African American heritage in everyday use
The stories written in the post-slavery era in the United States address the various aspects that the sons and daughters of the former slaves went through as they tried to make a living in the United States. Such stories tell the multiple elements that African Americans went through trying to assimilate into the culture maintained in the United States. They retain some of the traditions held by their parents. Through the comparison of tradition and modern life, a lot of questions are developed regarding the aspect of heritage as African Americans find a balance between the African and American cultures. The short story “Everyday Use” by Alice walker shoes how African Americans perceive the heritage they obtain from their forefathers who were slaves in the United States. Through the analysis of the different perceptions of the term “heritage” in the story, it is evident that heritage should be portrayed through the actions of individuals every day and not used as art.
In the short story, the different characters have a different perception of the word “heritage.” This aspect is based on how the various characters deal with things they have acquired in the past and which are present in the modern-day. The difference is caused by the exposure that the different characters have, Dee and Mama, make the aspect of having different perceptions. The conflict of heritage in the story is observed at the beginning of the story when Dee identifies herself as “wangero Leewanika Kamenjo.” This aspect is portrayed as a denial of one’s heritage when she denies her family name “Dee,” which has been a family name passed from one generation to the other. This aspect shows how dee perceived her heritage. She argues that “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.” this shows that Wangero is not proud of her heritage as she believes that the name of people who lied in the past and not in the present. She believes that heritage is something that should be left in the past and not brought back in the present.
The story uses various aspects to depict African Americans’ heritage during the time the story was written. Through the character of Mama, Walker describes another perception of heritage and how some African Americans perceive it. Through Mama, the audience can understand that heritage is something to be used every day through the use of the different items acquired in the past. In this case, Walker provides contradicting perception of the quilts and how they are perceived through Mama and Dee. In the story, Dee wants to take away the quilts of her grandmother as she believes that Maggie, her sister, would not effectively use them. According to Dee, traditional artifacts should be hunged on the walls as decoration to portray the things that were used in the past.
On the contrary, Mama wants to give the quilts to Maggie as she believes they will be useful to her as she will be able to use them every day. In this case, Mama’s perception of heritage is something that one needs to associate with every day as they are proud to use them and passed from one generation to the other. This aspect is also evident where Mama associated the different pieces of fabric in the two quilts and whose clothes they were taken. She says that they were obtained from clothes that Big Dee wore fifty years ago. She also relates them to clothes of her great-grandpa Ezra wore during the civil war. This aspect shows how heritage is passed from one generation to another and how one should be proud of it as it uses such items. In the process, she touches the quilts to reach the people they represent as a show of how special they are to her.
In conclusion, the aspect of heritage is perceived differently among the characters in the story. Dee (Wangero) regards inheritance as something that people should use a form of art or decoration. This aspect is evident through the way she intends to use the quilts she wants to take from Mama. On the contrary, Mama believes that heritage is something that one needs to be proud of and use every day to appreciate their past. In this case, heritage is something unique to which one holds dear due to the meaning they have in their lives. Therefore, the various aspects of cultural heritage to play a significant role in the development of the story “Everyday Use” by Alice walker.