Alice Walker's Everyday Use: The African American Legacy

Caleb Onwuka
Mr. Michael Franco
ENGL 1213
06 January, 2015
“Everyday Use” - The African American Legacy
Alice Walker, the author of “Everyday Use”, narrates a story of a family’s racial heritage and the effect it had on the kid’s relationship and sense of identity. Walker illustrates how a mother of two daughters chooses the fate of a younger unfortunate daughter that submits to the family’s core values than the elderly one that fights against it. Most African American families face the same struggle on a daily basis; the fight of choices between the strong conservative parents and the opposing liberal kids who are following the modern trend but in the midst of it are trying to hold on to their cultural heritage considering the racial pandemic
that looms throughout their society. “Everyday Use” was published in the late 60’s during a time when most African Americans were fighting for their identity and to preserve their cultural norms. Walker portrays that an African American is not all African and to deny the American culture of one’s heritage would be an identity crisis. She use characters such as Mama, Dee (Wangero) and Maggie to exhibit her subject matter.
Walker gives a rundown of the character Mama, in her words stating “a large, big-boned woman, with rough man-working hands.
In the winter I wear flannel night gowns to bed and overalls during the day. I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man” (744). This portrays the picture of a typical African-American Mother who is working tirelessly to keep up with her family and especially the kids regardless of what the man does; either he provides or goes away living his life. It also displays a domineering spirit of most African women in their families to rule and preserve the norms of their homes. Mama’s lack of education does not limit her from comprehending the importance of her cultural heritage; which can be seen from how she related to the quilt and her love and respect to preserve it and hand it down to someone she assumed would do the same (Maggie). In as much as Mama never approved some attitudes of Dee; she identified to her heritage. Most African immigrants in America are just like Mama; they are faced with a struggle to preserve their cultural heritage and pass it onto their US-born kids. Instead they finds Dee’s earlier attitude of denying her heritage showing up and their responds would be just like Mama “I didn’t want to bring up how I have offered Dee (Wangero) the quilt, when she went away to college. Then She had told me, they were old fashioned and out of style”
(749).
Walker uses the character Dee to display a cultural identity crisis; when an individual is left on the crossroad to decided either to hold on to the African cultures or to find a middle place that blends the both together. Mama narrates how Dee acted toward the rest of the family: “She use to read to us without pity, forcing words, lies, other folks habits and whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice” (745). Mama continues later, “She wrote me once, that no matter where we choose to live, she will manage to come see us” (746). This two instances shows how Dee has adapted the American Spirit which depicts “Superiority over all”; she looks down on her Mama and Maggie as old fashioned ignoramus. Let’s say an African Immigrant in America with the name “Obikandu” was looking for a job in New York City; a Multicultural City, where he comes across various accents daily in the market places, on the streets and even in the worship centers such as churches and mosques. He finds himself in a conundrum where his dressing code changes but his accent remains; A battle of cultural identity is staged everywhere he goes. A common American would find no vacuum in him and the prevalent racial segregation of the South would stereotype him as a nuisance to the society but his fellow immigrants will notice the twist of heritage.
However, there are some African Americans who have sustained their heritage in the family but have lived in denial of the American side of it.
Walker uses the character Maggie to represent the neglect of the American heritage. Mama’s words describes her nature: “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 envy and awe.”(744). Maggie’s scars represent the pains and psychological impact all African-Americans carry as a result of slavery in the past and the present pandemic of racial prejudice. For example, the current trend of police harassment of young black men, and the stereotyping of a black male on a huddy in the night. When watching recent videos on youtube and facebook, one would witness the Maggie’s scar on the African American
community.
Walker seems to use this story to describe the everyday experience of the African American community and its rich and conflicting heritage to the minds of the new generation blacks such as Dee and Maggie. One would immediately see the sarcasm in Mama’s tone through the story towards Dee and her unstable stand towards her cultural heritage. The African American people are strong, bold and confident of their heritage and would preserve it through all generation, transferring the quilt from one hand to another in their families; regardless of the everyday oppositions they face in the American society.

Work Cited
Alice Walker. “Everyday Use” The McGraw-Hill. Reader: Issues across the Disciplines. Custom Edition for Oklahoma City Community College. Ed. Gilbert H. Muller. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2014. 744-750. Print.