Everyday Use

Alice Walker

Every day use is a short story by Alice Walker, that recounts a story about a mother and her two daughters. The technique I found most useful in this story is diction. The way the narrator speaks in this story, really makes the story come alive. It is as if we are reading the mother's diary, on what happened that day. The whole story feels very personal, and makes the reader feel as if he is in the story, watching the story as it unfolds. The mother says "He flew to marry a cheap city girl of ignorant flash people." (Walker) This quote shows that the mother thinks poorly of herself. This continues throughout the entire story. Mama seems to always think of herself as subpar, and not good enough. She sees Dee, educated, and dating an educated man. The thing I saw that really stood out to me was at the end, when Dee says that mama doesn't understand her heritage. I found this to be false. Mama is aware of her humble heritage. Her family, and the things they'd made, the life they'd lived. Mama focuses on the humble life her family has maintained. Dee has grander aspirations. She is not interested in any quilts except for those made by her grandmother with civil war scraps. She cares not for her own history, but for history itself. Mama cares about where she came from, Dee is interested only in the part of her family that has moved her forward.