The Disconnection By Alice Walker - 1722 Words

In Everyday Use Historical Criticisms explores the disconnection that people can sometimes have depending on their education. Alice Walker successfully shows the disconnection by comparing two ends of the spectrum of generation. Taking the historical context it plays a major role in the way this short story is viewed. It was a time where people of color had a different and difficult experience getting an education. When the narrator was talking about having an education it was important because she wanted to be on a television show her success and how far she went. However Dee see’s her mother and Maggie differently as if they don’t know how to appreciate heritage as an art. For example when she wanted the quilts that were suppose to go†¦show more content†¦As the story progressed it led to Dee fighting for the quilts since she did not want Maggie to have them because she was just going to use it as an everyday item instead of valuing it as art. â€Å"Can I ha ve these old quilts? I heard something fall in the kitchen, and a minute later the kitchen door slammed. Why don’t you take one of the others? No, said Wangero (Dee) I don’t want those† (Walker 292). Dee wanted the quilts to have them hanging on the wall at her house to show her heritage and her culture. In that short section it showed the difference of wanting to use the quilt as an everyday item as some form of art to make a statement of showing how proud she was her heritage during a time where colored people were oppressed. In the end of the story when Dee leaves after the argument and has a dramatic exit while, her mother and Maggie just sit outside until bedtime, which showed the difference of the older generation and new. On one side there is a passive approach and then there is the new generation which is demonstrated as being a fighter, and fighting for what you believe until you get what you want or at least try. One main focus in this story is heritage and the different value is holds for people. On one hand Dee admires her culture and embraces it too its full extent. She changes her name from â€Å"Dee Johnson to â€Å"Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo† (Cowart). She seesShow MoreRelatedâ€Å"All segments of the literary world—whether establishment, progressive, Black, female, or1200 Words   |  5 Pagesnot know, that Black women writers and Black lesbian writers exist.† During the 1970’s to 1980’s, African American studies of Black’s steep legacy was a dying trade. Alice walker stepped up in this time period as an influential writer of the recovery movement for African American studies. Three well respected works from Alice Walker are: The Color Purple, The Third Life of Grange Copeland, and Meridian. We will focus on Walker’s narrative, The Color Purple which details the story of a young eightRead MoreShort Story : Everyday Use Mama906 Words   |  4 PagesIn, Alice Walkers, Ever yday use mama is waiting around for her daughter Dee to arrive. Here we learn a little about herself and her daughter Maggie, but we hear a lot about Dee; who seems to be very praised. Still Mama knows that Maggie will be uneasy during her sister’s visit, she still imagines her reuniting with her daughter just like on television. Mama starts  to remember their life, how Maggie got her scars in the fire, and sending Dee off to school and coming back forcing her beliefs on everyoneRead MoreBlack Naturalism and Toni Morrison: the Journey Away from Self-Love in the Bluest Eye8144 Words   |  33 Pagesare is who we are, she remains undaunted and vows ain t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin (94,96). During an interview of Alice Childress and Toni Morrison conducted by Black Creation magazine, Childress claims that all black writers, whether they intended to or not have been writing about not being free. Always--from the beginning of America right up to now (Walker and Weathers 92). The theory of naturalism is also about the primal struggle for freedom-- freedom to develop and realize allRead MoreAn Analysis of Theodore Roethkes My Papas Waltz3287 Words   |  13 Pagesword and phrase, and how these work together to present her ideas to the reader. This is what makes her work unusual and Toni Morrison an author whose greatness is surpassed by very few. Discussion # 3: Part I In Everyday Things by Alice Walker, Dee visits her mother and sister, suddenly having become Wangero in honor of what she sees as her heritage. When she accuses her family of not understanding their heritage, the implication is that they have not, unlike her, studied this heritage