Everyday Use Alice Walker Analysis

Midterm In-class Exam

THE POSSIBLE WORST IS A WASTED TALENT
It is now a common trend to find a person who may be a great painter in the music industry because it is almost impossible to make a living out of being a painter. Ray Bradbury once said, “Be what you are with all your heart and soul, because that’s all you’re ever going to have.” In Bradbury’s letter, he makes a statement that is very relevant in this our modern age society. Bradbury declares that, there are numerous things we want to do with our lives but they may not necessarily bring us joy because they are not things we can do with our heart and soul. Rather, he wants us to “perfect” the things we can do because they are things we can do with our heart and soul and when we do things with our heart and soul, we are happy.
Though Mama has dreams of being united with her daughter Dee on a TV talk show and having Johnny Carson tell her what a “fine girl” she was, she doesn’t let those wants derail her from her passions, the things she does best with her heart and soul. Mama is described as a “large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands” who can “kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man.” Mama is a woman who is proud of what she does best and her role as a mother and would do anything to watch her daughters happy. She considers herself “fat” but does not make a big deal about it. Instead, she makes good use of her fat to keep her warm when she is working “outside all day” breaking ice so as “to get water for washing” and food for her family. She is not only a hardworking woman, she also has a great sense of humor to unsure the joy of her family while playing the role of a mother and father and doing what she does