Two Ways To Belong In America Summary

In the short story by Alice Walker, “Everyday Use”, and the personal essay by Bharati Mukherjee, “Two Ways to Belong in America,” sisters’ views are put up against one another causing cultural conflicts throughout. Both pairs of sisters are polar opposites when it comes to cultural, one holds on while the other let's go. For Maggie in “Everyday Use”, she wants to hold on to her heritage just like Mira in “Two Ways to Belong in America”. Maggie wants to hold on to the quilts her mother made and use them everyday. Mira is an immigrant in America and she sticks to her Indian culture by not changing who she is and marrying another immigrant from India. For Mira she is “Here to maintain her identity, not to transform it,”(Bharati Mukherjee) meaning she wants to be able to hold on to everything from India she can. In Maggie’s case there is proof of here wanting to continue to show off her heritage by saying “Maggie knows how to quilt.”(Alice Walker) Meaning she wants to continue to show off her grandmother’s and mother’s

Something you would not expect in a family. In Bharati’s case it is her “transforming her identity”(Bharati) as she learns more about America. Examples of this is changing her clothing and actually becoming an American citizen by marrying a citizen. As for Dee she wants to keep her mother’s quilts claiming “They’re priceless!”(Walker). Showing she only wants the quilts because of how valuable they are not for the heritage factor. Especially since at one point in her life she said “They are old fashioned”(Walker), really showing she wants them for their value and so her sister does not get her hands on them. Both girls are adapting their new cultures and almost forgetting about their heritage and past. They clearly like their new cultures and do not really think back on where they came from or try to hold on to their