An Analysis Of Everyday Use By Alice Walker

Generally, mothers and daughters are bound together tightly and cannot be severed. Sometimes, however, can create a serious conflict between the generations, whether the daughters who accept the new culture or the mothers who deeply rooted in the traditional concept can lead the spiritual discordance to their relationship. In the story Everyday Use wrote by Alice Walker, the story is lead by “mama” who is a black woman has two daughters Dee and Maggie. Dee had better education, yet full of confidence and ambition. In contrast, Maggie is described as an unattractive girl. The climax of the story is the belonging of the quilts which represents the heritage of the family. In Maxine Hong Kingston’s No Name Woman, the narrator’s mother told her
The mother had a strong family history concept, meanwhile, she also valued the fighting spirit. In the condition of African cultural identification, Dee had this fearless and fighting spirit that she admired. As the mother said in the story, “Who can even imagine me looking a strange white man in the eye? It seems to me I have talked to them always with one foot raised in flight, ... Dee, though. She would always look anyone in the eye. Hesitation was no part of her nature” (471). Dee’s characteristic is different compared to her mother. She hopes to get rid of her own destiny and family history, even change her name. The mother, however, only imagine. When she recalls the day Dee burning down the house, she wanted to ask her “Why don’t you do a dance around the ashes?” (471). This sentence is ironic that she thinks Dee is too selfish because she does not care about her sister who still in the burning house. In spite of this, when she heard Dee has changed her name, she still trying to adapt to her new name. However, when she found Dee trying to take the quilts for decoration but not knowing the real meaning of them, she was disappointed. She uses the story-telling to reveal the complicated relationship with Dee that even she admires Dee’s spirit, she cannot stand for her
The impact of the story-telling form on people is subtle. The importance of the story-telling form is that, when people hear a story which can be relate to themselves, they are likely to feel familiarity. In Everyday Use, the mother tells several stories about Dee which gives a sense that Dee is selfish and shallow. Therefore, it allow readers to agree with her opinion. Conversely, the illustration on Maggie creates a different feeling. In No Name Woman, the aunt’s existence is not be proved. Therefore, the narrator needs to use story-telling to create fantasy for her aunt. In her imagination, her aunt is like a real people. Not only she brings her aunt to life, but also arouses readers different type of emotion. This is the greatness of using story-telling