Cultural Identity In Alice Walker's My Mother Pieced Quilts

“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker illustrates the importance of knowing the traditions of your family and being

In the short story “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 “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 main theme of the story. The line between being proud of whom one is and exploiting one’s self is broken and blurred by one character. The other two keep their firm ground in living out their values, rather than using it simply as a conversation starter.

Alice Walker’s story “Everyday Use” is a story decipating family and heritage. She released the story with a collection of other short stories called In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women. This collection revealed Walker to be one of the finest of late twentieth century American short-story writers (Phy-Olsen). According to Cowart, the story address itself “to the dilemma of African Americans who are striving to escape prejudice and poverty.” One of the main characters, Dee, made drastic changes and would like her mother and sister to see things her way. Dee’s statement to her mother and sister regarding their disregard of heritage is very ironic considering the fact her name is a part of the family’s history, her new behavior, and her

In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, this short story characterizes not only the symbolism of heritage but also shows a difference in human character. The story reveals an African American family who lives in a small home and struggles financially, while it consists of a mother and her two daughters that are treated very differently from their mom. One of the daughter’s name is Dee, a well-educated woman, who struggles to understand her family’s heritage and is embarrassed by her family’s background. Maggie is the other sister who is kind, obedient and manages to appreciate her family. To represent the appreciation she provided for her family, the quilt is described as a powerful symbol to them. The quilts play an important role in depicting symbolism of heritage because they signify mama family origins. For instance, Dee's significant family members all have pieces of their fabric gown on to the quilts as a remembrance of who they were and their importance in the family. However, Dee does not see the quilts her ancestors made as valuable, handmade quilts should be passed down and taken care to keep their history alive. As for Maggie, Dee believes she can’t appreciate the quilt in the same way she can. “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts,” Dee responded. She thinks Maggie will use these quilts, so she can turn them into rags. Despite what Maggie concludes, the quilts for Maggie and mama are meaningful to them, because they were made by members of the Johnson family and have

Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday use” tells the story of a mother and her daughter’s conflicting ideas about their identities and heritage. Mrs. Johnson an uneducated woman narrates the story of the day one daughter, Dee, visits from college. Mrs. Johnson auto-describes herself as a “big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands.”(180,Walker). Contrasting her auto-description, she describes Dee as a young lady with light complexion, nice hair and full figure that “wanted nice things.”(181,Walker). The arrival of Dee to Mrs. Johnson’s house causes mixed emotions on Mrs. Johnson. Dee Johnson and Mrs. Johnson have differing viewpoints on heritage and each value possessions for different reasons. Dee’s superficiality and materialist ways

In the short story "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 with her roots and makes the most out of the surroundings that she has been placed in. Through the use of symbolism, the tangible object of a family heirloom quilt brings out these issues relating to heritage to Mama, and she is able to reasonably decide which of her daughters has

Through contrasting family members and views in "Everyday Use", Alice Walker illustrates the importance of understanding our present life in relation to the traditions of our own people and culture. Using careful descriptions and attitudes, Walker demonstrates which factors contribute to the values of one's heritage and culture; she illustrates that these are represented not by the possession of objects or mere appearances, but by one's lifestyle and attitude.

In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”, Walker juxtaposes two different daughters in their quest for a cultural identity. The narrator, their mother, talks about how each daughter is different; Dee went off to college and became well-educated, contrary to their impoverished and low status as black women in the south. Meanwhile, Maggie isn’t nearly as educated as Dee is, but is still literate. The entire story centers around Dee’s visit with her new Muslim significant other. The story’s climax is when Dee wants to take two special quilts back home, but those quilts are for Maggie. These precious quilts comprise their culture. Henceforth, Dee does not deserve to take the quilts with her because she has decided to take on a culture that varies significantly from her own and she is already used to getting what she wants.

The short story, “Everyday Use”, was written by Alice Walker. She has a well-known reputation worldwide from being a novelist, poet, short story writer, activist and feminist. Many of Walkers writings discuss issues facing African Americans. For her short story, “Everyday Use”, Walker focuses points on African Americans lacking understanding for their heritage. She uses a quilt as a symbol of heritage for her characters, Mama, Maggie and Dee.

Tha main conflict in the short story “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker, is Mother’s decision on which daughter will get the quilt, also showing the importance of heritage that how two quilts could symbolize the family’s legacy. Walker points out the difference between the stereotypes of African American women with the realities that make up their lives and expresses the importance of culture. The story evolves around when Dee visits her family and introduces her fiancé, with the intentions of not only visit her mother and sister; as well to demonstrate her superiority to them. The events in the climax resolve the conflict because Maggie wants the quilt for everyday use, and Dee wants it use them to decorate her own place. Maggie knows more of

You ever wonder how some people interpret things differently? That's a mystery to most, but Alice Walker allows us to view her story in a way were we all get the same idea. " Everyday Use" is a short story written by Alice Walker which uses symbolism, imagery, and allegory. It was an interesting and exceptional piece regarding quilts and family history.

“Everyday Use” is a short story by Alice Walker, which emphasizes the importance of understanding and cherishing your heritage and the inheritance that may come along with it. Knowing who is truly entitled to the inheritance, and what their heritage meant was the central conflict in the story, when the two main characters Dee and Maggie, both wanted the two hand stitched quilts. Rather than looking at the physical aspect of the quilts the author wants the reader to know that the meaning is much deeper. The quilts are used to depict the struggle, triumphs, oppression, joy, pain, and love of each hand that helped to create the prized works of art. The quilts needed to be put to everyday use, rather than a mere decoration on the wall. Through the quilts Walker was able to show what each character valued: Dee valued the materials things, Maggie, valued things she could attach herself to, and Mama valued the acceptance of her daughter Dee.

Traditions and lifestyles are pivotal themes that come across throughout “Everyday Use” as well as the topics of race, family, and home. In “Everyday Use” Alice Walker writes compelling characters who embody the customs passed down from generations. The quilts symbolize and represent their history, heritage, and culture. Walker illustrates a black impoverished family living in a rural community during the segregation of blacks and whites. The family happens to live in a small house and are financially poor but are enriched by tradition and heritage.

In the “Everyday Use”, Alice Walker tells a story about a mother and her two daughters, Maggie and Dee. She sees the conflicts between her two daughters’ perspective of African tradition and heritage. Maggie and Dee are totally different characters with total opposite view of their cultures. Maggie lives with her mother in a simple life; she learns everything from her mother even along with her family’s heritage. In contrast, Dee feels ashamed of her heritage, because she changes her lifestyle and gets educated by living in school. She thinks her mother lives in an out-of-style life. To the mother, she believes her heritage should not be forgotten, it should be use every day like the quilts instead of hanging on the wall for decoration, so

Throughout the story Mama explains how Dee despised everything involving her family and heritage. When Dee returns in the story they witness how she very strongly embraced stereotypical African culture instead of her family heritage. “A dress so loud it hurt my eyes. There are yellows and oranges…Earrings, too, gold and dangling down to her shoulders. (326)” She is trying to represent the African culture but fails to realize that what she is trying to establish is meaningless compared to her true family heritage. The name ‘Dee’ holds a stronger history than ‘Wangero’ because that name has been in the family since before the Civil War. “You know as well as me you were named after your aunt Dicie.(326) “I probably could have carried it back