Identity And Identity In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

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A question that could be argued is How Important is a person's family to Identity and can it be controlled or changed? Through a family of women in the short story Everyday Use Alice Walker gives us a perfect example of not being true to your identity, Heritage and family. While a mother and her younger daughter wait on an old farm for the visit of the oldest daughter away at college . Mama thinks back to when the girls were young and how much Dee the eldest hated being here at the house and couldn’t wait to leave. While Maggie the younger of the two waits nervously for her older sister who has always made her feel not as educated and less then she. Alice Walker toward the end of the story uses a quilt made by other generations of women in their family as a symbol of and family history. Giving the idea that you can change your identity but you still have the same family. In the beginning of the story the author gives you a little background about the characters and their individuality within one family. A mother and her two daughters lived a poor life in a old house. Hardly any education but plenty of knowledge of hard work and labor. a character named Dee is on her …show more content…
Alice walker adds the quilts that were made by both the women Dee was named after as a symbol of identity and family. They had been promised to Maggie for her wedding since she had been home and not at any time ashamed of them or who they were. Mother felt like she was more deserving of the quilts than Dee was. Mother felt like she would appreciate them more from a family perspective. Instead of just a item of a part of one's life that they so much hated and wanted nothing apart of. As Wangero drove off after the visit mother and Maggie were very happy with their life and didn’t feel the need to be ashamed of who they were. The two show That happiness isn’t always based off of education or wealth but

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