Everyday Use/a Pair of Tickets

True Heritage

Heritage is defined as something that is passed down from preceding generations, such as a tradition. It could also be defined as the status acquired by a person through birth. Heritage helps to develop a persons values showing what they believe in; particularly about the values of their family. In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” and Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets”, the author’s seem to explore a common theme of heritage. Alice Walker is exploring the concept of heritage as it applies to an African-American family. Amy Tan is displaying the theme of heritage as it relates to Chinese and a Chinese-American family. Dee, from Everyday Use, and Jing-Mei, from A Pair of Tickets, have different adaptations of their heritage, but ironically it takes a trip back home to reveal the truth. In the story Everyday Use, value of Heritage is the main topic. Dee, a young African-American woman, was, as a child, ashamed of her home and her surroundings. The narrator, Dee’s mother, says that when their first house burnt down, she watched Dee stand under the sweet gum tree she used to dig gum out of. Dee had a certain look of concentration on her face as she watched the last dingy gray board of the house fall in toward the red-hot brick chimney. Her mother wanted to ask “Why don’t you do a dance around the ashes?” (Walker 104) Her mother thought Dee had hated the house that much. Now they have a new home, which is much like the other one. Dee feels her mother chooses to live in homes that are shacks. However, it is evident at the beginning of the story, when Dee’s mother describes her clean yard as an extended living room, that she is proud of her home. Being proud of her home shows that she values what she has and doesn’t complain about not living in luxury.
After there first house burnt down, Dee left home to attend college and now, upon her return, is a grown woman with a new life and a new name. Dee arrives home with her new beau “Asalamalakim”. Mother and Maggie call him this because this is the greeting he gives them. Dee greets her mother by saying “Wa-su-zo-Tean-o”. This is a shock to her mother. She tells her mother she has changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, an African name, and says “I could not bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.” (Walker 106) By saying this we may assume the people she is talking about her were her families’ slave owners, or maybe Americans in general. We then find out she is named after her ancestors, traced back three or more generations.Dee knew she had been named for her “Aunt Dee”, but was unaware of how far back the name went in her family. Was Dee ashamed of her name, or was it just her ignorance of her actual heritage? By changing her name she thinks she is taking on her “African” heritage. She denies her American heritage and feels she knows everything about her true culture and roots. “In “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker argues that an African-American is both African and American, and to deny the American side of one’s heritage is disrespectful on one’s ancestors and, consequently, harmful to one’s self” (White 1) Dee’s new name, her dress, and her new boyfriend are all indicative of her frivolous attitude toward her newly adopted African culture. She doesn’t know a thing about it.
Later in the story Dee (Wangero) collects different family heirlooms she wants to take a display in her home. She wanted to take the dasher from the butter churn and quilts made of her grandmother’s dresses. Dee believes that by having these material items she is able to preserve her heritage and show off her roots.. “Dee’s primary use for the quilts would be to hang them on the wall as a reminder of her superior social and economic status.” (White p.4) However she had no knowledge of their history. Her lack of knowledge symbolizes her disregard for her family and her American heritage. When her mother denies her the quilts, she angrily tells her mother that she is the one that does not understand their culture.
Jing-Mei, a young Chinese-American, was ashamed of her roots and habits of those in her culture. When she was fifteen, she denied that she had any Chinese in her at all. She was embarrassed by Chinese behaviors, saying “all those things my mother did to embarrass me – haggling with store owners, pecking her mouth with a toothpick in public, being color-blind to the fact that lemon yellow and pale pink are not good combinations for winter clothes.” (Tan 153) Jing-Mei did not look Chinese, and had never felt Chinese. Her mother had always told her that “Once you are born Chinese, you cannot help but feel Chinese.” (Tan 153) But Jing-Mei did not know her culture or the language, even. While they eat Chinese foods and celebrate Chinese traditions, she wanted their Chinese heritage to remain at home. She was to make American choices when they are in public and cringe in embarrassment when her mothers spoke loudly in her broken English.
With the trip to China, Jing-Mei experiences herself as Chinese and accepts her Chinese identity and heritage. She learns that she fits right in and her perception of China was wrong from the start. From the generation before her father to the generation after her, she sees friendly, hardworking people who seem very typical to her. Her family is Chinese, and she does not have to resist the designation any longer. She also fulfills her mother’s dream and expectations of being united with her lost daughters. Jing-Mei said “But today I realize I’ve never known what it means to be Chinese. I am thirty-six years old. My mother is dead, and I am on a train, carrying with me her dreams of coming home. I am going to China.” This is a significant change from her childhood, when she disappointed her mother’s expectations. She goes on to say that upon entering China, she feels different. “My mother was right. I am becoming Chinese.” This quote symbolizes the conflict in the story of Chinese vs. American and mother vs. daughter. For both of these girls it takes a trip back home to reveal the truth. For Dee, being away from home she has learned her African heritage. She has grown to appreciate it, and goes home to share with her family her newly acquired cultures. For Jing-Mei, her mother had always tried to get her to understand her culture and heritage. She was born in China, therefore she was Chinese. For Jing-Mei, it was easier to take on American ways because she was in America. It took her going to China, to suddenly bring the realization that she was Chinese. The authors in both of these stories follow the theme of heritage and family in their stories. One is of a girl that denied her culture and goes home to regain, what had always been there. The other is of a girl who had always been a part of her heritage that she was an ashamed of, and goes away to take on customs impartial to her. Amy Tan uses symbolism more to describe the Chinese customs, whereas Alice Walker focuses more on materialism. In any instance, both stories illustrate how sometimes the very things we are ashamed of are the very things we are.

Works Cited

Gioia, Dana and Gwynn, R. S. Longman Anthology of Short Fiction, The Stories and
Authors in Context. Longman, 2001.

Melani, “Jing-mei Woo, ‘A Pair of Tickets’” Rev. of The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan.
13 Nov. 2007

White, David, “Everyday Use: Defining African-American Heritage.”Annina;s Alice
Walker Page, 13 Nov. 2007 Criteria Questions: Turn this in with your final paper. I will not accept papers without this criteria sheet.

Thesis: Identify the Subject/Attitude _ “Alice Walker is exploring the concept of heritage as it applies to African-Americans. Amy Tan is displaying the theme of heritage as it relates to Chinese and Chinese-Americans”
Our heritage is something unavoidable sometimes we are ashamed of it but it is who we are_________________________.

Identify at least three main supporting ideas. Rate each one on a scale based upon its strength of support. (1-5) Do not write something down if it DOES NOT support the Thesis. Make suggestions as to how they could better organize or structure their support.

1. Dee, a young African-American woman, was, as a child, ashamed of her home and her surroundings.
________________________________________________________________
2. Jing-Mei, a young Chinese-American, was ashamed of her roots and habits of those in her culture.
________________________________________________________________
3. Her mother had always told her that “Once you are born Chinese, you cannot help but feel Chinese.” ________________________________________________________________

If there is a conclusion, does it restate the thesis/attitude with clarity? (yes/no) Make suggestions if they do not have one yet. Make sure that it also makes predictions or pieces together an assumption. (Hint: They should be revealing again their thesis in a creative way)
_ “sometimes the very things we are ashamed of are the very things we are “____
__Very creative concluding sentence.________________

Grammar: Please write down any grammatical errors.
__pg 3 line 5 (what so ever) see highlighting below ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

General Comments: (Please offer some advice or suggestions) __What about the siblings? You at least mention that the twins are part of the heritage in a pair of tickets. Maggie is also part of Dee’s heritage. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Reviewed by: _Greg Muller_____________ (reviewer)