The story “Everyday Use” was published in 1973 and written by African American Womanist, Alice Walker. She is more famously known for her book, “The Color Purple”, but “Everyday Use” is in no way inferior. Throughout her books themes of struggles in black communities and how they affect African American women is a recurring idea. In some sense it is like an autobiography because she has lived through many situations in her books. The author likes to write about the struggles of black women, and how violence and racism against African American men has a trickle down effect to them. “Everyday Use” is different from her other stories in that she is just looking at the relationship of three women, not men. The story “Everyday Use” is Alice Walker’s
…show more content…
All of them have different personalities and throughout the story Alice Walker shows how they react with each other and how family doesn’t always get along harmoniously. The narrator of the story is the mom of the two sisters. At the beginning of the story the mother dots over Dee, even imagining herself with Dee on a tv show, but as the story progresses and she sees how full of herself Dee is, and how willing Maggie is to put up with it so in the end she says no to Dee who wants quilts which are supposed to be Maggie’s marriage gift. The mom is described as “a large, big boned woman with rough, man working hands.” She even goes on to say, “I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man”. She is shown as a strong character with a bias to see both her daughters through rose colored …show more content…
The difference in appearances and names of the two sister actually symbolizes their personalities and ideals. For example, Dee’s new name which she tells her mother and sister “”No, Mama,” she says. “Not ‘Dee,’ Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!”... “She’s dead,” Wangero said. “ I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.””. This symbolizes Dee’s willful nature, but it also shows her lack of understanding of what she's doing. While she changed her name to become closer to her African ancestors, and to get rid of the racist shackles that plagued her, she inevitably distanced herself from her family. Dee’s whole way of dressing makes her stand
All of them have different personalities and throughout the story Alice Walker shows how they react with each other and how family doesn’t always get along harmoniously. The narrator of the story is the mom of the two sisters. At the beginning of the story the mother dots over Dee, even imagining herself with Dee on a tv show, but as the story progresses and she sees how full of herself Dee is, and how willing Maggie is to put up with it so in the end she says no to Dee who wants quilts which are supposed to be Maggie’s marriage gift. The mom is described as “a large, big boned woman with rough, man working hands.” She even goes on to say, “I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man”. She is shown as a strong character with a bias to see both her daughters through rose colored …show more content…
The difference in appearances and names of the two sister actually symbolizes their personalities and ideals. For example, Dee’s new name which she tells her mother and sister “”No, Mama,” she says. “Not ‘Dee,’ Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!”... “She’s dead,” Wangero said. “ I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.””. This symbolizes Dee’s willful nature, but it also shows her lack of understanding of what she's doing. While she changed her name to become closer to her African ancestors, and to get rid of the racist shackles that plagued her, she inevitably distanced herself from her family. Dee’s whole way of dressing makes her stand