is problematic about Dee/Wangero’s desire to change her name, Farrell brings the discussion back to the point that “Dee’s assertion that the name comes from ‘the people who oppress’ her is accurate” (183). This is the mother’s story, and she tells it in the first person. Dee/Wangero is her antagonist and the mother do a good job portraying herself in a sympathetic Wangero, more than any other character in the story, identifies and pursues corrective measures against the oppression of African-American society and culture. Or, again as Farrell puts it, “Dee refuses to meekly accept the status quo” (181). But even Farrell admits that Dee/Wangero has her faults, and these can be collectively described as a failure to admit, both to herself and to her family, how her pragmatic concerns are intertwined with the ideals of heritage and Black Pride. The consensus among the critics concerning Dee/Wangero seems to be, in the words of Houston A. Baker, Jr. and Charlotte PierceBaker, that “Assured by the makers of American fashion that ‘black’ is currently ‘beautiful,’ she has confirmed her own ‘style’ to that notion. Hers is a trendy ‘blackness’ cultivated as art and costume” (160). This is not to say there are not or should not be pragmatic advantages to the pursuit of ideas. Instead, Dee/ Wangero demonstrates the detrimental consequences of failing to recognize how idealism and pragmatism are intertwined and how privileging one undermines both. The chinks in Dee/Wangero’s idealistic armor are seen early in the story. For someone who claims a rich understanding of heritage, she is remarkably distant—economically, psychologically—from her closest connections to that heritage: her immediate family. Baker and Pierce-Baker (161), Raimund Borgmeier, Sam Whitsitt, and Charles E. Wilson (176) all make this point, in some way and in varying degrees, in relation to Dee/Wangero’s photography at the beginning of her visit. Borgmeier observes,

“It is as if before entering that scene Dee wants to make sure that she has a picture of herself not being part of the picture. She wants to frame that world, define its borders, give it wholeness which then allows her to handle it without being a part of it” (66). And Whitsitt says,

Know Where You Come From: Analysis of Everyday Use and Sonny’s Blues

The effects of the Jim Crow Laws lasted until the mid-1960s, since Everyday Use was set in the late 1960s early 1970s even, they got effect from the laws. During this time of age many African Americans were struggling to reshape and regain their social and political identity in American society. At the time scholars became interested in the African heritage that had survived throughout Slavery and Jim Crow Laws, they wanted to know how these traditions were still present within the 1960s and 1970s.

In Everyday Use Author Alice Walker paints a beautiful picture of the importance of understanding and comprehending our daily lives with the traditions and cultural awareness of our people. Alice views the different sides of heritage in the main characters of this story who are Maggie, Dee, and her mother. Dee can be seen as a dynamic, materialistic and educated individual about modern-day life in which heritage and culture are respected for their ‘trendy’ and aesthetic appeals. Momma reflects a way of life that respects cultural heritage and its meaning.

Dee in the story has caused herself to be blinded to her heritage’s values norms, it seems like a personal provocation from where her people come from that she fails to agree. Dee opposes whatever has conspired to subjugate the Black race in the past. She seeks to believe that this family dimension has no place in her life by taking an African name, ignoring her family’s origins, and wearing African clothing. Yet in doing so she still refuses the positive things that her friends and family have made for her. She needs the quilt merely as an accessory, she says, “Maggie knows how to quit” (Tate 59). Regardless of the love and goodies that come with it, her sister wants the quilt, but it is not anything to be ashamed of given her link to her past and grandma. When she tells Dee to keep the quilts, Dee “grasps like a bee had stung her” and exclaimed, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!” (Walker 477).

While Maggie isn’t almost as ‘sophisticated’ as her sister, she is far more grounded beyond her sister’s imaginations. Dee will never be ‘successful’ as she has lost sight and sense of who she is which came from her ancestors, struggling to survive to have a better life for their descendants than they had. It can be noted that this story contains a conflict between the two women where Dee is struggling to create an identity for her. It was a kind of tradition that she was named after her grandmother and she wanted to change the name. Taking her daughter in Momma states, “ have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone ignorant enough to be kind to them? That is the way my Maggie walks” (Walker 471).

The mother’s similarly and rhetorical question draws the reader in and illustrates in a new light of pity. Maggie is portrayed as a scarred, simple girl, who is often taken advantage of and walked on. The empathy felt towards Maggie contrasts greatly with Dee’s description that is said to be finished with “A dress so loud it hurt my eyes…It (the air) is as black as night around the edges are two long pigtails that rope about like small lizards disappearing behind her ears” (Walker 473).

Baldwin’s ‘Sonny’s Blues’ confronts the rivalry between two distant brothers; Sonny and the narrator, who attempt to find themselves in a dark reality. The story follows the older brother as he struggles to identify with his brother, Sonny, who is in ruin and trouble. With their parents gone, the elder brother attempts to contain and control Sonny’s actions and notes about his jazz d musician dream that “it seemed beneath him, somehow. I had never thought about it before, had been forced to, but I suppose I had always put jazz musicians in a class with daddy” (Baldwin 44). Sonny’s brother deepens the divide between himself and Sonny by assuming the mentality of and acting like the absent parents.

The extent of the divide is demonstrated by the diction of the rebuttal statement from sonny stressing that he is serious. The words in italics further illustrate the intensity of that confrontation by adding color to the words spoken. The younger brother just wanted to be himself and happy; he didn’t want to tell his older brother what to do or be condescending. The narrator finally realized this year later as shown in the statement that he realized with his brother’s mocking look that there was standing between us, beyond the power of time or forgiveness forever. The finality of the actions of the older brother is obvious for the ‘forward’ diction. The narrator had never known his brother and was therefore removed from the life of his brother.

The problem is that the narrator and his brother have so long fought that they cannot see that they can help each other rediscover their respective identities. The old brother has valued education and wants to reform his brother so that he can live better. Finally, the narrator saw how little he understood of his brother, remarking when listening to him on the piano. Now instead of warning his brother about the heroin that had flowed through his blood vessels, the narrator sees “royal blood” in his brother’s veins. This metaphor depicted the true identity of the narrator’s brother and underlines the rift between the two brothers (Baldwin 45). This rift caused Sonny to find a new family which he did in the jazz music in his ragtag group. The narrator always doubted the career choice of his brother and, as a result, a conflict arose between them. Sonny realized, however, that his fate had been decided, and he’d been made a musician. The conflict forced the brothers apart as they clashed over ideas and philosophies of difference.

This story has a tremendous impact on learners because, despite the choices they had made in their life experiences, it shows the two brothers reconcile. On the surface, no two brothers could appear any more distinct than Sonny and the narrator. The narrator is a respectable teacher and a man with a family. He’s cautious and proud of his lifetime achievement. In contrast, Sonny is passionate, and he’s not afraid to take risks in life to follow the dreams he wants. Sonny and the narrator, who we meet in flashbacks, have lost their parents through an accident. The two brothers are choosing different paths in life to escape the realities of their past. Through education, family, and respectability the narrator escaped his way. By contrast, by plunging himself into a private world of introspection, drugs and his passion for music, Sonny escaped his past.

From Alice Walker’s ‘Everyday Use’ story it clearly explains home as the place where you can find support for your family and morals. In this story, it is not only abstract ideas which can represent the idea of a home such as “home is where your heart is,”