Walker, A. (2004). Everyday Use . Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic.
The central theme in Alice Walker's short story, "Everyday Use" is the loss of cultural heritage and how this impacts relations, especially family ties. The story is about a family that has come together in some sort of reunion for the marriage ceremony of Maggie, the narrator's daughter. It is the arrival of Dee, the elder daughter who was schooled, and now lives in Augusta, with her boyfriend, that raises the tantrum that the story is all about. Mama and Maggie are out waiting for Dee, who unknown to the two ladies, has changed her name to Wangero, taking the cultural context of Augusta. All through the book, the narrator silently laments on the form of this different lifestyle that her daughter has chosen. Dee or Wangero has she prefers to be called, lives with her boyfriend, Hakim-a-barber under unclear marital circumstances, dresses differently from what their culture advocates for.
It is essential to understand the message the author is trying to put across to the reader. In a society that is becoming increasingly idolized, many young people are losing themselves, and their cultures in their quest to identify with the high and mighty cultures that they consider ‘cooler' than their own. Alice Walker's story could not have come at a better time to challenge the younger generation against the loss of cultural and heritage sense, and as such is an effective piece against westernization and the western influence on the more marginalized cultures, especially in the third world. The united states of America, for instance, is viewed as the world's hub of modernization, leading to more people around the world coming into the country to search for better opportunities, which in its entirety is not such a bad thing. However, this move and the embracing of a new culture should not come at the expense of the mother culture, as Walker observes in her story since a person's heritage is what gives them direction, identity and a sense of purpose.
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Cowart, D. (1996). Heritage and Deracination in Walker's" Everyday Use." Studies in Short Fiction, 33(2), 171-184.
In David Cowart's analysis of "Everyday Use," a short story by Alice Walker, the author points towards the quandary of black Americans trying to escape the poverty and prejudice that comes along with being a foreigner in America. Cowart first gives a summary of the book, from which point the reader understands that the story centers around a young woman who makes a maiden visit to her village, the very place she believes she had overgrown. She tries to take some exquisite ancient quilts that have been earmarked for her sister's dowry. Her complexities are seen in the way she has altered her given name, "Dee Johnson" to "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo" which she finds impressive, but which her local people, including her mother, can neither pronounce nor get the significance of. It is interesting to observe how Wangero's quest for social recognition points towards the struggle for liberation undergone by African Americans who readily give up their heritage for the western influence.
Cowart's analysis plays a significant role in bringing to light how one's heritage ensures their right and connection to their traditions. As the author elaborates, Wangero's new way of life makes it hard for her to identify with her people's culture, and therefore hinders a claim to the quilts. Only by remaining in touch with one's heritage can such a person maintain cultural proximity thereby allowing themselves to share in the authentic culture. This article is compelling as well in pointing out the role parenthetically hybridized generations play in creating culturally confused individuals, and therefore are caught between cultures, with no authentic claim to any culture. Wangero cannot claim any rights to the western culture whose influence she is under, just as much as she cannot be part of her mother's lifestyle.
Piedmont-Marton, E. (1997). An Overview of ‘Everyday Use.' Short Stories for Students, 2, 42- 45.
In understanding how African American women are regarded and treated, especially in the cultural context and from the point of view in which other cultures disregard the culture itself, Elisabeth Piedmont- Marton's analysis of Walker's story develops a whole new dimension following the use of the quilt. This scholar perceives the art of quilt making and quilts as a metaphor used by the author to refer to the manner in which "disregarded scraps and fragments are made into unified, even beautiful, whole." In which she relates to the African American women's lives, which have historically been misrepresented and ignored.
Piedmont-Maryon is quite effective in her analysis, in building on the cultural heritage the African American woman prides herself in, despite the external forces that seek to disregard her belief. In expounding on Walker's significance of quilting, the scholar refers to the author's earlier works of literature, such as her essay, "In Search of Our Mother's Garden," which highlights the role art has played in the lives of black women over the centuries. To this extent, both the scholar and the author share a collective voice in which they concur that culture, and subsequently, heritage, are an integral part of defining, and informing a given people. Like a person's identity, cultural heritage sets a given community apart, just as it does the women artists who take to the art of quilting to represent what they believe in. Piedmont-Marton's article, therefore, is a useful tool in relating the quilt as a metaphor to cultural pride and heritage, building on the need for cultural reverence.
References
Cowart, D. (1996). Heritage and Deracination in Walker's" Everyday Use." Studies in Short Fiction, 33(2), 171-184.
Piedmont-Marton, E. (1997). An Overview of ‘Everyday Use.' Short Stories for Students, 2, 42- 45.
Walker, A. (2004). Everyday Use. Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic
