The Importance Of Family Heritage By Alice Walker

Sydney Elliott ENGL 102-52 Dr. Irmer February 25, 2015 The Importance of Family Heritage One of the most inspiring authors in American history is Alice Walker. Walker is the youngest child in a sharecropper family that found her overly ambitious and highly competitive (Walker 609). This gave her a strong fighting attitude, which allowed her to make positive changes in an extremely racist society. Unfortunately, when she was young, Walker was accidentally shot in her right eye with a BB gun while playing â€Å"Cowboys and Indians.† This accident caused Walker to lose her self-esteem and her captivating personality. As a result, she secluded herself from the outside world and began to write. During this time-the 1950’s and 1960’s- Alice Walker’s works channeled the hardship and inferiority that she realized as a black person (Whitted). One of Walker’s fundamental short stories is titled â€Å"Everyday Use.† It is set in the rural south during a time when African Americans were searching for their own identities. One of the characters, Dee, represents the Black Power Movement. She is intelligent, superficial, and assertive with her desires. She is also attempting to escape from the stereotypes that have defined her (White). By the end of this short story, the reader understands the meaning of undeniable heritage. Although there are several symbols in Alice Walker’s short story â€Å"Everyday Use† the four most significant symbols include the quilts, Mama’s hands, the burns on Maggie, andShow MoreRelatedThe Meaning And Maintenance Of Heritage In Alice Walkers Everyday Use974 Words   |  4 PagesThe Meaning and Maintenance of Heritage in Alice Walkers Everyday Use In Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use,† Walker uses, the symbolic significance of the quilt in this story to represent the heritage of this family as their heritage signifies where they came from and their traditions and cultural values. Walker demonstrates, that the importance of the quilt was to display the family’s history from generation to generation in hopes that each would understand and appreciate their familys background.Read MoreSymbolism in the Short Story Everyday Use Essay578 Words   |  3 Pages Alice Walker is a well-known African- American writer known for published fiction, poetry, and biography. She received a number of awards for many of her publications. One of Walkers best short stories titled Everyday Use, tells the story of a mother and her two daughters conflicting ideas about their heritage. The mother narrates the story of the visit by her daughter, Dee. She is an educated woman who now lives in the city, visiting from college. She sta rts a conflict with the other daughterRead MoreEveryday Use by Alice Walker: A Look at Symbolism and Family Values879 Words   |  4 PagesAlice Walkers â€Å"Everyday Use†, is a story about a family of African Americans that are faced with moral issues involving what true inheritance is and who deserves it. Two sisters and two hand stitched quilts become the center of focus for this short story. Walker paints for us the most vivid representation through a third person perspective of family values and how people from the same environment and upbringing can become different types of people. 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