Alice Walker's "Everyday Use"

Paper Summary:

The paper introduces, discusses, and analyzes the short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker. Specifically, the paper discusses the character of Dee in the story, and what she needs to learn to become a better person. In this short story, Dee, the sophisticated sister, is whiter than she is black, even though she changes her name to the African Wangero. The paper notes that even with her African name, her clothing, her speech, and her Muslim inclinations, these are not her real racial heritage.

From the Paper:

"Walker depicts Dee as self-centered and arrogant. She is the one who gets the nice clothes to wear, while Maggie simply does not care about clothing and style. Walker writes, "At sixteen she had a style of her own: and knew what style was". In addition, Dee obtains the education and the tools she needs to break away from her rural roots. Dee is ashamed of her family and where she comes from, and acts as if it is a miracle for her to bother to visit at all. When she does visit, it is simply to show off and to take things, like the quilts and the butter churn; she can use to impress the people back in the city. Dee has become a snob and has thrown away the roots of her family and her rich culture. She cannot see it, but she acts whiter than she does black. If anyone pointed her behavior out, she would certainly disagree, since she is so adamant she is totally in touch with her black heritage. Walker points this out when she writes about Dee's sudden interest in the quilts, "I didn't want to bring up how I had offered Dee a quilt when she went away to college. Then she had told they were old-fashioned, out of style". Because of this, she seems fake and insincere, and certainly does not value the love of her family and the vibrancy of her family's traditions and heritage."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cowart, David. "Heritage and Deracination in Walker's 'Everyday Use'." Studies in Short Fiction 33.2 (1996): 171+.
• Dieke, Ikenna, ed. Critical Essays on Alice Walker. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999.
• Farrell, Susan. "Fight vs. Flight: A Re-evaluation of Dee in Alice Walker's 'Everyday Use'." Studies in Short Fiction 35.2 (1998): 179+.
• Rose, Mike. "COMETS in the Classroom." The Nation 16 Oct. 1995: 424+.
• Whitsitt, Sam. "In Spite of It All: A Reading of Alice Walker's 'Everyday Use'." African American Review 34.3 (2000): 443.

More papers on Alice Walker's "Everyday Use":

• Book Review # 119032 : "The Role of Heritage in Alice Walkers' "Everyday Use"
• Analytical Essay # 25588 : "Alice Walker's Use of Everyday Life"
• Analytical Essay # 71109 : "Everyday Use"
• Essay # 137592 : "The Uniqueness of the Women in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”"

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