ipl-logo

Everyday Use By Eudora Welty Compare And Contrast

485 Words2 Pages

Everyday Use by Alice Walker and Eudora Welty in A Worn Path are two short stories that share many similarities. One similarity between the two stories that caught my attention was protection and love. Both women take care of a child that went through an incident. In the story Everyday Use by Alice Walker, Mama is a poor African American woman who is considered to be very strong and manly. The story takes place at a time in the 1900s where racism still exists. Mama is the provider of the family. Mama’s younger daughter Maggie was severely burned in a house fire when she was a child. As a result of that incident, Maggie is a nervous and maladjusted girl. Maggies appearance from the fire hides her generous personality. Mama is very protective of Maggie. Mama protects Maggie and doesn't expose her to the outside world very much. This makes Maggie awkwardly shy of people. Mama is aware of Maggies limitations and problems are a result of the fire. Even though Mama is strictly protective of Maggie, it shows her love for her. Despite her strictness, Mama loves Maggie more than her oldest daughter Dee. Mama is also protective of Maggies feelings. When Dee wanted the quilts, Mama fought for Maggie. Mama also knew that Maggie was somewhat intimidated by Dee. So she kept her promise of giving Maggie the …show more content…

Also like Everyday Use, A Worn Path takes place at a time in the 1900s when racism existed. Just like Mama, Phoenix also takes care and protects a child. However, the child she takes care of is her grandson. Many years ago, her grandson swallowed lye. This is a strong substance which is used in making soap. As a result, the boy’s throat is damaged permanently. The old and fragile woman makes the long journey to Natchez to get medicine for her grandson. This shows her love for her grandson and her determination to make him

Show More
Related

Dee's Defense Analysis Maggie

386 Words | 2 Pages

Reading this story, from Mama’s point of view, limits our ability to understand the viewpoints of the other characters involved. Mama describes Maggie as being “simple and not very bright”, but she may just be very introverted and if you heard this story from Maggie’s vantage point, she may come across as very caring and wise beyond her years due to the tragedies she experienced in losing her home to fire and in being burned. Also, in Dee’s defense she has the right to feel proud in regards to her education and “making it” in the outside world. Her personality is flamboyant and she is portrayed as being highly motivated which contrasts sharply with Mama and Maggie’s personalities. Mama may be misunderstanding her actions due to their very

Read More

A Rhetorical Analysis Of 'Everyday Use' By Alice Walker

1052 Words | 5 Pages

The speaker is uneducated, so the writing in the first person is readable for beginners as well as educated adults. Walker addresses the audience specifically to to create deeper imagery, where the audience can add their own experiences to the story, such as “You’ve no doubt seen those TV shows” (46). The speaker directly addresses the audience, and so anyone reading the story, whether a minority, or the majority, will be connected to the story. Purpose: Walker describes the impact of oppression on the relationship between mother and daughter, and how the oppressed view themselves.

Read More

The Similarities Of Family In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

370 Words | 2 Pages

No matter where they live or the time period, most families share some similarities. Alice Walker’s“Everyday Use” is about a family. The Mama has two daughters, Dee and Maggie. Dee has gone off to college and has learned about her culture and changed her name to Wangero. While Dee is off at college Mama and Maggie have made a new life in their new home after the fire had burned theirs down.

Read More

Everyday Use By Alice Walker: Literary Analysis

333 Words | 2 Pages

Alice Walker was a social activist, born in 1944. She is very popular for her novel “The Color Purple” that was published in 1982. Before that, she wrote “Everyday Use” in 1973. It is a short story about a family that branches out in their own way throughout the years. She shows us that the daughters were being directed into two different pathways.

Read More

An Analysis Of Eudora Welty's A Worn Path

1945 Words | 8 Pages

Phoenix is a brave elderly black woman who is on a risky journey where she encounters numerous obstacles but continues on fuelled by a love for her ailing grandson. Eudora Welty illustrated the resilience of the human spirit

Read More

Mama Lola

692 Words | 3 Pages

The decisions that Mama Lola and her family make are altered by the teachings about the spirit Ogou because of their devotion to Hatian and Vudou traditions. Mama Lola grew up learning about Ogou and it is so ingrained in her life that she teaches it to her children to try and help influence their decision making for the better. But, since this family came to America social institutions that test their faith, Economic Class, Race and nationality make their decision making shaped by their devotion to Ogou. During this essay I am going to explain to you why their decision making by Ogou to help become more adapt to these institutions for the better. Mama Lola and her family deal with the problem of their economic status during their early days in New York City.

Read More

'Symbolism In Everyday Use' By Alice Walker

1271 Words | 6 Pages

In Alice Walker’s short story Everyday Use, readers are given a look inside the thoughts of Ms. Johnson as she is reunited with her daughter Dee or “Wangero” as she now calls herself. What makes this short story thought provoking is the way Walker depicts Ms. Johnson’s reaction to Dee’s new found identity and new found appreciation for a life she once despised. Ms. Johnson noted that as a child, Dee hated their previous home which burned down years ago: this also resulted in Maggie’s burn scars. The purpose of this essay is to explore the symbolism embodied in the family’s yard, Maggie’s burn scars, the trunk with quilts and Dee’s Polaroid camera. It is obvious in this story that Dee has untasteful intentions for the use of her family’s heritage for vain purposes.

Read More

Three-Woman Characters In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

1097 Words | 5 Pages

This means that Mama was pleased with her life and with Maggie’s actions which shows her strong family bonds unlike Dee who left

Read More

The Two Sisters In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

937 Words | 4 Pages

Dee feels like she’s better than not just her sister Maggie but also her mother because she is educated and they are not. This has an impact on Maggie because she is the complete opposite of Dee. Maggie is shy, nervous and complicated. She requires much more attention than Dee. According to Megan an at-home mom in San Diego she says her daughter Katie loves the attention and and will fight other siblings for the spotlight.

Read More

The Symbolism Of The Yard In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

122 Words | 1 Pages

“It is not just a yard. It is like an extended living room.” (Walker, 1973, p.314). With the yard being the main setting in the story, viewers learn the yard will be the comfort spot for this broken family. In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker readers are introduced to three main characters.

Read More

A Worn Path Analysis

1126 Words | 5 Pages

The short story, A Worn Path written by Eudora Welty, focuses and enhances the idea of perseverance through one’s race and age. Eudora Welty uses these topics in most of her pieces but this story in particular expresses it honorably. A Worn Path takes place far out in the country during the middle of the winter. An old African American woman, Phoenix Jackson, has to take on a long journey into the town to get special medication for her grandson. Throughout the journey, Phoenix encounters many obstacles that she has to overcome to help her grandchild.

Read More

A Worn Path Phoenix Jackson Character Analysis

738 Words | 3 Pages

In the story “A Worn Path” Phoenix Jackson was an old African American women. She takes a small journey that can be an allegory of someone's whole life. The journey had hard and easy parts, beauty, danger, and confusion. But her quest was to get the medicine for her sick grandson who laid at home waiting for her return. Phoenix was a delusional yet heroic, caring grandmother who would stop at nothing to get what she needed.

Read More

Characterization In Everyday Use

610 Words | 3 Pages

(Nancy Tuten) agrees by saying, "Mama's distaste for Dee's egotism is tempered by her desire to be respected by her daughter.” The Mom’s character changes during the quilt scene, as she realizes that Maggie shares the appreciation of culture and heritage, and Dee's appreciation is entirely different from theirs. During the quilt scene, Dee is demanding Mom to give her the quilts, and Mom says, "when I looked at her like that something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet.” In other words the daughter who she has always thought so highly of knew little of their culture and had little appreciation for their heritage. Walker creates the “mom” character to help defend her point, which is the importance of upholding the values and traditions in the African American

Read More

Dee's Identity In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

721 Words | 3 Pages

Mama always dreamed that she will be in a show with her daughter Dee and Dee will be thanking mama of all what she’s done for her, but she knows it won’t happen. Maggie is smaller than Dee and she is always nerves and very shy, when she was a child their house got burned at that time she was very scared maybe that’s what makes her nerves and shy and that also hides her personality what she looks from the inside she hides it from the outside. Maggie lives at home with mama, she never spends time in the outer world she always stays at home and mama protects

Read More

A Comparison Of Maggie And Dee In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

1026 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the story Mama describes both of the girls and how she feels about their differences, even though they are sisters and grew up in the same house. Maggie and Dee are different in their

Read More

More about Everyday Use By Eudora Welty Compare And Contrast

Related Topics

Open Document