It is loosely understood that Alice Walker believes a individuals heritage should be something he or she understands and cherishes. The narrative Everyday Use is a premier illustration of this belief because it shows that every psyche is to be cherished and that every flower is to blossom even if the flower is a late bloomer.
In Alice Walker ‘s “ Everyday Use, ” the message given about continuing household heritage is rather clearly stated.
In this narrative, the saving of heritage is shown through two of the chief characters. One is the storyteller ( Mama ) , who is a middle-aged African American adult female, and the other is her immature girl Maggie. These two adult females portion the same belief as Alice Walker, and that belief is that continuing household heritage is everything to them, and it includes everything around them.
On the other manus, there is another character in the narrative who has a different position when it comes to continuing her household ‘s heritage ; this is the storyteller ‘s oldest girl, Dee. Harmonizing to Dee, continuing household heritage is a thing of the yesteryear, a image to set on a wall, a vase to set on a tabular array, or a comforter to hang in a window ; it is fundamentally an artistic look.
Alice Walker characterizes Dee and her beliefs on continuing household heritage as misunderstood and ignorant. A great illustration of Dee ‘s and Maggie ‘s beliefs on continuing household heritage is shown early in the narrative when the household ‘s house burned down when they were immature misss. Dee does non experience anything emotionally toward the house and believes that the house represents nil but poorness and waste ( something she feels she has escaped ) . In fact, Dee hated that house and was a small happy to see it gone.
On the other manus, Maggie feels much otherwise about the household house that had burned down when they were immature misss. As described by Mama in the narrative, “ She has been like this, mentum on thorax, eyes on land, pess in shuffling, of all time since the fire that burned the other house to the land ” ( Walker 744 ) .
In add-on to Dee ‘s hatred toward their household house that burned down when they were immature misss, there is another illustration displayed in the narrative of Dee ‘s misinterpretation and ignorance of continuing household heritage. Dee ‘s misinterpretation and ignorance is displayed when she informs her Mama and her younger sister that she has changed her to “ Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo. ” When her Mama asks her why she would make such a thing, she replies “ She ‘s ( Dee ) dead, I could n’t bear it any longer being named after the people who oppress me ” ( Walker 746 ) . In an interview with Evelyn C. White, “ By altering their name, hair, and vesture, their behaviour became disrespectful to the ascendants they knew. ”
Although Dee has changed her name to Wangero, Dee ( Wangero ) wants some points from the house and has already put a claim on the points. The first point is the churn that her uncle Buddy whittled out of a tree. Dee ( Wangero ) wants the top and makes Mama believe that she needs it. The 2nd point is a dasher. Dee ( Wangero ) clearly has her programs mapped out for the churn top and the dasher. Dee ( Wangero ) states that “ I can utilize the churn as a centrepiece for the bay tabular array, and I ‘ll believe of something artistic to make with the dasher ” ( Walker 747 ) .
On the contrary, the storyteller ( Mama ) and Maggie understand the significance of the churn top and the dasher. Maggie knows that it was non their Uncle Buddy who whittled the dasher, but it was Aunt Dee ‘s first hubby Henry who, was besides known as Stash, who had whittled the dasher. The storyteller ( Mama ) understands the forte of the dasher and notices how nescient Dee ( Wangero ) is to the finger prints and other imprints on the sides of the dasher. The storyteller ( Mama ) tries to assist Dee ( Wangero ) notice and understand why the dasher is so of import “ You did non even have to look close to see where custodies forcing the dasher up and down to do butter had left a sort of sink in the wood ” ( Walker 747 ) . Yet, Dee ( Wangero ) overlooks the storyteller ‘s ( Mama ‘s ) accent on the finger prints and imprints on the dasher.
Besides, there are some comforters made by Grandma Dee that Dee ( Wangero ) goes rummaging through the storyteller ‘s ( Mama ‘s ) thorax for after dinner. Just like the churn top and the dasher, she has already put her claim on these points every bit good. Dee ( Wangero ) gets her custodies on those comforters and garbages to give them up experiencing that she can give better usage of the comforters than what the storyteller ( Mama ) has done. Dee ( Wangero ) did non desire the comforters to continue them as the storyteller ( Mama ) has done, but she wants to hang them as if they are show pieces alternatively of a piece of the household ‘s history. The storyteller ( Mama ) has promised these two specific comforters to Maggie one time she was married because she knows that Maggie understands their importance and will continue them as she had done.
After reading “ Everyday Use ” something is rather clear. The narrative displays a universe in which a female parent comes to see both the baloney in the returning girl ‘s new grasp of the female parent ‘s kingdom and the mundane worth of her younger girl ” ( Kane 2137 ) . The narrative besides shows that one should appreciate and seek and understand everything they have. The storyteller ( Mama ) shows this at the terminal of the narrative. “ She hugs Maggie for the first clip and returns her part to her. Recognizing non merely the worth of her girl of mundane usage, but besides that even if her usage of the comforters will have on them out, their value lies in usage non show. She bestows the wealths of her domestic land non on the profligate but on the familiar girl ” ( Kane 2138 ) . This narrative teaches a true lesson on continuing household heritage, there can be no better account of why the saving of household heritage is so of import and has to be cherished.
