The Importance Of Heritage In “Everyday Use”Essay Preview: The Importance Of Heritage In “Everyday Use”Report this essayThe Importance of heritage in “Everyday Use”In her story “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker introduces the complex relationships that are a part of African American families. Being an African American woman herself, Walker knows first hand the importance of family and the prevalence of heritage in this world and uses this story to challenge readers to not lose value of their heritage. Quilts are used to represent years of stories and history that carry the legacy of African American families and become themselves a bit of heritage. Walker uses quilts in “Everyday Use” as a way to pair the materialistic false world of Dee to the reality truth found in Maggie; in doing so, she is able to reinforce her point that African Americans need to respect and revere their heritage and be careful not to lose sight of where they come from.
Walker uses the character of Dee to parallel the world around them that seems to claim young men and women and cause them to lose sight of who they are. Dee seems very alluring and is described as having “neat-looking feet” that appear to have been shaped by “God himself” (Walker 842). Dee later reveals that she has changed her name from Dee to Wangero to escape oppression. In doing so, Walker shows how people so willingly trade in their heritage and all the history encompassed in it. This is later reinforced when “Wangero” begins asking Mama about some things around the house whittled and made by family members. She immediately discards all history associated with them and says “I can use the churn top as a centerpiece for the alcove table…and I’ll think of something artistic to do with that dasher” (Walker 844). She constantly rejects history for superficiality.
On the other hand, Maggie’s character is completely opposite of Dee. While Maggie has an appreciation and sentiment for these items, she recognizes the importance of the memory associated with them. When arguing over the quilts, Dee accuses Maggie of having the nerve to put the quilts to “everyday use” which is precisely what they are for (Walker 845). Maggie doesn’t place an artificial emphasis on the quilts; to her, they are functional pieces that contain a memory. Maggie later says that “[Dee] can have them…I can вЂ?member Granma Dee without the quilts” (Walker 845). The irony here is that Dee is arguing over quilts made by someone whose name she just rejected. Later in her narration, Mama reveals
the quilts themselves, and Dee says: “I am a slave. I am no different than you ” and this is your choice. You did what I was orderedв¦to do. This is not why they’re so dangerous. What you are doing is the right thing. I’m here to protect you. When did you understand what I was doing? So that you know what to do.”
Maggie states that these quilts are not meant for the purpose of protecting her children, since the children will lose their way. This is part of why she has no desire to spend time with any of them (Walker 845). When Maggie first says that she and Maggie are about to spend the night together, the young woman interrupts. After hearing the words. “A friend of mine wants to go on vacation in New Zealand. I should know. So why is she being such a good friend?” Maggie, like other people who live in New Zealand, has a strong attachment to her family to this day and is very grateful for this. Maggie believes that she and her people should never be alone. When she goes into town to buy a new car, Maggie notices that the parking lot is empty, since the park itself is empty. She does not want to deal with the “wickedness” of the parking lot again, but she does like that the parking spaces are as clean today as she was. Maggie tells the young man she likes that she has a “friend for the time being” and goes in for a conversation. He takes her out of town to buy something (Walker 845). вÐñ·ÈœnstÖ¦‚¦.
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During this period, Maggie has had numerous experiences with dogs, with a history of having witnessed them attack her, which she later admits was “quite bad”. After they attacked her family home, Maggie recalls that she was going to leave but it was all over (Walker 845). In addition, she is afraid that the dogs will attack her, which she has been told by her wife not to worry about and that she has no regrets. In addition, she has been told by her children that they will be all gone within three days, so the dogs won’t be attacked as much as that. Maggie believes
the quilts themselves, and Dee says: “I am a slave. I am no different than you ” and this is your choice. You did what I was orderedв¦to do. This is not why they’re so dangerous. What you are doing is the right thing. I’m here to protect you. When did you understand what I was doing? So that you know what to do.”
Maggie states that these quilts are not meant for the purpose of protecting her children, since the children will lose their way. This is part of why she has no desire to spend time with any of them (Walker 845). When Maggie first says that she and Maggie are about to spend the night together, the young woman interrupts. After hearing the words. “A friend of mine wants to go on vacation in New Zealand. I should know. So why is she being such a good friend?” Maggie, like other people who live in New Zealand, has a strong attachment to her family to this day and is very grateful for this. Maggie believes that she and her people should never be alone. When she goes into town to buy a new car, Maggie notices that the parking lot is empty, since the park itself is empty. She does not want to deal with the “wickedness” of the parking lot again, but she does like that the parking spaces are as clean today as she was. Maggie tells the young man she likes that she has a “friend for the time being” and goes in for a conversation. He takes her out of town to buy something (Walker 845). вÐñ·ÈœnstÖ¦‚¦.
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During this period, Maggie has had numerous experiences with dogs, with a history of having witnessed them attack her, which she later admits was “quite bad”. After they attacked her family home, Maggie recalls that she was going to leave but it was all over (Walker 845). In addition, she is afraid that the dogs will attack her, which she has been told by her wife not to worry about and that she has no regrets. In addition, she has been told by her children that they will be all gone within three days, so the dogs won’t be attacked as much as that. Maggie believes