Alice Walker's Everyday Use: The African American Legacy

Caleb Onwuka
Mr. Michael Franco
ENGL 1213
06 January, 2015
“Everyday Use” - The African American Legacy
Alice Walker, the author of “Everyday Use”, narrates a story of a family’s racial heritage and the effect it had on the kid’s relationship and sense of identity. Walker illustrates how a mother of two daughters chooses the fate of a younger unfortunate daughter that submits to the family’s core values than the elderly one that fights against it. Most African American families face the same struggle on a daily basis; the fight of choices between the strong conservative parents and the opposing liberal kids who are following the modern trend but in the midst of it are trying to hold on to their cultural heritage considering the racial pandemic
In the winter I wear flannel night gowns to bed and overalls during the day. I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man” (744). This portrays the picture of a typical African-American Mother who is working tirelessly to keep up with her family and especially the kids regardless of what the man does; either he provides or goes away living his life. It also displays a domineering spirit of most African women in their families to rule and preserve the norms of their homes. Mama’s lack of education does not limit her from comprehending the importance of her cultural heritage; which can be seen from how she related to the quilt and her love and respect to preserve it and hand it down to someone she assumed would do the same (Maggie). In as much as Mama never approved some attitudes of Dee; she identified to her heritage. Most African immigrants in America are just like Mama; they are faced with a struggle to preserve their cultural heritage and pass it onto their US-born kids. Instead they finds Dee’s earlier attitude of denying her heritage showing up and their responds would be just like Mama “I didn’t want to bring up how I have offered Dee (Wangero) the quilt, when she went away to college. Then She had told me, they were old fashioned and out of style”
Walker uses the character Maggie to represent the neglect of the American heritage. Mama’s words describes her nature: “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes; She will stand hopelessly in corners homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eyeing her sister with a mixture envy and awe.”(744). Maggie’s scars represent the pains and psychological impact all African-Americans carry as a result of slavery in the past and the present pandemic of racial prejudice. For example, the current trend of police harassment of young black men, and the stereotyping of a black male on a huddy in the night. When watching recent videos on youtube and facebook, one would witness the Maggie’s scar on the African American