Everyday Use, Symbolic Essay

Alexander Rodriguês ENG 102 class
August 4th, 2013
Symbolic Essay

Heritage from Different View Points In the short story, “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, it shows us that at a given period of time, heritage can be important to an individual’s life. However, it also reflects that heritage can create negative perceptions, ultimately affecting and influencing to reject their own history. Nevertheless, by the time the story was written, the late 1960s or early 1970s, the black American life in the United States many African Americans were significantly affected by events that took place around this time. As a result, they were facing a radical transformation based on their identity. In this story, all three characters symbolize different ideas about the role of heritage in every day life. On the first hand, Dee symbolizes division among her family members. She changes her name to Wangero showing us that she wants to divide herself from the rest of her family and heritage. Thus, Mama questioned why Dee changes her name. “‘Well,’ I say. ‘Dee.’ ‘No, Mama,’ she says. ‘Not Dee,’ Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!’ ‘What happened to Dee?’ I wanted to know. ‘She’s dead,’ Wangero said. ‘I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me’” (Walker 5). Dee refuses to represent the significance of her name because she deeply believes that they have carried a history of oppression and suffering. Moreover, Mama cannot understand the reasons why Dee decides to change her name when she knows that to her it means changing her family traditions and disown from her heritage. Mama says, “‘You know as well as me you was named after you aunt Dicie,’ I said. Dicie is my sister. She named Dee. We called her ‘Big Dee’ after Dee was born. ‘But who was she named after?’ asked Wangero. ‘I guess after Grandma Dee,’ I said” (Walker 5). Mama explains to her daughter where her name is coming from. Instead, Dee cannot see the strong line that her name represents by been named after her aunt and grandmother. Dee misunderstands the meaning of her name and her inheritance. A name can implied a big dispute among people. Overall, the background of a family is what defines and signifies someone’s name. Refusing to be named after your ancestors demonstrates that you don’t attach to them. Also they may not have an impact in your lives. On the other hand, Mama symbolizes objectivity between Dee and Maggie. Mama realizes that she was wrong in the past by giving much attention to the daughter who didn’t deserve it the most. However, now, Mama is being objective because she concludes that Dee doesn’t appreciate anything she has provided to her such as her education. On the other hand, she realizes that Maggie is being the one who has been by her side and not complaining and not denying her heritage like Dee does. Therefore, Mama thinks that Maggie deserves everything from her because she values her heritage and Dee does not. Mama recognizes, “I did something I never done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero 's hands and dumped them into Maggie 's lap. Maggie just sat there on my bed with her mouth open” (Walker 8). Mama chooses Maggie over Dee. She is teaching Dee a life lesson. At this point Mama is considering Maggie as someone who appreciated and understands her heritage. Thus, she realizes the value Maggie over Dee by hugging her and showing her appreciation. She does this assumption based on Dee’s negative conception of heritage. The short story explores the idea of realization and pride that surround the concept of heritage through the character of Mama that Dee denies to accept. In addition, Maggie symbolizes endurance since her sister, Dee, always wants to be victorious no matter if she will suffer as a result, but she is always there accepting everything coming from Dee. Maggie is not gaining anything valuable in life. Maggie agrees to give away the quilts to Dee made by Mama and herself by their hands that represent her family heritage. “‘She can have them, Mama,’ [Maggie] said, like somebody used to never winning anything, or having anything reserved for her” (Walker 8). This shows that Maggie is a person with a low self-esteem; a person who doesn’t make her own decisions in life and doing this because simply doesn’t like to argue about anything with Dee. Additionally, Maggie is an individual whose life experiences have been surrounded by traumatic events. Mama states, “Sometimes I can still hear the flames and feel Maggie 's arms sticking to me, her hair smoking and her dress falling off her in little black papery flakes. Her eyes seemed stretched open, blazed open by the flames reflected in them” (Walker 2). Maggie scars are a representation of her physical and emotional suffering. This is also an indication of how strong she is by having all those traumatic moments in her life and still learning how to live and deal with them in her daily basis. Not matter how traumatic your life is, it helps you to become a stronger person for the future and be capable to handle any kind of situation based on your experience gained in the past. Overall, each character reflects a symbol of what heritage really means. Mama represents objectivity when she has her two daughters together. Dee is fits in the division category by trying to separate herself from the costumes. And Maggie goes in the endurance group by not obtaining rewards and by taking to much attitude from her sister and making her feel powerless. Every single of these characters play an important role in what heritage really means. Alice Walker the author of the short story “Everyday Use,” gives out a reflection of the results many African Americans who came from the period of slavery, was the struggle in becoming unionize and gain recognition by the their nation, for others eliminating their past was the ticket of acceptance by society and their oppressors.

Work Cited
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Literature: A Portable Anthology. Ed. Janet E. Gardner, et al. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2004. 324-31. Print.

Cited: Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Literature: A Portable Anthology. Ed. Janet E. Gardner, et al. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2004. 324-31. Print.