Everyday Use Heritage

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Theme of Culture and Heritage in Everyday Use Novel by Alice Walker The given novel named “Everyday Use” has been written by Alice Walker which gives the individual’s relationship to his or her culture that holds particular importance in one’s life. This is also evident from the character of Dee who has chosen to change her given name and then also connect with her provided roots of Africa while her mother is also seeing herself as been within the network of her immediate family traditions. Dee also depicts the idea that how she lacks the given understanding of her own heritage. She has rejected the idea of her immediate family but however puts the values which the quilts have made. She also

When Dee arrives at the house of her mother then she views the house as being the symbol of her upbringing. The very first thing that is being noticed by Dee is the benches as when she admires the benches, she states "You can feel the rump prints" (Walker 112). Walker in this sentence is actually trying to make the readers feel that the benches have been in the home for years. Because of this, the benches are actually depicting the past of the character. Another symbol includes the butter churn and the dash. Walker adds the idea that “there were a lot of small sinks; you could see where thumbs and fingers had sunk into the wood" (112). Walker is actually trying to put the idea that there is a history behind the use of these butter dash. Walker has continued in the other lines to describe the dash by mentioning that these were made of “beautiful light yellow wood, from a tree that grew in the yard where Big Dee and Stash had lived" (112) The details however further add the idea that remembering the history is about valuing the

On the other hand, when Dee brings out the quilts then Walker gets into the given detail in order to represent that what these quilts actually represent in the African culture and heritage. This is evident from the statements when Walker mentions “In both of [the quilts] were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and more years ago. Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell 's Paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece, about the size of a penny matchbox, that was from Great Grandpa Ezra 's uniform that he wore in the Civil War” (p. 113) The quilt has been used in order to represent the family past which even dates back to the time of Civil War. They are depicting the importance of their culture and these quilts not just represent the past but also depict the work of their family members. Quilting has been the customized culture in Africa which the women used to do when they had to pass their time and then it was used to keep the people warm. This is evident from the idea when Dee thinks that these quilts could be used for the decoration purpose but Walker contradicts and adds that this is not the purpose of quilts as he states that these quilts depict the history, tradition and binding of the families, women and men in the past from the African