Thursday, November 15, 2007
Everyday Use
The story is about an African American family. The theme seems to be about the power of voice and how it can influence how someone thinks, whether it be a positive influence or negative. In the beginning of the story the mother states that the prettier and smarter daughter Dee is the "perfect" child. Dee uses her intelligence to undermine and subdue her sister's worthiness to her mother. But, by the end of the story her mother becomes aware of Dee's malicious ego-driven attempts to misguide her perception on Maggie. The story is also about a family quilt which that has been passed down by generations. When the quilt is decided to go to Maggie instead of Dee, it shows the mother's distaste and realization of Dee's actions. The mother then hugs Maggie, something she hasn't done in a very long time.
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The idea about the power of voice in interesting--you're thinking about Dee's forced attempts to "educate" her mother and Maggie? This is really the voice of a different cultural perspective, right?
When analyzing the story, consider the following issues (my comments from another blog). Also, see my comments on Danny's and Andrea DeAngelo's blogs.
If you look closely, the mother's relationship with Dee is quite conflicted, and she is actually much closer to Maggie, in character. Consider the dreams she has involving Dee, and also the final scene (Maggie and the mother on the porch as Dee leaves). Also, connsider the contrast between Dee and Maggie as characters. This should lead to a discussion of one of the important themes of the story, heritage. But, again, this concept is ambiguous in the story. Through the interactions among the three main characters, Walker explores the complex and perhaps contradictory notions of "heritage." There are, at any rate, at least two perspectives on heritage that the story presents. One represented best by Dee, and the other be Maggie and her mother.
Consider especially scenes--the dialogue and character interaction--involing the butter churn and the quilt. Also consider the symbolic value of these itmes, as they relate to concepts of heritage. Consider also the story's title.
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