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The elders felt that adoption of culture and heritage made more sense when it had an impact on a person's way of thinking and their lifestyle.
Dee, with a more modern approach towards heritage, felt an identity based on it could be adopted with the adoption of 'things' connected with her ancestors' culture. For example, at one point, she decides to change her name from Dee to Wangero saying, "I couldn't stand it anymore, being named after the people that oppress me." (488) Dee feels that by adopting an African name, she would be showing more respect to her culture. This was indeed not the approach that older generation approved of. This led to identity crisis for many young African-American people in 1960s as they failed to appreciate their present reality as Americans and were also reluctant to embrace their heritage in the same way as their ancestors did. For most young people like Dee culture was more about hanging a quilt on the wall instead of showing appreciation for the art that went into making it and for the simple tradition of quilt-making.
The quilt in the story symbolizes many important things and helps to further explain the causes of identity-crisis that young...
The quilt which was made of "scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty years ago. Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell's Paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece...that was from Great Grandpa Ezra's uniform he wore in the Civil War" (489) represented old memories, traditions, events and shaping of Black history. However for Dee it is just a cultural item which should be hung on the wall and not be taken to her friends to see and appreciate. She had once even termed those quilts "old fashioned" and "out of style." When Mama decides to give it to her other daughter, Maggie, Dee states in exasperation: "You just don't understand...Your heritage....You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It's really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live you'd never know it." (491)
Dee is actually the one who doesn't understand heritage and its true worth. Her quest for identity is grounded in flawed views and beliefs. Mama and Maggie on the other hand understand the heritage's real worth can be fully appreciated by embracing the philosophies and ideologies on which it was based and not by collecting things of cultural significance.
Mama and Maggie's values are simple, their goals mundane yet uplifting at the same time. Dee, on the other hand, is full of spunk and ambition. She views the quilts as if they were anthropological artifacts, remnants not of her grandmother but from some lost civilization. Dee, renamed Wangero, wanted to hang the quilts on the wall like art. Her desire parallels her creative streak and her wacky way
By simply concentrating on connecting with their African heritage many failed to understand that their parents and their ancestors who lived on the American continent in general created a culture of their own that entailed elements belonging both to the African continent and to the American one. Most of the short story is about how Dee struggles to find her personal identity by turning to cultural values. While Dee is
Walker's "Everyday Use" examines a generation clash a family. What Dee (Wangero) implies mother sister " understand" "heritage"? Why suddenly important Dee? Part II: O'Brien's "Going After Cacciato" focuses experience Paul Berlin Vietnam War. Walker's "Everyday Use" Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" depicts the two very different life paths of the daughters of the main character. The mother's older daughter Dee is a very ambitious young woman, and the mother notes
While she away, she changes her name to "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo" (1425) because she will not endure "being named after the people who oppress me" (1425). She is concerned with herself and she seems to only come home to take things back with her, including things like a butter dish and dasher. When she decides she wants the quilts, she sees no reason why she should not have them,
After reading the short story, “Everyday Use”, one can get the impression that educational backgrounds can affect the way an individual will grow up. The narrator’s education did not go far because in second grade, because her school closed. Therefore, she grew up working instead of learning to be able to take care of herself and her children. On the other hand, her daughter, Dee, grew up with education and went
The solid fact that Sister has remained a fixture in the house and should have the greater claim to her mother's attention is dazzled away by the return of Stella-Rondo. The mother's indecision and vacillation is somewhat comic as she continues to insist that "I prefer to take my children's word for anything when it's humanly possible" (5). Deciding which child to believe is her character's conflict. Because Welty