What Is the Theme in "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker?everyday use themes
The center of everyday use is race and racial identity.Throughout her life, Mama's racial experience has not changed.Dee is the only deviation from her status quo.Dee was an impoverished black girl in rural Georgia.Dee was aware that her socio-cultural expectations should be higher because she is lighter skinned than the average black girl.
Dee rejects her ancestral quilts as a way to distance herself from her upbringing when she goes away to school.Dee finds African nationalism at college and seeks to legitimize her identity.Wangero is a Ugandan name and style of dress.Dee has a new take on identity that is very different from Mama's.While Dee tries to better herself by embracing her roots, she still subjugates Mama and Maggie by suggesting that they don't know the value of their culture, one in which they still live.
There are many themes and motifs surrounding race.Is Dee objectifying of Mama andMaggie just a form of classism or is it a continued rebuke of her past?The idea of racial identity is complex and inherently both personal and political as Dee leaves Mama and Maggie standing in a cloud of dust.
Dee's rejection of her real heritage for a broader, yet limited, cultural ideal is the biggest irony in the story.Walker thinks Dee's new identity is just a superficial re-imagination of herself.She tries to wear her heritage like a unique treasure but ends up in imitation.Dee reinvented herself using a mixture of academic and romantic ideas of pre-colonial Africa, but her flamboyant clothing combined with her gaudy jewelry make "Wangero" look more like an African caricature rather than an authentic attempt at a cultural shift in attitude.She swaps her name for a different one in order to identify with a less specific part of her heritage.
The items in Mama's home that Dee appreciates are not artifacts of her heritage.She insists that the spirit of her ancestry is what makes the quilt special.Dee doesn't want to put these objects to "everyday use", instead she wants to fetishize them.These items are an extension of her real heritage, having evolved with the family rather than being quaint reminders of a life Dee put behind her when she left for school.Even though their way of life is still valid, her idea of heritage is past.One's personal and ancestral history is encompassed by heritage.
The dynamics between the three women provide much of the narrative drama in Everyday Use.While waiting for Dee's return, Mama reflected on her daughters and the circumstances of their upbringing.Mama loved Dee even though she was more difficult.She is respectful of her heritage and family.Despite Dee's dismissal of her childhood and direct ancestry, Mama believes in family ties.Even if Wangero's rejection of her birth name is an attempt to connect to a larger history, it is named after a long line of Dees.The people who raised you are more important than the legacy you read about in books.Like any family, Mama's family is fraught with drama and history.
The beginning of the story has a sense of belonging.The living room and yard are extensions of the family.At least their home is theirs, even though they live in relative poverty.There are many painful memories behind the placid portrait of home.A constant reminder of the fire that burned their last house down is the fact that Mama's husband is non-existent.Dee has scars from her rejection of home.When Dee returns, Mama feels the scars opening again.Dee considers home to be an intellectual place filled with her belongings that she can use to fit her new persona.Home is a life force where artifacts like quilts evolve with the people using them.
The items that are meant for everyday use are reflected in the story.The items that are living testimonies are the benches, butter, and quilts.The lifestyle that Mama and her community still lead is represented by them.Dee finds these items traditional, but only in an academic context.She takes the objects from her ancestors.Dee has long divorced herself from a type of people that she considers not family.Mama doesn't want these items to become kitsch for her daughter's flat.By putting them to good use, these items cease to be curiosities and remain part of the lives of proud, hard-working people who continue to keep their traditions alive.
The question and answer section is a great place to ask questions and find answers.
In this story, the reader does not identify with Dee or sympathize with her, but we usually admire a person who rises out of poverty to get an education and better her circumstances.How does Mama view the reader?