Everyday Use By Alice Walker Research Paper

Everyday Use

A. Alice Walker is an African American poet, essayist, novelist activist, and short-story writer. Alice Walker penned the novel “The Color Purple” which is her most famous novel, in for which she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize (Bio.Com). Walker also won the National Book Award in the same year 1983 (Bio.Com).
Alice Walker was born and raised in Eatonton Georgia; she was the youngest daughter of share croppers (Bio.Com). Living in the racially divided south, Walker attended segregated schools (Bio.Com). Alice Walker wrote the Everyday Use Story using her own experiences, growing up in a poor household (Bio.Com). She was from a large family, and her mother did what needed to be done, in order to take care of her family, even if it wasn’t what society, would consider socially acceptable (Bio.Com). Walker suffered a serious injury that assisted in creating a homebody, reminding me of Maggie. The recent turn in her social life created the amazing writer we are reading about today.
Walker wrote many times stories that were based on her own experiences (Bio.Com). She had a creative mind and her vision was based on African American life and culture (Bio.Com). In particular, about their folk wisdom, economic
hardships and racial terror. Through her writing, she explores multidimensional kinships among women, and embraces the redemptive power of social and political revolution. (Bio.Com).
B. This story deals with ancestry, love, strength and commitment. Alice walker had what most people would consider to be a very difficult life. However, growing up with no money was not an excuse for her. Alice used this difficult time to push her to get her life to the place where she wanted it to be. She grew up watching her mother work hard that persuaded her to work just as hard, continuing her education in two very well-known colleges, Spelman College and Sarah Lawrence College (Bio.Com). Alice walker is an inspiration to anyone that comes from very little, with big dreams.
C. The protagonist in this story is mama, while the antagonist is Dee. The protagonist struggles with her daughter Dee, and her newly found views of her heritage. Dee feels like her heritage isn’t being remembered or celebrated the way it should be. She came home to her mothers with her new boyfriend, wanting to return home with items from her ancestors. She very rudely, began grabbing different item, and claiming them without even asking her mother, if she had plans for them. One of the items Dee took claims on was some quilts. The character Maggie is not well known, she stands in the background. Mama planned to give the quilts to Maggie, to use and Dee felt as though, it was a travesty to use the quilts, instead of displaying them. The struggle for mama is whether or not to give in and let Dee take the quilts or to stand up to her daughter and give them to Maggie. When Maggie decided to give in and tell mama to let Dee take the quilts, mama stood her ground, grabbed the quilts and gave them to Maggie. The struggle for mama was overcome when she decided to not give the quilts to Dee. However, the conflict for Dee was not overcome, because Dee stormed off without the quilts and extremely unhappy.
D.
The narrator told this story in first person, from the eyes of mama. The setting of the story is set up so that the reader is able to picture what the home looks like, and how mama is feeling knowing that Dee is on her way. The details given by the author also shows that Dee is very critical of the way Mama and Maggie live. Alice walker does a fantastic job of being specific when talking about Dee’s ideas of heritage, but also does an equally good job, in subtly noting that heritage isn’t just physical items. Heritage is also the way life is lived, and the changes that are made, throughout the history of their family. In the case of this story, the subtle heritage is that they are hard working. Mama works hard for what she has and appreciates
that.