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Everyday Use Character Analysis Essay

1358 Words6 Pages

Characterization, conflict, and symbolism is a major key in a short story matter of fact it is a major key in any type of literature. Characterization is explained through out literature from poems to book. Characterization is shown well throughout the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. Conflict and symbolism are also shown very well throughout the whole short story. The key to find characterization, conflict, and symbolism in a piece of literature is to analyze the story and actually understand the story. Walker explained characterization, conflict, and symbolism very well from the characters Dee, Maggie, or another family member. Walker also explained conflict through the sisters and shown their type of relationship. Characterization, conflict, and symbolism is in pretty much every time of literature it is just the way people read the story and analyze the story to find the three major keys of a piece of literature. First of all, characterization is the describing the individual quality of a person or thing. Characterization is explained through the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker through the main characters from Dee, Maggie, Barber, and more. Characterization is the act of describing someone …show more content…

They had been pieced by Grandma Dee and then Big Dee and me had hung them on the quilt frames on the front porch and quilted them. One was in the Lone Stat pattern. The other was Walk Around the Mountain. In both of them were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and more years ago (Walker 5). The quilts mean a lot to the family tradition and Dee know if she does not take care of them Grandma Dee would not like that to happen if she still alive. Symbolism is shown in the story plenty of time from the quilts and the meaning of the family tradition. Symbolism is in every piece of literature people just have to look for it. When the reader knows the main symbol of the story, the story becomes more

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Maggie’s quilts can also symbolize the respect she has for culture. According to Alice Walker, the quits were sewn by Dee and Maggie's grandmother, and while Dee only wants the quilts to show them off, Ma chose to give them to Maggie because she knows she will respect and use them. There is also symbolism in their old home including the fire that burned it down and Maggie in the process. The house fire symbolizes the family being separated or destroyed, as evidenced by how Dee treats her family and why Maggie often seeks her sister's approval. Despite this, while fire symbolizes destruction, it also symbolizes purification, which Alice Walker uses to show Maggie's kind-hearted and caring nature as she is uncorrupted by selfishness.

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