Everyday Use by Alice Walker explores the struggles experienced by African-American women due to racial identity and racism in rural and urban areas. It is told in the first person narration giving details of the problems of the minority race during the slave era in America due to racism. The author uses literary devices such as symbolism, the setting, and narrator’s point of view to highlight the plight of women such as racism in the story both in rural and urban dwelling. The story’s setting is in the yard of the narrator enabling the reader to familiarize with the place in the rural areas. The narrator knows the place very well and does not waste time assisting the reader in familiarizing with the place which is occupied by African Americans. The description of the place as the story opens invites everyone before nasty things starts happening “A yard like this is more comfortable than most people know… (Walker 1). After the invitation, she starts …show more content…
This helps in connecting the reader to the character in the story by sympathizing with the protagonist who undergoes several challenges since her sister’s character has changed after acquiring education in an urban setting. The reader sees everything in the perspective of the narrator and it may be challenging to choose whether to trust the character to narrate about the rest in the story. For example, when she describes Dee “Dee wanted nice things. …. She was determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts (Walker 12). Dee according to the narrator’s description has been alienated and want to behave like the whites high class. Although it brings out her character as aggressive wanting to look her best, later it is clear that Dee has an interest for other peoples’ things to maintain her urban lifestyle. Racism has reduced in the urban areas since Dee has managed to attend school and is much