Alice Walker,

Alice Walker, the author of Everyday Use was born on February 9, 1944. Her parents were sharecroppers, Willie Lee and Minnie Tallulah Grant Walker. Ms. Walker was one of eight children. When she was a young girl, her brother while playing accidentally shot her in the eye with a BB gun (Danielle par 6). This is one of the similarities to Ms. Walker and the characters in the story Everyday Use. The scar left her somewhat shy and withdrawn in the same fashion the scars from being burnt left Maggie shy and quiet. Ms. Walker and Dee have things in common as well. Dee was the outspoken one of the family and Ms. Walker sent a letter to President Clinton declining an invitation to the White House because she disagrees with his policies on Cuba. (Walker “Letter” par 1). Ms Walker reflects her heritage not in one of the characters but all of them. Mama and Maggie represented her past that had been stifled by the chains of slavery and Dee stood for the revolutions of the future in speaking out for her basic civil rights.

The story Everyday Use represents Ms. Walker’s response to the concept of heritage as reflected in the Black poli

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The 60’s, the era in which this story is written, is unique in American history in that this was one of the most open and dramatic period of social change in America.

The story Everyday Use is based on this family crisis of who should have possession of the quilts. " This is supposedly homage to her African past. This is a twist on the name Hakim al Baba since Barber is not an Arab name but she probably would have pronounced it the same way.

Alice Walker has a way of mocking people who shed their roots to take on foreign names. The Mother had a very difficult time saying his name so he told her to call him Hakim-a-barber. One of the most outstanding things she does is changing her name from Dee to”Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo. She says, “In real life I am a large, big boned woman with rough, man-working hands”.

In a world where Dee wanted to change everything about herself, including her name, she wanted to cling to these quilts as if they held her roots, a representation of who and what she was. Dee fails to realize she is not embracing her African culture by changing her name but abandoning it. She viewed the other quilts as less important because of the stitching on the outside by a sewing machine. Dee sees the quilts as a representation of her heritage. However, Momma knew it was not embracing her true heritage, but instead, denying her own. This shows that in her mind she thought she was supposed to be thin and light skinned to be pretty. As if using them would somehow make them less representative of her heritage and common for using them.

Common topics in this essay:
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Approximate Word count = 1264
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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