Everyday Use By Alice Walker Analysis
Tamika McGraw
Assistant Professor Ellen Boose
English 102-104
September 24, 2014
“Everyday Use” Lack of Understanding Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” displays the importance of heritage through Mama, Maggie, and Dee. Mama and Maggie cherish their heritage with an accumulation of items over the years and often reminisce about the experiences they have had with their loved ones, but Dee has an inability to understand the true meaning of heritage. Years before, Dee rejected her true black heritage. She had always been negative towards Mama and her sister, Maggie. When their house burned down, Dee showed no emotion and watched it burn rather than show concern for Maggie, who is now scarred from the incident. Mama’s church helped …show more content…
raise money to send Dee to college in Augusta, which she did not seem to appreciate, but accepted because she was anxious to get away. Before Dee goes away for school, she would read to Mama and Maggie, not for their enjoyment, but because Dee felt as if she was better than they. She once wrote Mama saying, “[. . .] no matter where we ‘chose’ to live, she would manage to come see us. But she would never bring her friends” (Walker 1127). Dee never wanted anyone to know where she lived because she was afraid they would make fun of her. She hardly visited her home because she was ashamed of her poor lifestyle. Now, Dee shows false acceptance of African-Islamic heritage.
When she arrives, Mama notices she has on a bright colored dress, long gold earrings, and dangling bracelets. It is apparent she has accepted the fashion sense of the new religion she has chosen to follow. She also adopts Muslim customs by changing her name to Wangero and associating herself with Hakim-a-barber. Dee says the person she once was is now dead and she no longer wants to be “[. . .] named after the people who oppress me [her]” (Walker 1128). Her impression of her name comes from the assumption that she is named after the slave owners of her ancestors. Diane M. Ross states that “To her mother, the name ‘Dee’ is symbolic of family unity; after all, she can trace it back to the time of the Civil War” (732). However, Dee is not committed to her name change since she still allows her family to call her by her original, oppressive name. She also eats the chitlins Mama prepares, while Hakim-a-barber refuses them, because pork is said to be unclean. From the time Dee arrives home until she finishes her supper, she pretends as if she is delighted to be there, but everything about her is …show more content…
unreal. Dee now also exhibits a sense of false acceptance of her Black-American heritage.
When she arrives home, she immediately gets out to takes pictures of where she once lived. While doing so, she is sure to include the cow, which is a representation that her family works hard. Everything about her home is important now because it is in style to own things that are old fashioned and to come from poverty. Dee is sure her mother will let her have anything she desires. She rummages throughout the house to find things she thinks will be of value to take back with her. Ross also indicates, “It never occurs to her [Dee] that they too, are symbols of oppression: Her family made these things because they could not afford to buy them” (732). Lacking in respect and with no genuine understanding of the things her mother has saved, Dee only wants to use them as decorations in her
home. Unable to understand the true meaning of heritage, Dee is caught up in the new time period, and tries to use her family’s way of living to increase her popularity. Despite her education, she has no appreciation of where she comes from and shuns her family for being poor. She lives to impress those around her instead of being accepted for who she really is and where she comes from.
Works Cited Ross, Diane M. “Everyday Use.” Masterplots II: Short Story Series. Vol. 2. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Pasedena: Salem, 1986. 731-34. Print
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Literature for Composition. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, et al. 10th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 746-756. Print.
Assistant Professor Ellen Boose
English 102-104
September 24, 2014
“Everyday Use” Lack of Understanding Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” displays the importance of heritage through Mama, Maggie, and Dee. Mama and Maggie cherish their heritage with an accumulation of items over the years and often reminisce about the experiences they have had with their loved ones, but Dee has an inability to understand the true meaning of heritage. Years before, Dee rejected her true black heritage. She had always been negative towards Mama and her sister, Maggie. When their house burned down, Dee showed no emotion and watched it burn rather than show concern for Maggie, who is now scarred from the incident. Mama’s church helped …show more content…
raise money to send Dee to college in Augusta, which she did not seem to appreciate, but accepted because she was anxious to get away. Before Dee goes away for school, she would read to Mama and Maggie, not for their enjoyment, but because Dee felt as if she was better than they. She once wrote Mama saying, “[. . .] no matter where we ‘chose’ to live, she would manage to come see us. But she would never bring her friends” (Walker 1127). Dee never wanted anyone to know where she lived because she was afraid they would make fun of her. She hardly visited her home because she was ashamed of her poor lifestyle. Now, Dee shows false acceptance of African-Islamic heritage.
When she arrives, Mama notices she has on a bright colored dress, long gold earrings, and dangling bracelets. It is apparent she has accepted the fashion sense of the new religion she has chosen to follow. She also adopts Muslim customs by changing her name to Wangero and associating herself with Hakim-a-barber. Dee says the person she once was is now dead and she no longer wants to be “[. . .] named after the people who oppress me [her]” (Walker 1128). Her impression of her name comes from the assumption that she is named after the slave owners of her ancestors. Diane M. Ross states that “To her mother, the name ‘Dee’ is symbolic of family unity; after all, she can trace it back to the time of the Civil War” (732). However, Dee is not committed to her name change since she still allows her family to call her by her original, oppressive name. She also eats the chitlins Mama prepares, while Hakim-a-barber refuses them, because pork is said to be unclean. From the time Dee arrives home until she finishes her supper, she pretends as if she is delighted to be there, but everything about her is …show more content…
unreal. Dee now also exhibits a sense of false acceptance of her Black-American heritage.
When she arrives home, she immediately gets out to takes pictures of where she once lived. While doing so, she is sure to include the cow, which is a representation that her family works hard. Everything about her home is important now because it is in style to own things that are old fashioned and to come from poverty. Dee is sure her mother will let her have anything she desires. She rummages throughout the house to find things she thinks will be of value to take back with her. Ross also indicates, “It never occurs to her [Dee] that they too, are symbols of oppression: Her family made these things because they could not afford to buy them” (732). Lacking in respect and with no genuine understanding of the things her mother has saved, Dee only wants to use them as decorations in her
home. Unable to understand the true meaning of heritage, Dee is caught up in the new time period, and tries to use her family’s way of living to increase her popularity. Despite her education, she has no appreciation of where she comes from and shuns her family for being poor. She lives to impress those around her instead of being accepted for who she really is and where she comes from.
Works Cited Ross, Diane M. “Everyday Use.” Masterplots II: Short Story Series. Vol. 2. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Pasedena: Salem, 1986. 731-34. Print
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Literature for Composition. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, et al. 10th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 746-756. Print.