'Characters In Alice Walker's Ordinary Use'

Improved Essays
In "Ordinary Use," Alice Walker recounts an account of a mother who does as well as can be expected to bring her 2 girls up in the south at once where it was important to attempt to impart her way of life and her legacy in their lives. She had an exceptionally rough association with them. The girls grow up to be two diverse individual with every grasp what they believe is critical to their prosperity and their personality. One develops to be knowledgeable and couldn't see her grip and connected with the old life she knew. She even changes her name. She said: "I couldn't bear it any more, being named after individuals who persecute me." (Walker 77)

The mother unmistakably rejects the qualities grasped by the more seasoned sister who headed

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    1. Individual Component: Profile Patricia June O’Shane was born in 1941 into an interracial family (a rarity for that period), at a time when it was common practice for the removal of children from their families where it was deemed children were being neglected (McIntyre & McKeich, 2009). The removals often triggered children to feel disconnected with their culture/traditional ways and their family’s history (Cowlishaw, 2004). Both of Patricia’s grandparents had been removed from their families, which she believes is why her grandfather encouraged his grandchildren to question what they believed to be wrong in the world (O 'Shane, Miller, Miller, & O 'Shane, 2010).…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the short stories Coming of Age in Mississippi and “Everyday Use”, Anne Moody known as Essie Mae, and Mrs. Johnson otherwise known as Momma, share similar characteristics in the way they are alienated by their actions in the two short stories. Essie Mae and Momma are both strong, independent black women who live in the time period of segregation and intense animosity between the black and white races. Furthermore, they are both experiencing conflicts of interest among their family members closest to them and their selves throughout the entirety of the two stories. Nevertheless, Essie Mae from the Coming of Age in Mississippi and Momma from “Everyday Use” possess the modern condition because of the way Essie Mae and Momma are alienated from particular members of their families and their behavioral actions to their surroundings.…

    • 1327 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” portrays the relationships between mothers and daughters. I believe the short story demonstrates a mother’s unconditional love for her children. She did her best to raise both of her daughters. Despite Dee and her mother’s tough relationship, her mother was still accepting of who she had decided to be.…

    • 208 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the story "Ordinary Use," by Alice Walker, the plot is extraordinarily impacted by Maggie and Dee, the two little girls of the storyteller. In spite of the fact that they are sisters and are brought up in a similar situation, Maggie and Dee are altogether different from each other; they think and act unmistakably. In addition, their clashing characters fill in as images to pass on the general subject of the story. From the earliest starting point, the storyteller uncovers the distinctions in the characters of Maggie and Dee. In this way, it is extremely hard to pinpoint likenesses between the two.…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the story “Everyday Use”, Maggie was a young girl who has been through so much in her life. She was burned in a house fire which caused her to have low self-esteem, feeling that she is just too ugly for society to even look at her. Speaker and author, Alice Walker, wrote the story, “Everyday Use” in 1944 to describe the story of a young girl, Maggie, and how her life soon began to change after her sister, Dee, tries to take grandma quilt away from Maggie. Dee thinks that since she is the smartest in the family that she could get whatever she wanted. Maggie, Dee, and Mama are the main characters in the story “Everyday Use.”…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dee the character in "Everyday use" she does not quite accept who she is or where she really came from. So decided to basically leave her old heritage and instead reclaimed her African American heritage. As for Dee's younger sister Maggie feel as her sister should not try to change her heritage and stay what she really is. Dee wanted her grandmother quilt to put it as art for people could see how artistic Dee really was. While Maggie wanted the quilt for when she gets married and promised to keep it.…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On February 9, 1944 a legendary female writer was born in Eatonton, Georgia. Alice walker was born into a poor family and was the last born of her eight siblings (Reef 274). At the age eight, Walker became very isolated after she was accidentally shot with a BB pellet in her eye while playing with her brothers (Winchell ix). Walker’s then found comfort and solace by writing many of her emotions and turning them into magnificent poems and stories. [ ] At age fourteen, she had eye surgery and was able to regain her sight.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While this story takes place during the 1970’s. What makes this short story different and unique from other stories is that this story is told from the mother’s perspective, Ms. Johnson. The story tells a tale about her beautiful, smart, and quirky daughter named, Dee. Who both her and her other daughter named, Maggie seem to wait for. While Dee arrives, Ms. Johnson’s and Maggie are both surprised that not only did she bring a male friend, but at the clothing, she is wearing.…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Basics of Living In the short story “Everyday Uses” by Alice Walker she uses everyday objects or scenarios that people are faced with even in today’s society in her story. This story has everything in a nut shell , it mainly talks about cultural heritage ; however she also talks about race , tradition , family , education , and even how to stand up for one’s self . In this paper it will be shown how those 5 things can still be related in today’s society .Everybody has some experience or exposure to one of those themes. Race is one of society’s way of grouping humans into a large and distinct group according to their cultural, genetic, anatomical, historical, ethnic, religious, geographical, linguistic, and/or social association.…

    • 1357 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker uses Mama’s preference for Dee, the sisters’ emotional limitations, and Mama’s final decision in Maggie’s favor to suggest that parental favoritism is often a root of family conflict. Even though Mama may love both her daughters, due to Dee and Maggie’s differing personalities and needs, throughout the daughter’s lives they are treated differently by Mama. The story shows her favoritism is not done out of malice, and in the end, she will try and rectify the situation. This short story shows the conflict which occurs between the sisters due to the years of the favoritism Mama showed toward Dee and the lasting effects of it.…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Muriel Rukeyser said "The universe is made of stories, not of atoms", it 's true. Perharps it 's not true for scientist, but Alice Walker has proved the power of stories. I believe we can know it from her stories, "Everyday Use" and "The Color Purple", and also her autobiography. They are very impressing for readers.…

    • 1121 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alice Walker is an esteemed Author who is celebrated for her work internationally, she won a Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 1983 and has been awarded the national book award. One of her works Everything is a Human Being is an exceptionally striking piece that uses a Native American literature style as opposed to the more western-centric western literature style. Walker’s text Everything is a Human Being shows the difference between Native American and western culture and the connection between the abuse of natural resources by western civilization and the mistreatment minority peoples. Walker attains this by using intertextuality and linking the current destruction of nature to previous destruction of minority civilizations, she shows the ecological…

    • 1421 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The excerpt from Ann Dillard’s “An American Childhood” demonstrates the love, awe, and appreciation Dillard has for her mother through colorful anecdotes. It is through this small collection of stories that we, the audience, can see the bigger picture. Dillard lightheartedly describes her mother’s vibrant personality in the excerpt, it showcases her mother’s playful humor to her often mischievous nature. It paints a clear picture of the vivacious spirit within her as well as its impact on Dillard’s childhood and character. With Ann’s writing style, it is not difficult to connect with the story in a personal sense and, ultimately, admire Ann’s mother nearly as much as Ann does.…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Have you ever ask what made you who you are? Life experiences is what forge our personality, builds our way of think, be and act. Anecdotes in life can change our way of living in a good way or in a bad way. In story “Everyday Use” by walker is about this daughter who returned from college feeling superior to her Mama and sister Maggie, just coming back for the purpose of take away their belongings. The character who impacted me is Maggie and what reflects what made her who she is.…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The point of view in the story “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker plays a big part. Throughout the story, one of Mama’s daughters came to visit. The way Mama and Maggie see her is not in a very pleasant way. In fact, they are scared to tell her no when it comes to anything. From Mama’s perspective Dee seems like this rude, stuck up, spoiled child because she had the opportunity to go out and expand her education, while Mama and Maggie continued to live their lives on the farm.…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays