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‘Everyday Use’ by Alice Walker

The short story, ‘Everyday Use ‘ by Alice walker teaches readers on the

importance of family heritage, showing what family heritage is and who are eligible

to receive it. Family heritage can be considered as the family things or thoughts that

individuals inherit from their ancestors. In the story, two quilts used to symbolize the

cultural heritage, turn into a focal point of conflict I the narrative. The narrator of the

story, Mama, helps the reader understand the story through her daughter’s different

perspectives of cultural heritage. In the short story, ‘Everyday Use,’ Alice walker

develops the theme of cultural identity through her characterization and to show the

impact of culture in people’s lifestyles.

To begin with, Dee holds a different point of view on culture and family

heritage compared to her sister. She is described as an individual who is disgusted by

the historical oppression in her family. Dee rejects the cultural heritage valued by her

family and instead creates a new cultural heritage for herself. Her different

perspective can also be seen in the way she dresses. She wears, a dress down to the

ground… gold earrings.. Bracelets dangling and making noises while her hair stands

straight like the wool on a sheep (Walker 3). According to Bennett, Reid and Petocz,

individuals use art and re-interpretation of culture as a way to preserve cultural

heritage (Bennett, Reid and Petocz 1). Similarly Dee believes that the only way she

can show that she acknowledges and protects her cultural heritage is by converting it

to accessories. She also believes that by displaying the quilts as accessories in her
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home, she would show people that she is connected to her cultural heritage. Dee

notes, ‘ I don’t want those. They are stitched around the corners by machine… that’s

not the point. These all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear. She did all this

stitching by hand. Imagine!’ (Walker 6). When her mother asks her, what she intends

to do with the quilts, she answers, ‘hang them’ (Walker 6). From the above

statements, it is clear that Dee wants to have the quilts since they are a symbol of her

family history. She wants to use them as antiques show them to people as a symbol of

historical tradition.

On the other hand, her sister Maggie honors her family heritage, by using the

quits for everyday use. This can be seen when Mama says that she wants to give the

quilts to Maggie. Dee looks angry and says, ‘Maggie can’t value these quilts! She’d

probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use’ (5). Maggie is described

as a young, timid, undervalued girl. When Dee insists that she wants to have the

quilts, her mother says that she was saving the quilts to give Maggie when she got

married. Maggie however timidly asks her mother to give the quilts to Dee. She says,

‘She can have them, Mama,..I Can’member Grandma Dee without the quilts’

(Walker 6). From the above statement, it is clear that Maggie does not view the quilts

as tangibles for display, but instead values her family heritage as an attachment to her

ancestors. According to her, the everyday use of inherited items and the value they

retain keep her connected to her ancestors.

Lastly, Mama also views cultural heritage in a different perspective. She is not

happy with Dee’s new appearance and dressing style. She notes that Dee has flashed

all her African roots because she does not understand the true meaning of cultural

heritage (Hanafy 4). Mama does not exhibit any form of African fashion, but instead

understands the genuine significance of her family heritage. She shows her value for
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her family heritage, by preserving the quilts she wishes to bestow her daughter when

she gets married. ‘ in both of them were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn

fifty and more years ago. Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jatell’s Paisley shirts’ (Walker

5). It is therefore clear that the quilts had a meaning to her. The fact that she has been

moving up with the inherited items shows that she takes her cultural heritage with her

whenever she moves. She therefore decides not to surrender to Dee’s demands and

gives Maggie the quilts. She says, ‘I did something I have never done before: hugged

Maggie to me, then dragged her into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss

Wangero’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap. By doing so, Mama ensures

that she passes on the quilts to a person who understands their true values and will put

them into good use.

In conclusion, the meaning of cultural heritage is shown in the text by using

quilts to describe the conflicted relationship between two daughters. Dee believes that

since she is educated, she has the right to own the family quilts. However, their

mother decides to bestow the quilts on Maggie because she retains more authentic

connection to her family’s cultural heritage. Dee, is portrayed as an individual who

views heritage in the past tradition point of view while Maggie views heritage as her

everyday use. Dee states that she deserves to receive the quilts because she is the

only one who will truly appreciate their worth . to her, the quilts are antiques that need

to be hang and preserved as historical items and her sister will only put them into

everyday use. On the other hand, mother believes that Dee does not acknowledge her

family heritage and notes that Maggie will effectively make use of the quilts by her

everyday use, because they are made for exactly such functions. The two conflicting

ideas show how the quilts contrast each other and how cultural heritage needs to be

used.
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Work Cited

Walker, Alice. Everyday Use." Love and Trouble. New York: Harcourt, 1973.

Bennett, Dawn, Anna Reid and Peter Petocz. "Creative workers’ views on cultural

heritage and sustainability." Journal of aesthetics & culture (2014).

Hanafy, Iman A. "Cultures in Conflict: An Interpretation of Alice Walker's" Everyday

Use." Dirasat, Human and Social Sciences 37 (2010).