“Everyday Use”

Hoel’s analysis of Alice Walker’s essay “Everyday Use” is passionate and praiseful. Hoel

compliments Walker’s response to the concept of heritage which was expressed by Black

Political Movements. They supported heritage education. But there was a lack of response to the

Black community. Even today many people have lost their Black heritage and embraced

American culture. They think of their heritage as a novelty. This is illustrated in “Everyday Use”

through the characters of Dee and Wangaroo. The title especially signifies this in the story as

well.

What does the title, “Everyday Use” mean toy might ask? Simple actually; it means an

object that is used every day. But what’s important is it’s relation to the story. In the story, Dee

wants to preserve the quilt while Maggie would’ve just used it. They have different attitudes

about each other which is criticized by Walker in “Everyday Use” This and Dee’s adoption of

African names, etc, also hint this development. In pursuing her “heritage”, Dee lost sight of

things.

Now; let’s look at Hoel’s analysis which supports my analysis of “Everyday Use” Inside

Hoel’s analysis; it states that her writing was to illustrate the misleading concepts that Blacks

around 1970 had about Africans. Take for example, Hoel’s analysis of Dee’s name. It illustrated

that such a name does not exist but is a combination of names from different ethnic groups. This

indicates her lack of knowledge about Africa. In short; Hoel critiques many things, that Dee does

and supports Walker’s description of how to truly embrace your heritage.

To conclude, always follow your heritage but never treat it as a novelty. If you treat it

like that it would lose all value assigned to it. And merely exist as something to gawk as. If we
can truly embrace our cultural nuances without giving them up for a “common culture”; society

will be far more vibrant and loving.