Through the use of the quilt metaphor, Walker exposes the hypocrisy associated with the Cultural Nationalism movement of the 1960s, ultimately alluding to the inability of the American pursuit of individuality to be fulfilled by aligning oneself with a distant cultural heritage. The character Dee in Everyday Use fails to understand the greater meaning behind the practical use of the quilts, revealing her ignorance towards her original heritage that she has chosen to reject. Prior to the introduction of the quilts, Walker presents the two clashing perspectives on African American identity in the 1960s and 1970s: one of assimilation and one of reversion. The narrator mother and her daughter, Maggie, represent the former. They take pride in the culture in which they have spent the majority of their lives; however, this is not the culture of their ancestors. Due
Through the use of the quilt metaphor, Walker exposes the hypocrisy associated with the Cultural Nationalism movement of the 1960s, ultimately alluding to the inability of the American pursuit of individuality to be fulfilled by aligning oneself with a distant cultural heritage. The character Dee in Everyday Use fails to understand the greater meaning behind the practical use of the quilts, revealing her ignorance towards her original heritage that she has chosen to reject. Prior to the introduction of the quilts, Walker presents the two clashing perspectives on African American identity in the 1960s and 1970s: one of assimilation and one of reversion. The narrator mother and her daughter, Maggie, represent the former. They take pride in the culture in which they have spent the majority of their lives; however, this is not the culture of their ancestors. Due