“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
The story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is a really good story. I enjoyed reading it so much with my teammates because it engages you and makes you visualize what’s going on. It may have some weird names like Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo and Asalamalakim. To my group and I, that’s what caught our attention and made it sort of funny in a way at out attempt to pronouncing them. “Everyday Use” teaches you a great theme that catches your attention and kind of makes you realize things.
The conflict in the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker was that one of the daughters, Dee, wasn’t proud of her culture and didn’t appreciate all the wonderful things around her including her family. She was named after her aunt Dicie, who was named after Grandma Dee, but she changed her name to Wangero. “I couldn’t bear it any longer being named after the people who oppress me.” Dee (Wangero) didn’t appreciate being named after her grandmother because she didn’t know the origins of her name and where it came from or who even gave it to her. Who knows but she wasn’t about to find out and trace it that far back. All Dee knew was that she didn’t want a name that came from slavery because that’s when her ancestors suffered more and she didn’t want a name being passed down through generations in remembrance to that tragic time.
The theme that the main character learned in “Everyday Use” was to appreciate what you have, when you have it. I say the main character learned this theme because when she was given the quilts she didn’t want them and now that her sister has them she tries to claim them back at the end of the story. The theme that it sends out to the public is to appreciate your culture, your family, and all the things you have. For example, Dee didn’t want the quilts at first and now she does because she thinks that her family doesn’t know the value of their heritage. To me this was the theme the story sent out to the audience because the story is basically about Dee not appreciating what she has and her family. Like in one part of the story it says that she would never go back and visit them because she was ashamed of where she lived. I think that was messed up because her mom is trying to provide her with what she needs even though it may be hard and she’s putting her down by the things she chooses to do.
The literary element I chose to do was the setting in the beginning of the story. She was out in the yard, the yard she described with peacefulness. “A yard like this is more comfortable than most people know. It is not just a yard. It is like an extended living room. When the hard day swept as clean as the floor and the fine sand around the edges lined with tiny, irregular groves anyone can come and sit and look up into the elm tree and wait for the breezes that never come inside the house.” (Page 315). I chose to quote this citation from the story because she talks about her surroundings and it’s basically the first thing she talks about in the story.
My favorite part was when Dee tried to claim back the quilts from her sister. I thought this was a pretty interesting part because she tried to take away an important part of her sister’s life because according to Dee, her sister doesn’t appreciate her culture. She doesn’t realize that the only person who doesn’t appreciate her culture is her. She even claims to know more than her mother and sister and she doesn’t want the quilts to be in the “wrong hands”. Dee doesn’t want anything to happen to the quilts because her grandma made them but the part that I don’t get is: how can she claim to know more about her culture than her own mother and she goes out and changes her name to Wangero? While knowing “Dee” was transferred down through generations and is actually a part of her culture.
I would totally recommend the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker because it teaches you a great theme. It teaches you how to appreciate your family and what you have. I also think that other people would enjoy the story as much as I did. It truly is an interesting and amazing story to read. I would really recommend this story to other students.
Overall, it was a great book to read. The theme was great and you can actually notice what the author is trying to send out. The theme actually connects to the world today because there are people who don’t appreciate their family and all the stuff they have. This book connects to reality today and it is kind of sad how people don’t appreciate their culture and their loved ones. It made me realize how some kids don’t appreciate their parents and some parents don’t appreciate their children. Which makes me very happy to have a loving family.