Social Boundaries Of 20th Century America
Joseph Fountain
Dr. Jaime Cantrell
English 224: Section 41
01 April 2016
Social Boundaries of late 20th Century America Many interpretations can be inferred after reading Alice Walker’s Everyday Use (1973). A trend in part of 20th century American modern writers was the art of realist writing. With the use of informal diction and colorful language, Walker added realism to her story to fully immerse the reader in setting and enhance the overall reading experience. In more ways than one, Walker’s writing style targets the roots of American social boundaries during the civil rights movement by outlining the acceptance/refutation extremes of African American identity control; this focus directly relates to reactions exchanged between Mama and Dee/Wangero. Similar themes of social boundaries are supported within Flannery O’Connor’s Good Country …show more content…
Mama states, “a 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…she had hated the house” (1532). She hates the burned house because it directly reminds Dee of segregation, and inequality in her life before civil rights. The new house is replaced with a mere replica of the burned house revealing Mama’s persistence in preserving heritage. Topics of preserving heritage centralize around the family objects: carved dasher and family quilts. Dee seeks these objects not for their family values but to collect them as lost time artifacts. As an activist for desegregation, Dee rejects her real heritage and wants these items as a remembrance of the past. Mama refuses to give up her familial tied items to someone who will not respectfully make an effort to continue the lineage tied behind them through “everyday use”; another prime example of her tenacity to preserving true familial
Dr. Jaime Cantrell
English 224: Section 41
01 April 2016
Social Boundaries of late 20th Century America Many interpretations can be inferred after reading Alice Walker’s Everyday Use (1973). A trend in part of 20th century American modern writers was the art of realist writing. With the use of informal diction and colorful language, Walker added realism to her story to fully immerse the reader in setting and enhance the overall reading experience. In more ways than one, Walker’s writing style targets the roots of American social boundaries during the civil rights movement by outlining the acceptance/refutation extremes of African American identity control; this focus directly relates to reactions exchanged between Mama and Dee/Wangero. Similar themes of social boundaries are supported within Flannery O’Connor’s Good Country …show more content…
Mama states, “a 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…she had hated the house” (1532). She hates the burned house because it directly reminds Dee of segregation, and inequality in her life before civil rights. The new house is replaced with a mere replica of the burned house revealing Mama’s persistence in preserving heritage. Topics of preserving heritage centralize around the family objects: carved dasher and family quilts. Dee seeks these objects not for their family values but to collect them as lost time artifacts. As an activist for desegregation, Dee rejects her real heritage and wants these items as a remembrance of the past. Mama refuses to give up her familial tied items to someone who will not respectfully make an effort to continue the lineage tied behind them through “everyday use”; another prime example of her tenacity to preserving true familial