Everyday Use By Alice Walker

Mariyam Butt
Prof. Camila Alvarez
ENC 1102 MW 8:00-9:15 AM
26 September 2015
899 Words
Essay 1 Characterization: Without a Second Thought Culture, tradition, and values: Does a baby learn about heritage from a mother’s womb? The knowledge of heritage initially develops as a person becomes aware of the family importance. More or less, “heritage” does play a significant role in shaping one’s personality; nevertheless, life does not always revolve around it. The fancy desires and colorful world leads to materialism. Thus, the environmental influences add a lot more to it. Simplicity, symbolism, family values are some of the themes that also reflect different perspectives on life. In “Everyday Use”, Alice Walker presents the character of Dee as arrogant and selfish; however, closer examination shows that Dee is not expressive towards her family and is rather smart and straightforward to go with the flow of life.
The character of Dee has been presented as a girl who is really immature.
Dee, a family name passed down to her from generations, carried immense importance in the eyes of Mama. “You know as well as me you were named after your aunt Dicie” (Walker 746). Hearing the new name Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, Mama was very disappointed and thought of Wangero as a girl who did not only change her name but her priorities too. “I couldn’t bear it any longer being named after the people who oppress me” (746). Having her own reasons, Wangero was independent enough to change her name. However, she was considered selfish to live her life the way she wanted to. “You don’t have to call me by it if you don’t want to” (747). This clearly states that if mama was not happy enough to call her with the new name, Wangero would not mind at all. She could have convinced her mother to call her by the name of Wangero, but she did not do that. This shows her affection and love towards mama. However, there are times where it seems like Dee does not really care about her
family. In the story, Dee did not really express or show interest towards her family. Her actions spoke louder than words; without a second thought, she did whatever she wanted to. “Wangero went on through the chitlins, corn bread, the greens and everything else” (747). Even though Hakim-a-barber (the friend of Wangero) refused to eat collards and pork, Wangero was happy to eat all that she could. “Everything delighted her; even the fact that we still used the benches her daddy made for the table when we couldn’t afford to buy chairs” (747). Knowing the fact that her mother could not afford to buy chairs, Wangero did not complain about the old benches. In fact, she cried and realized how lovely the benches were. “Didn’t Uncle Buddy whittle the churn top out of a tree you all used to have?” (747). If she did not care about her heritage, she would have shown no interest to know the history behind her name or the churn top. Dee also shares her creative thoughts; for example, “I can use the churn top as a centerpiece for the alcove table, and I’ll think of something artistic to do with the dasher” (747). Dee was extremely excited to have the churn and dasher, and she had various ideas on her mind. Apart from the churn and dasher, there were also other old objects that are symbolized in this story. Symbolism is another theme in this story; Old quilts symbolize culture and family heritage. When Dee shows her interest towards these old quilts, there are moments where she presents herself as a person who knows the importance of it. For instance, “These are all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear. She did all this stitching by hand. Imagine!” (748). Wangero was dying to have those quilts knowing that these quilts are the fragments of history and carries tremendous importance. She tries to make it clear that Maggie cannot simply understand and appreciate its significance. She tries to explain Mama that, “Maggie would probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use” (748). Wangero believed that these quilts were priceless and only she can perfectly put them to everyday use. Nonetheless, she became upset because mama refused to give her those quilts, so she gave Maggie a good advice. Wangero said, “It is really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live you would never know it” (749). Before Wangero left, she conveyed a deep message with hidden meanings. She tries to make Maggie understand that this life is a lot more than what she thinks. Every day is a new day to unlock the gates of opportunities in order to excel, but she also points out that the key to unlock the gates is to live with a new way and different thinking. Dee’s characterization did not only present her as egoistic and selfish yet also a smart and honest person who looks at life with a unique perspective. Hence, Dee plays an important part in the story. Dee had some knowledge about heritage, but it was not more than the knowledge she had about life. It was her knowledge about life that made her so confident and blunt because she had better understanding than Maggie and her mother. Moreover, she was not so expressive, yet there were moments in the story where she showed care and love through her actions. In order to shine and rise, there are times in life where one has to step out of their comfort zone and become who they actually want to be.

Work Cited
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. 743-49.