A Purpose for Everyday Use
Alice Walker's Everyday Use is a story with great examples of the literary devices. Two of the most prominent literary devices include theme and vivid characters. The characters tie in very closely with the theme. The theme of the story starts to be revealed when "Wangero" asks for the butter churn top and is most fully developed when she again asks for her mother's quilts. Mama, Dee and Maggie are round characters, but only Mama is dynamic. Dee and Maggie remain static and relatively unchanged throughout the entire story. While Mama is the only dynamic character in the story, it is the unchanging of her daughters that produce her epiphany. Mama is very content with her meager rural life. She is very proper, however, in the fact that she wants to keep her small house in a presentable fashion. When she receives news that her daughter is coming to visit she starts preparing for her arrival. "A yard like this...inside the house." (para. 1) Mama is very concerned by how her daughter will react whenever she comes back home. She sometimes "dream a dream...tears in her eyes." (para. 4) She yearns to have Dee love her and wants the whole world to know it. When Dee arrives, Mama is startle
Now that she is no longer American, but now African, these quilts have some superficial value to her. Mama certainly still loves Dee with all of her heart, but finally comprehends that Dee must reciprocate her love without special treatment and getting what she wants. Mama and Maggie have put something as minuscule as a churn top into practical use for a very long time and Dee wants to use it for decoration. The quilts were delicate and when put into constant use in the cold season(s), would deteriorate over time, but they would serve their purpose of keeping their owners warm and safe. Mama's epiphany occurs whenever "Wangero" asks her for the quilts that were made by Grandma Dee. d to find that she is no longer Dee, but another incarnation of her daughter named "Wangero". 39) She so desires for her daughter to love her that she lets something such as a drastic name change pass by. They aren't well made, but they are old and represent all that "Wangero's" people had to endure while under oppression. The practicality would represent the American portion, while the purely visual usage of the churn top would portray the African heritage. When Wangero's statement about how she would hang the quilts is quickly followed by Maggie's meager attempt to rectify the situation by saying that she doesn't need the quilts to remember her history, Mama feels like "something hit me in the top. Maggie could use these quilts as a "safety blanket" much like that of Linus in the Peanut's cartoon. The quilts are also subject to great controversy amongst the household.
Common topics in this essay:
Maggie Wangero,
Dee Maggie,
David White,
American African,
Linus Peanut's,
Walker's Everyday,
Mama Maggie,
John Thomas,
Dee Mama,
churn top,
theme story,
american heritage,
entire story,
mama dynamic,
dee maggie,
dee mama,
love daughter,
mama loves,
african heritage,
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Acceptance Essays
