Everyday Use Themes
- Race. Race and racial identity is at the center of Everyday Use. ...
- Heritage. Perhaps the biggest irony in the story is Dee’s rejection of her real heritage for a broader, yet limited, cultural ideal.
- Family. Everyday Use is a story about a family homecoming, and the dynamics between the three women provide much of the narrative drama.
- Home. ...
- Tradition. ...
What is the plot of everyday use?
- Characters. See a complete list of the characters in "Everyday Use" and in-depth analyses of Mama, Maggie, and Dee.
- Literary Devices. Here's where you'll find analysis of the story as a whole.
- Quotes. Find the quotes you need to support your essay, or refresh your memory of the story by reading these key quotes.
What is the summary of the story everyday use?
“Everyday Use” focuses on an encounter between members of the rural Johnson family. This encounter––which takes place when Dee (the only member of the family to receive a formal education) and her male companion return to visit Dee’s mother and younger sister Maggie––is essentially an encounter between two different interpretations of, or approaches to, African-American culture.
What theme should I use?
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What is the theme of "everyday use" by Alice Walker?
Themes
- The Black Consciousness Movement. Alice Walker published " Everyday Use " in 1973, in the midst of the Black Power movement. ...
- Rural versus Urban Black Identity. Mama and Maggie live in a three-room house with no windows. ...
- Tradition, Heritage, and Ownership. One of the central questions in the story is this: Who defines Black heritage? ...
What are the characteristics of Dee's world?
Civil rights, greater visibility, and zero tolerance for inequality are characteristics of Dee’s world. These things are not, in and of themselves, problematic. What’s problematic is that Dee has no respect for anything but her world, leading her to alienate herself from her roots.
Did Mama send Dee to a good school?
Although Mama struggled to send Dee to a good school, education proves to be more divisive than beneficial to Dee’s relationship with her family. Mama herself was denied an education. When she was a child, her school was closed, and no one attempted to try to reopen it.
What is the story of everyday use?
Everyday Use is a story about a family homecoming, and the dynamics between the three women provide much of the narrative drama. Its narrator, Mama, reflects on her daughters and the circumstances of their upbringing while awaiting Dee's return. Dee was the more difficult child, but Mama nevertheless loved her.
What is the significance of the worn benches in the story of Mama?
Tradition. Tradition in this story is reflected through items that are meant for everyday use. Items like the worn benches, butter churn, and quilts are living testimonies to people long dead. They represent a lifestyle that Mama and her community still lead.
What is the irony of Dee's rejection of her real heritage?
Perhaps the biggest irony in the story is Dee’s rejection of her real heritage for a broader, yet limited, cultural ideal. By juxtaposing Dee with her sister and mother, Walker suggests Dee's new identity is simply a superficial rebranding of herself.
What does Mama believe about Dee's rejection of her name?
Named after a long line of Dees, Wangero's rejection of her birth name is a symbol for the rejection of her family - even if that rejection is an attempt to connect to a larger history.
What is the first person narrator of "Everyday Use"?
In “Everyday Use,” Mama , the story’s first person narrator, describes her relationship to her daughter Dee as Dee, an educated young African-American woman, returns to visit her childhood house in the Deep South. The story begins as Mama and Maggie, Dee’s sister and Mama’s younger daughter, prepare for the visit. Maggie changes her clothes as Mama fantasizes about reconciling with her daughter on a television show hosted by someone like Johnny Carson. Mama then dismisses her fantasy as unrealistic, because she believes she is not the kind of person who would appear on such a show.
What does Dee want to do after dinner?
Mama acquiesces, and gives Dee the churn. After dinner, Dee insists on taking home her grandmother’s quilts as well, to hang on her walls.
What does Mama think about Dee?
Mama thinks about how Dee’s attitude towards them changed as she became educated thanks to money from Mama and the Church, turning her from hateful to hurtfully condescending. As she remembers Dee as a child, Mama contrasts her with Maggie—a diffident, kind, homely young woman with a scar on her face from the house fire.
What does Mama look at Maggie?
As she waits for Dee, Mama looks around the yard and at Maggie, triggering memories of Dee’s troubled childhood in their house—her anger towards her family and their poverty, her hunger for higher quality clothes and an education, her charisma, assertiveness, and her beauty.
