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Natalie Rowland
American Lit. 2328
Bauman
July 6, 2014
Everyday Use Literary Analysis
Alice Walker has a very sure way of where she wants her work to touch. She pulls the
correct strings and ideas from her work and the reader can feel from what she uses. In Everyday
Use, Walker uses an abundance of symbolism to send a hidden message to the reader, making
them think about personas and values. Her technique gives her writing a unique edge to it,
making it sharp, and cynical in places, but still softer in the written word, such as in Everyday
Use.
Alice Walker, 1944-Present, is an African-American woman, who was born as the eighth
child to sharecroppers in Georgia. She had a strong upbringing in her education, and graduated
as the valedictorian of her class. She attended Spelman College in Atlanta, and later transferred
to Sarah Lawrence College in New York City. She was extremely active in the Civil Rights
Movement, and the black feminist movement. She suffered from a childhood injury, which
caused her to lose sight in her right eye, and receive much scarring on and around her eye. She
considered this a disfigurement, and withdrew from society, learning to look at things from a
different perspective, which greatly influenced her writing.
Another thing that influenced her writing, was that during her teenage years the Black
Power Movement was in full swing. This movement was the beginning of African-Americans
accepting their heritage as a good thing, and showing it off to others. However, this also was a
time which can be argued as a time of separating blacks and whites further, in the form of

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psychology, and not just segregation physically. This was a counter-action to what was
encouraged in the Civil Rights Movement, causing tension and sometimes violence between
activists in the Black Power Movement and those who were not.
Walkers uses of symbolism is obvious in some places but not so in others. In Everyday
Use, Walker bases the conflict between the two sisters on a quilt. This quilt is a symbol of
heritage, for it is made of scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and more years ago.
Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrells Paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece, about the size
of a penny matchbox, that was from Great Grandpa Ezras uniform that he wore in the Civil
War (Walker 1997). To Mama and Maggie, the quilt is just memories. A fact that these things,
the uniform, the dresses, were and still are. However, for Dee/ Wanjero, the quilt is a symbol of
her heritage. That the quilt is where she is from; from the struggles of the war, and the people
who oppress [her] (1996). Dee/ Wanjero says she appreciates the true value of the quilts for
what they are: her heritage. Yet Dee/ Wanjero denies pieces of her heritage as they are common,
for instance, being named Dee after [her] aunt Dicie after Grandma Dee [after] her
mother (1996) Her familys heritage is not what shes after, but a false sort of heritage, one
made of the odds and ends she can piece together. The quilt was a struggle, hand stitched and
made with time, as were the benches her daddy made..., the top of a butter churner that
Uncle Buddy whittled, and a dasher made by Big Dees late first husband (1996). Dee is
searching for is the history of her people, of Africa, but what Mama and Maggie view as heritage
is that of their personal family unit. Both are correct in their own way, and the quilt in the story is
supposed to represent having a true sense of heritage as opposed to false of shallow
understanding of the past (Farrell 183). The quilt encapsulates that, as for one side, had quilting

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is something passed down for generations and is a connection to the history of her, Dees,
people, but its also a close family relation, as it was made by her family for her family.
The second symbol I noted was Dee/ Wanjero herself, as well as her very little mentioned
boyfriend or husband Asalamlakim/ Hakim-a-barber. When Dee/Wanjero arrives at the
homestead, shes dressed in
A dress down to the ground, in this hot weather so loud it hurts there are yellows and
oranges enough to throw back the light of the sum earrings gold, too, and hanging
down to her shoulders. Bracelets dangling and making noises when she moves Her
hair. It stands straight up like the wool on a sheep. It is black as night and around the
edges are two long pigtails that rope about like small lizards disappearing behind her ears
(Walker 1995).
When shes where a dress down to the ground in hot weather, its to sympathize with her African
heritage, in their dry heat and common dress. The colors of the dress are interesting, not only are
they rarely seen together in common African dress, but the meanings of the colors are also
important to look at. Orange is the color of social communication and optimism [but] also a
sign of superficiality (Understanding). It can be said that Dee/ Wanjero is a symbol of social
communication, in the form of the black power movement going on at the time, that shes
communicating the history of Africa in her presentation of herself, and that shes optimistic
about the way things will go for her people. Yellow is a symbol of the mind and the intellect
[But] also suggests criticism (Understanding). Dee/ Wanjero views herself as the intellect of
the family according to Mama, and it shows in the way she carries herself and her opinions of
her history and heritage. However, it can also be said that shes exceedingly critical of Mama, as
she tells Mama that you just dont understand your heritage (Walker 1998). This opinion is,

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in fact, false, as Mama and Maggie just have a separate view of heritage than that of Dee/
Wanjero. The last thing from that section of the story is Dee/ Wanjeros hair. She has her styled
as an afro, with braids, which is the natural way that African hair looks. However, this is
stereotypical, and part of the Black Power Movement at the time. Dee is a symbol of the Black
Power Movement, as is presented by the time period shes end, her educated lifestyle, and her
opinions. This can also be backed by her boyfriend or husband Asalamalakim/ Hakim-a-barber.
Mama lives down the road from another black Muslim group, and Asalamalakim/ Hakim-abarber states that, I accept some of their doctrines, but farming and raising cattle is not my
style (1996). During the Black Power Movement, the Nation of Islam, felt that racial selfdetermination was a critical and neglected element of true equality, it can be assumed that
Asalamalakim/ Hakim-a-barber is part of or knows of the Nation of Islam, and agrees with them,
that racial self-determination is key to the success of the African-American race, not farming and
livestock (Black). This determines that Dee/ Wanjero and Asalamalakim/ Hakim-a-barber are a
representation and symbol of the Black Power Movement during the time.
Looking at the other side however, it can be said that Mama and Maggie represent the
counter of the Black Power Movement, the common opinion, which was just for necessity, not
the over-empowerment of the African-American race. Mama and Maggie are simple folk, who
only do what they must out of necessity. The readings that Dee/ Wanjero would make them
listen to were deemed as [forced] words, lies, other folks habits she washed us in a river of
make-believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge we didnt necessarily need to know (Walker
1994). Maggie and Mama dont care to know about anything other than what they are. They are
simple, as stated, and look only at the use of something. When Dee/ Wanjero is astounded that
Mama would actually want to use the quilts, Mama responds God knows I been saving em for

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long enough with nobody using em. I hope she will! To them, use is the only importance, and
passing on the knowledge to what was. Maggie is more so of this, as shes quiet and stumbling
since the fire disfigured her, she only cares to be a peace keeper, and to remove fighting from
everything around her, while Dee/ Wanjero digs up fights all around. Mama is a combination of
the two, as she is calm throughout the story, but as soon as the line is crossed she becomes irate,
[snatches] the quilts out of Miss Wangeros hands and dumped them into Maggies lap (1998).
This calm and peace keeping that is between Mama and Maggie, is the common opinion, and not
the militant, sometimes violent faction of the Black Power Movement (Black).
Walker has an impressive way of symbolizing her true meaning behind her work.
Everyday Use, although on the surface a story about a familys spat, is actually a symbolic
representation about the Black Power Movement Vs. the old common way of thinking; to ask
few questions and do what is necessary. Dee/ Wanjero wants the respect of being AfricanAmerican, while Maggie and Mama respect their known heritage: that of their family. The quilt
is the pivot of the story, where the old and the new views merge, much like a patchwork quilt, to
be made into a chapter of the story piece by piece.

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Works Cited
Alice Walker Biography. Biography. A&E Television Network, n.d. Web. 7 July. 2014.
<http://www.biography.com/people/alice-walker-9521939#video-gallery&>
Black Power Movement. Legal Dictionary. Wests Encyclopedia of American Law, ed. 2,
2008. Web. 7 July. 2014. <http://legaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Black+Power+
Movement>
Farrell, Susan. Fight Vs. Flight: A Re-Evaluation of Dee in Alice Walkers Everyday Use.
Studies In Short Fiction 35.2 (1998): 179. Literary Reference Center. Web. 7 July. 2014.
Sarnowski, Joe. Destroying To Save: Idealism And Pragmatism In Alice Walkers Everyday
Use. Papers On Language & Literature 48.3 (2012): 269-286. Literary Reference
Center. Web. 7 July. 2014.
Understanding the Meaning of Colors in Color Psychology. Empower-Yourself. EmpowerYourself, 2014. Web. 7 July. 2014. <http://www.empower-yourself-with-colorpsychology.com/meaning-of-colors.html>
Walker, Alice. Everyday Use. Anthology of American Literature. Ed. George McMichael,
James S. Leonard et al. 10th ed. Longman, 2011. 1993-8. Print.