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Everyday Use By Alice Walker Research Paper

768 Words4 Pages

Kayla Vasquez
Dr. George
LIT 2000
2 June 2023
Topic 5: Is “Everyday Use” Autobiographical Alice Walker is an African American writer, who is most famously known for her short stories, essays, and fiction about gender and race. One of her well known works is titled “Everyday Use” which tells the story of two conflicting daughters who have different ideas and views about their identity as well as ancestry. After thoroughly reading “Everyday Use” and analyzing Alice Walker’s life in comparison to her characters, there is evidence suggesting that her short story is partially autobiographical. It is believed by many that there is a bit of the author, Alice Walker, in each of the characters in the short story. In order to really know that, some …show more content…

She still lives with her mother in poverty and appreciates her culture in a way that is practical and for everyday use. In my opinion, Maggie represents the beginning of Alice Walker’s life. Alice began in a state of deprivation throughout her childhood, as well as during a time of legal segregation. Maggie contains burn scars from the house fire which makes her very self-conscious and shy. Similar to Alice, who had her eye struck in a childhood incident leaving her disfigured and blind in that eye (Smithsonian Institute). Due to this injury, Alice Walker was teased a lot during her school days which made her “self conscious as well as suicidal” as well (Gale). Maggie’s character gives us insight in to how Walker views her childhood, as well as depict important details from her formative …show more content…

How she managed to break free from the poverty and their living situation just as the character does throughout the story. Dee represents the time in Walker’s life where she was coming into her adulthood and really finding who she is. Alice Walker had worked very hard academically and was very skilled. “Her writing abilities gained her a scholarship to Spelman College” (PB Works) and this had helped her on her journey away from poverty. Dee was a driven, accomplished, young woman and she was proud of it, much like Alice. Throughout “Everyday Use” Dee is seen as the daughter who has accomplished it all, and from research it would seem that Walker has many accomplishments to be proud of. The most obvious reason there is a comparison between Alice and Dee is their drive to escape poverty, and reaching that

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