Alice Walker, "Everyday Use"

The cultural emphasis within this essay gives insight into a family and how they interact & develop into their own selves. Alice Walker's , " Everyday Use"gives the reader enough background to understand a few of the cultural aspects of this mothers heritage. The insight given into the two very different children, one having been scarred from a house fire still living at home & the other who has left the nest on a search for the "good life." Her descriptions of the surroundings, what each person looks like, expressions on faces as the story evolves really give the reader some weighty knowledge & stirs interest that any reader enjoys. The way she describes the two houses, one that burnt & the one the mother & "Maggie" live in. (697) The essay tells of "Dee" leaving the nest & pursuing a better life. Alice Walker writes, "Why don't you do a dance around the ashes? I'd wanted to ask her. She had hated the house that much."... "Dee wanted nice things."..... "I used to think she hated Maggie, too. But that was before we raised the money, the church and me,to send her to Augusta to school."(699) Then "Dee" comes home to visit. She has intentions of not only visiting but asking for items of the cultural heritage that she was brought up with. The essay reiterates that culture is imprinted on ourselves. The community in which people live reflects what contributions they have to share.

Walker, Alice."Everyday Use."Literacy's. 2nd ed. Ed. Terence Brunk et al. New York: Norton, 2000. 697-705