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Literary Analysis Of 'OYDAY USE'

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Literary Analysis The poem, “WE REAL COOL” sums the life of troubled teenagers who choose to leave school and pursue street life. The poet only sees the certain fate of quick death for teenagers. The poem describes the happiness that teenagers chase in the present moment at the expense of the future. The teenagers hang around pool tables, learn all the tricks of the game and ignore the consequences of their decisions in their future. The poem showcases the teenagers’ attitude in an emotional way, and this enables the author to connect the message to the audience (Kennedy). The story, “EVERYDAY USE”, was published as part of a short stories collection in Love and trouble: stories of black women. The title of the book can reveal the contents …show more content…

In the 1950s and 1960s, African Americans had been granted civil rights, though gradually, and the emerging generation was confused as regards the expectations placed on them. Some members of this generation saw fit that the best they could do in the circumstances was to fight for historical injustices suffered by the black American, while others made unsuccessful attempts to break the yoke of poverty and overcome inequality. The authors’ presentation of the story as a family strife is especially enlightening as it allows one to analyze universal themes from the aspect of the smallest unit of a community, the …show more content…

In the story, “EVERYDAY USE”, one gets attracted to the lack of empathy and genuine connection between Dee and her family. Even though Dee is educated, she appears ignorant of her family heritage, and this makes her claim of making decisions based on her heritage baseless. At the end of the story, one develops a connection with Mama and Maggie as they appear defenseless in light of Dee’s veiled education and her subsequent actions towards her family. This storyline highlights the problem faced by the uneducated and the hope killed by those they look up to and subsequently inspire the reader to take action for the betterment of

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Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” illustrates Dee’s struggle for identity by placing her quest for a new identity against her family’s desire for maintaining culture and heritage. In the beginning, the narrator, who is the mother of Dee, mentions some details about Dee; how she “...wanted nice things… She was determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts… At sixteen, she had a style of her own: and (she) knew what style was.” Providing evidence to the thesis, she was obviously trying exceptionally hard to find for herself a sense of identity. She wanted items her family couldn’t afford, so she worked hard to gain these, and she found a sense of identity from them, but it also pushed her farther away from her family.

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The family leads a hard working, simple and minimalistic life that allows them just enough to get by. Mama is described as a “large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands” (Walker 418). Her day to day life doesn’t allow for the high standards of her eldest daughter Dee. Dee is described by Mama as being unappreciative and bratty. Mama makes is clear that the family’s socioeconomic status would never be good enough for the eldest daughter.

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When you look at it from Dee’s point of few she just seems to be pushing her family to expand their education and have a better life. Dee doesn’t want her family on a farm and raising cattle because that isn’t what she likes. She has an open mind about things and sees them as more than just what they are used for, hence the title, “Everyday Use.” Dee may seem like a rude, spoiled girl, but looking at it from her perspective, all she wants is for her family to live the way she does. Changing the point of view from Mama to Dee would make a major difference.

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