Culture In Everyday Use By Alice Walker
As earlier mentioned, culture can greatly influence viewpoints because everyone's background is different. In the short story, "Everyday Use," by Alice Walker, two of the main characters have completely different views on history, despite being sisters. "But they're priceless!...Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they'd be in rags...She can have them Mama...I can 'member Grandma Dee without the quilts(Walker.)" Even if they grew up in the same house, their views on culture are nearly opposites. Dee wants to connect with her ancestors, going so far as to change her name. “No Mama,” she says, “Not ‘Dee’, Wangero Leewakina Kemanjo!...What happened to Dee?...She’s dead(Walker).” Despite having a perfectly middle-class life
with her mother and sister, she wants to move on in life, leaving them both behind to go back to her roots. She finds more value in history rather than family, and that, is where she must retrace a few steps and realize where to draw the line. Family is much more important than the past, and while it would be nice to keep them, should never get in the way of your current family. Maggie feels this way, knowing that even if she doesn’t have the quilts, doesn’t have physical memories of them, she will have them in her heart, and she will have her mother by her side.
with her mother and sister, she wants to move on in life, leaving them both behind to go back to her roots. She finds more value in history rather than family, and that, is where she must retrace a few steps and realize where to draw the line. Family is much more important than the past, and while it would be nice to keep them, should never get in the way of your current family. Maggie feels this way, knowing that even if she doesn’t have the quilts, doesn’t have physical memories of them, she will have them in her heart, and she will have her mother by her side.