An Analysis of Intrinsic Elements in Alice

Walker’s “Everyday Use “

By:

Peni Ratnawati / PBI 5F/08321 217

Rahmadhita A./ PBI 5F/08321 228

Retno Christanti/ PBI 5F/ 08321

Yanda Christina/ PBI 5F/ 08321 308

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH TEACHING FACULTY OF ARTS AND LETTERS EDUCATION

IKIP PGRI MADIUN2010

An Analysis of Intrinsic Elements in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use “

Everyday Use is a widely studied short story written by Alice Walker. It was first published

in 1973 as part of Walker's short story collection, In Love and Trouble. The story actually

represents her response to the concept of the Black people heritage in the late of 60’s. According to

Helga (1997), the story was written during the heyday of the Black Power movement, when

African-Americans were trying to gain racial equality and called for self-determination and racial

dignity. Many blacks wanted to rediscover their African roots, and were ready to reject and deny

their American heritage, which was filled with stories of pain and injustice. In Walker’s Everyday

Use argues that an African-American is both African and American, and to deny the American

side of one’s heritage is disrespectful of one’s ancestors and consequently, harmful to one’s self.

Summary

An African-American mother, "Mama Johnson," had experienced difficulties all her life during her

upbringing. While her daughter (Dee) who had received a good education in Augusta in Georgia

and migrated to work in an urban environment. Mama has one other daughter, Maggie, whom she

conciders to be less fortunate. Maggie used to become victim to a house fire causing her to be

limpy and the scars still remain on her face. Mama has always been saying that her child Maggie is

the most generous of all, while Dee has always been the bold and convident one. The story begins

when Maggie and Mama have already made the house a day earlier in order to welcome Dee. Dee

has always wanted nicer thing. Dee is told to be a bold and beautiful girl with fair skin, who

apparently loves her sister, but Meggi’s less beauty,dark color and less intellectual have caused

Dee to underestimate her. Both the sisters seem complete opposite of each other. One is higly

ambitious and bold while the other is equaly unmotivated. Maggie’s burn have caused her the

extrime troubles that she is often found corners hiding away from the world. Now as soon as Dee

arrives, Maggie and Mama are amazed to see the charm and glory which Dee has arrived. Dee tells

them that she has changed her name now to “Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo”. Dee tries to recollect

the family’s valuable crafts such as quilts and a curn as a memory of heritage from her family and

to keep it as a decor in her home, she also laughs at Maggie for putting such valuable for everyday

use. Both Mama's and Maggie get disturbed and angered by Dee's insulting behavior. Mama at one

satge becomes outrage and throws the quilts into Maggie's lap, declaring that she wont let dee

takes it away. Dee also gets frustated. This is where Mama realies the value of her disabled

daugther’s menerrism againts her bold beautiful daughter.

After revealing the story, it’s clear that Walker’s short story is not merely enjoy to be read, but

there are some serious insight within the story. Each element is used in the story is thought

seriously and interdependent with the other elements. These elements work together in making a

beautiful story. Based on the description above this paper would analyze all the intrinsic elements

of the short story. This paper, focus on describing each intrinsic element entirely without

separating from the other elements in order to be enjoyed and understood in its totality. It’s with

the intention to understand and enjoy Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use“ better, hence a study of

intrinsic elements in the short story is needed to be done.

Furthermore, this paper entitled An Analysis of Intrinsic Elements in Alice Walker’s

“Everyday Use “. There are eight intrinsic elements would be analyzed in this paper, which are:

Plot

According to Kennedy (1983: 9) plot is the artistic arrangement of event in a story. While,

Koestonosoebroto (1988: 28) cites that plot is the arrangement of the details and incidents in the

story. He said that plot has beginning, middle and an end. To conclude, a plot is the arrangement of

bide together chronological events which have causal and thematic connections.

Borrowed in Koestono Soebroto (1988: 32) cite that plot of the traditional short story is often

conceived of as moving though five distinct sections or stages, which are:

1. Exposition, the beginning section in which the author provides the necessary background

information, sets the scene, establishes the situation and dates the action.

2. Complication, the rising action or inciting conflict

3. Crisis or climax is the moment at which the plot reaches its point of greatest emotional

intensity.

4. Falling action, the tension subsides and the plot moves forward its appointed conclusion.

5. Resolution, the final section of the plot in its resolution; it records the outcome of the

conflict and establishes some new stability.

In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” follows such conventional plot development, which is begin

from exposition and finish in resolution. At the beginning of the story is exposing Mama waiting

in the yard. “I will wait for her in the yard that Maggie and I made so clean and wavy yesterday

afternoon. A yard like this is more comfortable than most people know. It is not just a yard. It is

like an extended living room “(Walker, 1973:1). And she moves away from her description of the

yard to describe herself as “a large big-boned woman with rough, man working hands. In the

winter I wear flannel nightgowns to bed and overalls during the day. I can kill and clean a hog as

mercilessly as a man” (p. 2). Then she moves to describe the contrast condition between her

daughters, Maggie and Dee.

Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car,

sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him? That is the way my Maggie walks. She has been

like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire that burned the other house to the

ground (p. 2).

Dee has different personality with her sister Maggie.

She wanted nice things. A yellow organdie dress to wear to her graduation from high school; black pumps to

match a green suit she’d made from an old suit somebody gave me. She was determined to stare down any

disaster in her efforts. Her eyelids would not flicker for minutes at a time. Often I fought off the temptation to

shake her. At sixteen she had a style of her own: and knew what style was (p. 2).

From those quotations at the beginning of the story, Walker provides an introduction into the

situation and the characters in the story. The narrator exposes life of main characters. Suddenly,

the plot moves to the rising action that Dee is coming toward the house with her boyfriend, Hakim-

a-Barber. She wants to recollect the family heritages, such as, wooden bench, butter dishes, quilts

from her mother to hang it on the wall.

Oh. Mama! She cried. Then, turned to Hakim a barber. I never knew how lovely these benches are. You can

feel the rump prints, she said, running her hands underneath her and along the bench. Then she gave a sigh and

her hand closed over Grandma Dee's butter dish. That's it! She said. I knew there was something I wanted to

ask you if I could have. She jumped up from the table and went over in the corner where the churn stood, the

milk in it crabber by now (p. 5).

But Mama has already promised to give the quilts to Maggie. “The truth is, I said, I promised to

give them quilts to Maggie, for when she marries to John Thomas” (p. 6). From those quotations

above Walker begin develops a conflict between the characters. The quilts in the story become a

central conflict which is snacked away by Dee and Maggie.

And the plot reaches its point of greatest emotional intensity, the climax is when Dee is angry with

her mother whom giving the quilts to Maggie for everyday use instead of her. “Dee looked at me

with hatred. You just will not understand. The point is these quilts!” (p. 6). The quotation reveals

that Walker confronts the characters to react to the situation. Dee persistent, that Maggie can not

appreciate the quilts.

Next, the plot moves to falling action, Maggie gives up the quilts to her sister. “She can have them,

Mama, she said, like somebody used to never winning anything, or having anything reserved for

her” (p. 6). This quotation Walker presents an effort in which the major character/ protagonist

attempts to solve the complication only to meet unsatisfactory solutions to the reader. In here the

reader is interested in knowing how in the end the protagonist (Maggie) will solve her problem

after unsatisfactory solution.

Finally at the end of the story, Mama understands that Maggie is more deserve to have the quilts

than Dee who doesn’t know the history of the quilts.

I looked at her hard. She had filled her bottom lip with checkerberry snuff and gave her face a kind of dopey,

hangdog look. It was Grandma Dee and Big Dee who taught her how to quilt herself. She stood there with her

scarred hands hidden in the folds of her skirt. She looked at her sister with something like fear but she wasn't

mad at her. This was Maggie's portion. This was the way, she knew God to work (p.6).

In the resolution, Walker shows that the character (Mama) is forced to make agonizing decision

that will point to the solution of the complication by giving the quilts to Maggie. The solution to

the complication must be satisfying the reader.

After revealing the end of the story, it is clear enough that the characteristics of plot in Walker’s

“Everyday Use is close plot, where the end of the story doesn’t stimulate the readers to continue

the plot itself. The plot in “Everyday Use” is categorized as flashback story, which is tell

character’s memory in the past and continuing the story in the present.

Character and characterization

Kennedy (1983: 45) tries to define character as an imagined person who inhabits a story.

Furthermore, the definition character is the thing/ person in a dramatic or narrative work, endowed

with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say and what they do. On the

basis of importance, we can distinguish two types of character, main character (Most important

character in a story) and minor character (less important character than those of the main). The

chief character in fiction is called protagonist and important opponent pitted against him is called

the antagonist, who provides opposition.

According to E.M: Foster in Kennedy (1983: 46) character distinguish into 2 types based o the

proportion their development, which are flat character (who represent a single characteristic, trait,

or idea, or at most a very limited number of such qualities) and around characters, embody a

number of qualities and traits and are complex multidimensional characters of considerable

intellectual and emotional depth who have capacity to grow and change. To sum up, flat is type

character without much individualizing detail tend to stay the same throughout a story, but round

characters often change learn or become enlightened, grow or deteriorate.

According to Perrine in Koesnosoebroto (1988: 111) author may present his character either

directly or indirectly. Direct method is revealing character or characterization by telling, which

include characterization through the use of names (name that reinforce their physical appearance),

through appearance (appearance provide essential clues to character), by the author (editorial

comments). By contrast there are essentially two methods of indirect characterization by showing.

Characterization through dialogue (what character say) and characterization through action (what

character do).

In Walker’s “Everyday Use” there are four characters inhabit in the story, which are Mama,

Maggie, Dee and Hakim-a-barber. Mama, Maggie and Dee are the main characters in the story and

Hakim-a-barber is the minor character.

Mama in the story characterizes herself as a large big-boned woman with rough, man working

hands. In the winter I wear flannel nightgowns to bed and overalls during the day. I can kill and

clean a hog as mercilessly as a man” (p. 2). This description, along with her reference to 2nd grade

graduation (p. 2), leads the reader to conclude that this woman is very proud of her life. However,

her lack of education does not prevent her to understand her heritage based on her love and respect

her surroundings. This proven by her delight in the making of quilts, which is from her grand’s

clothes.

In both of them were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and more years ago. Bits and pieces of

Grandpa Jattell's Paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece, about the size of a penny matchbox, that was

from Great Grandpa Ezra's uniform that he wore in the Civil War.” Some of the pieces, like those lavender

ones, come from old clothes her mother handed down to her,” (Mama) said, moving up to touch the quilts (p.

5).

In this quotation, Walker gives clear explanation that Mama very admired and caring her quilts,

because there are some history behind the quits, she use the quilts to remember her ancestors . On

the other hand, Dee is portrayed as a smart and beautiful woman. She is very vocal and aggressive

in their demands.

She used to read to us without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks' habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting

trapped and ignorant underneath her voice. She washed us in a river of make believe, burned us with a lot of

know edge we didn't necessarily need to know. Pressed us to her with the serious way she read, to shove us

away at just the moment, like dimwits, we seemed about to understand (p. 2).

From the quotation above, it is indicated that Dee think she is superior to the others, she like to

humiliate someone for their disability. Dee characterization is contrast with her daughter Maggie.

Maggie is shy, inferior and not smart, but she has respect to her family heritage. Mama first

describes Maggie’s nature by saying “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will

stand hopelessly in the corners homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs,

eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe” (p. 1).

Due to the author’s use of characterizations and the type of characters they are, Mama and Maggie

are round characters and Dee is flat character. Between Dee and Mama-Maggie are opposite

characters. Dee is the antagonist and Maggie is the protagonist. Dee’s character does not change.

At the beginning of the story, her mother, the narrator, describes Dee’s actions as their old home is

lit on fire with her sister inside. Dee’s reaction to this event was uncaring. Dee’s mother thought

that she would “do a dance around the ashes [of the burning house]” (p. 2).

Later in the story, she still cares only for herself. When her mother decides to give the quilts to her

sister instead of her, Dee arrogantly claims that Maggie can not appreciate the value of the quilts.

On the other hand, Mama and Maggie have many characteristics. The author carefully develops

them to be someone whom is always obeyed what Dee said, but at the end of the story Mama does

not give the quilts to Dee, which makes them a round character. However, Dee’s character can be

described easily in a few words: materialistic, superficial, and uncaring. Dee cares nothing for the

truth, which her mother is trying to bestow upon her. Dee tries to embrace her African heritage;

however, by changing her name, mannerisms, and appearance, she is actually denying her real

heritage, which is American.

A lot of the characterizations in the story are described through the appearance, for example:

Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car,

sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him? That is the way my Maggie walks. She has been

like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire that burned the other house to the

ground (p. 2).

But even the first glimpse of leg out of the car tells me it is Dee. Her feet were always neat looking, as if God

himself had shaped them with a certain style. From the other side of the car comes a short, stocky man. Hair is

all over his head a foot long and hanging from his chin like a kinky mule tail (p. 3).

The details in the paragraph tell us a good deel about the contrast character between Maggie and

Dee. We can learn through their appearance that Maggie is lack confident than her sister, Dee,

whom is beautiful and stylist.

Setting

Koesnosoebroto (1988: 79) cites that setting is in a sense and time, place, and concrete situation of

the narrative, the web of environment in which characters spin out their destinies. In short, setting

is time and place of story. It is when and where the action occurs.

“Everyday Use” takes place in the yard and in the house of the Johnson family in rural Georgina at

day, the location and time are revealed in the beginning paragraph.

A yard like this is more comfortable than most people know. It is not just a yard. It is like an extended living

room. When the hard clay is swept clean as a floor and the fine sand around the edges lined with tiny, irregular

grooves, anyone can come and sit and look up into the elm tree and wait for the breezes that never come inside

the house (p. 1).

It is hard to see them clearly through the strong sun. But even the first glimpse of leg out of the car tells me it is

Dee. Her feet were always neat looking, as if God himself had shaped them with a certain style (p. 3).

The setting in “Everyday Use” as a means of creating appropriate atmosphere which is arousing

the readers’ expectation and establishing an appropriate state of mind for event to come.

I have deliberately turned my back on the house. It is three rooms, just like the one that burned, except the roof

is tin; they don't make shingle roofs any more. There are no real windows, just some holes cut in the sides, like

the portholes in a ship, but not round and not square, with rawhide holding the shutters up on the outside. This

house is in a pasture, too, like the other one. No doubt when Dee sees it she will want to tear it down (p. 3).

The room, which Walker skillfully makes us both see and feel, is as inaccessible , gloomy and

small room, as its own and as such establishes an appropriate mood that anticipates and for

shadows eventual meeting with Mama and Dee.

Point of View (POV)

According to Kennedy (1983: 44) point of view is the method of narration that determines the

position (angle of position) from which the story is told. To sum up POV is angle from whose are

the story had been told. The choice of point of view is the choice of who is to tell the story

(narrator). It may be narrator outside the work (omniscient POV). A narrator inside the work tells

the story from a limited omniscient or first person point of view, or apparently no one (dramatic

point of view).

Walker’s “Everyday Use” is written in the first person point of view, which is Mama is the

narrator of the story.

Dee wanted nice things. A yellow organdie dress to wear to her graduation from high school; black pumps to

match a green suit she'd made from an old suit somebody gave me. She was determined to stare down any

disaster in her efforts. Her eyelids would not flicker for minutes at a time. Often I fought off the temptation to

shake her. At sixteen she had a style of her own: and knew what style was (p. 2).

Although the narrator is there, the story is not about Mama, but she tells about her daughters, seen

through the narrator’s eyes. Because the narrator is not omniscient of the thought of her daughters,

the readers are only shown what the narrator’s genuine witness concerning her daughter’s

personality.

Theme and Moral Value

According to Perrine in Koesnosoebroto (1988: 78) theme of story is way be stated very briefly or

at greater length. The theme may be manifested in the central insight which explains the greatest

number of elements in story and relates them to each other. To conclude theme is the sum up of the

point of a story. Theme is the broad idea of the story. Themes of ten explore timeless and universal

ideas.

Theme is different with moral value. Theme is not a moral or message that could impact the reader

but it’s more about what the story is about. In moral value, there are message that purposed by the

author which has been fit to the readers.

The theme of “Everyday Use” is about the conflicts between mother and the one of the daughter,

in opposing views on heritage and culture. Through “Everyday Use”, Walker teaches moral lesson

about heritage and identity. First, “Everyday Use” asserts that family history should be apart of

everyday life. Second, appreciating the family heritage is not by displaying it as object admiration

but rather takes the benefit of the heritage in everyday life. Third, Walker teaches simplicity and

happiness through Mama and Maggie’s life. Fourth, in Dee condition, Walker teaches that if we

want to gain happiness, we should not have to be someone else or another culture, but you have to

accept the way you are or what you have already.

Style and Tone

According to Pickering and Hoper (1981: 80) style is the author’s characteristics in writing his/her

works to achieve the certain effects. Style usually consists of diction (the individual words an

author chooses) and syntax (the arrangement of those words in to phrases, clauses, and sentences)

as well as figurative language, irony. In general, style refers to the individual traits or

characteristics of a piece of writing, writer’s particular ways of managing words that we come to

recognize as habitual or customary.

Furthermore Pickering and Hoper (1981: 87) cites that tone as it is used to characterize the special

qualities of accent, inflection and duration in a speaker voice. In general tone is the author’s

attitude / the mood of the story, it’s reflected from their words, it may be humorous, nostalgic,

serious, sarcastic, etc.

In Walker’s “Everyday Use”, she uses some African terms to emphasize the fact that Dee has

claimed African culture and neglect her American ancestor. When she came home she greats her

mother in African “Wasuno-Teano! (p.3) and follows up with her boyfriend Hakim a Barber

"Asalamalakim, my mother and sister!" (p. 3). Those quotations try to illustrate that Walker uses

some African language emphasing African culture in Dee’s personality. Walker also uses different

style of writing. In some parts, she dramatizes the story in dialogue. In some others, the parts when

the narrator is reflecting about the past, she uses long sentences, to cope with the line of thought

she is having.

How long ago was it that the other house burned? Ten, twelve years? Sometimes I can still hear the flames and

feel Maggie's arms sticking to me, her hair smoking and her dress falling off her in little black papery flakes.

Her eyes seemed stretched open, blazed open by the flames reflected in them. And Dee. I see her standing off

under the sweet gum tree she used to dig gum out of; a look of concentration on her face as she watched the last

dingy gray board of the house fall in toward the red-hot brick chimney. Why don't you do a dance around the

ashes? I'd wanted to ask her. She had hated the house that much (p.2).

The tone in Walker’s “Everyday Use” is depend on the attitude or the mood of the narrator (whom

is Mama) toward the circumstance surround her. In the opening sentences we can feel Mama’s

calm about how comfortable the yard looks.

“A yard like this is more comfortable than most people know. It is not just a yard. It is like an extended living

room. When the hard clay is swept clean as a floor and the fine sand around the edges lined with tiny, irregular

grooves, anyone can come and sit and look up into the elm tree and wait for the breezes that never come inside

the house (p. 1).

But, she quickly becomes defensive when she begins talking about Dee. "I reckon she would," I said.

"God knows I been saving 'em for long enough with nobody using 'em. I hope she will!" (p. 6).

Then we can feel Mama’s pride, by describing herself as “a large big-boned woman with rough,

man-working hand” (p. 1).

Yet even while she defends her own sense of self, she never slides into disapproval but maintains a

tone of pride: “Johnny Carson has much to do to keep up with my quick and witty tongue.” (p. 1).

She is compassionate when she speaks about Maggie, but critical when she speaks about Dee and

frequently sarcastic when she speaks to her “Hang them, she said. As if that was the only thing you

could do with quilts” (p. 6). Dee’s anger also can see when she confronts her mother, "Maggie can't

appreciate these quilts!" she said. "She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use." (p. 5).

At the end of the story, she chastises Dee so severely and shows so little love for her while

hugging Maggie close to her. The image is a harsh one—a mother hugging Maggie and, in effect,

send away Dee away

Irony

Koesnosubroto (1988: 135) states that irony is a relatively simple and economical device by which

a writer can suggest tone meaning without elaborated explanations. It’s involves both an

incongruity and the opposite of what one experts. In short, irony is a literal style a playing such

contrasts for the humorous or rhetorical.

The four types of irony that occur most frequently in literature are verbal irony (in which there is a

contrast between what a speaker literally says and what he or she means); irony of situation (in

which an event turns out to be the reserve of what he or she means); irony point of view (in which

sense a sharp distinction between the narrator of a story and the author); irony of fate (in which

suggests that some malicious fate is deliberately frustrating human efforts).

In “Everyday Use” the irony comes from the situation when the sisters have different intended

using the quilts. Dee and Maggie have different perspective of their heritage family. Dee who

claimed o be highly educated has no real understanding or respect for her mother’s ancestors. Dee

use quilts, as object admiration without knowing the history behind them. “Hang them, she said.

As if that was the only thing you could do with the quilts” (p. 6). This idea is contrast with Mom

and Maggie perspective of their heritage family. Despite their lack education Maggie and Mama is

very aware of her heritage. This is proven by her statement to Dee about the churn dasher, “Aunt

Dee's first husband whittled the dash,” said Maggie so low you almost couldn't hear her. "His

name was Henry, but they called him Stash “(p. 5).

This situation irony also happen when Dee tell her mother that she change her name to “Wangero

Leewanika Kemanjo” (p. 4). The names “Wangero” and “Kemanjo” are misspellings of Kikiyu

name “Wanjiro” and “Kamenjo”. Leewanika is an African name, but it not Kikiyu. The name

revelations seem that Dee does not really understand with her new culture (Hoel, 1997 in

http://home.online.no/helhoel/walker.htm.).

Furthermore, how Dee’s greeting adds some irony of situation. When she comes home she greets

her mother using African language. "Wa-su-zo-Tean-o," (p. 3). It is actually pre-noon daytime

Luganda language greeting used by the Baganda of Uganda. It directly means, "How did you

sleep?”. “The correct wording is, "Wasuze otya nno?". This quotation also reveals that Dee

actually does not care her new culture.

Symbol

Kennedy (1983: 145) cites that symbol in literature is a thing that suggests more than its literal

meaning. Symbols generally do not stand for any one meaning, not for anything absolutely

definite, they point, they hint, they cast long shadows. In general symbol is something that diverse

something else. Furthermore Kennedy states that indefinite multiplicity of meanings is

characteristic of symbolic story and distinguishes it from an allegory, a story in which person,

place, and a thing form a system of clearly labelled equivalents.

Symbols are often classified as being traditional symbols (those whose associations are common

property of a society or culture and widely recognized); original symbols (those whose

associations largely if not exclusively from the context of the work in which they are used); Private

symbols (symbols that are the products of their own peculiar and idiosyncratic systems of

philosophy or belief). Sometime the authors of fiction employ symbols in conjunction with setting,

plot and character, which help stimulating the imagination.

The symbolism in “Everyday Use “is very dominant in defying the traits of characters toward the

heritage. Walker uses the quilt and the main characters (Mama, Maggie and Dee) as symbol to

create a deeper meaning of the story.

In both of them were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and more years ago. Bits and pieces of

Grandpa Jattell's Paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece, about the size of a penny matchbox, that was

from Great Grandpa Ezra's uniform that he wore in the Civil War.” Some of the pieces, like those lavender

ones, come from old clothes her mother handed down to her,” (Mama) said, moving up to touch the quilts (p.

5).

In this quotation, Walker gives clear explanation that the quits have special meaning to Mama.

When she touches the quilts, she believes that she is touching the people whom the quilts

representation. Quilts in here categorized as private symbol (symbols that are the products of their

own peculiar and idiosyncratic systems of philosophy or belief). Quilts are referred to in many of

Walker’s works. In the Colour Purple, she uses a quilt to help a dying woman remember her

mother. Walker uses quilt to symbolize a bound between woman of several generations.

Walker tries to expose the different possible approaches to define the concept of black heritage,

symbolized by the three characters, Mama (Mrs. Joshnson), Maggie and Dee (Wangero). The

characters symbols, (those whose associations largely, if not exclusively from the context of the

word in which they are used). Walker reveals the character of Maggie as shy, inferior and not

smart, but she respects her family heritage. “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she

will stand hopelessly in corners homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs,

eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe” (p.1). Maggie’s inferiority is symbol of the

African-American who is left behind. Her scars are symbol of slavery humiliation in the past. On

the other hand, Dee (Wangero) has different idea about heritage; Dee has more superficial seeing

the family heritage.

She would always look anyone in the eye. Hesitation is no part of her nature. She was determined to stare down

any disaster in her efforts. Her eyelids would not flicker for minutes at a time. Often I fought off the temptation

to shake her. At sixteen she had a style of her own: and knew what style was” (p. 2).

Walker uses Dee to symbolize the Black Power movement, who were very vocal and aggressive in

their demands. Many of them denied their American Ancestors and prefer belong to certain aspect

of African culture. Mama is a symbol of the majority Black-American people who is confuse in

defining their heritage concept. Mama doesn’t know how to reconcile with painful and humiliation

as the part of African-American history, but also not quite comfortable with the Black power

movement that doesn’t respect their ancestors.

Conclusion

After analyzing the intrinsic elements in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”, the conclusion can be as

follow:

Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” actually short story represents her response to the concept

of the Black people heritage in late of 60’s. The conflicts between views of culture and

heritage are the main theme in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”.

“Everyday Use” set in the yard and in the house of the Johnson family in rural Georgia. It’s

told in first point of view, with Mama as the narrator.

At the beginning of the story, Walker exposing the life of the poor black mother Mrs.

Johnson with her daughters Dee and Maggie. The complication begins when Dee

(Wangero) visits her old home with her boyfriend to recollect her family heritage. And she

has changed her name to African name and adopted African culture. The culminating point

of the story in the moment when Mama refuses to give Dee some old quilts instead gives

them to Maggie. The tension subside when Maggie give in the quilts to Dee. But Mama has

another resolution, she believes that Maggie is more deserve to keep the quilts who knows

and aware how to treat their family heritage.

These quilts are the central image of the story and represent the concept of heritage quilts is

symbol of unifying the different generations that are made it. There is history behind the

quilts making.

Maggie and Dee are contrastive characters. Dee, the antagonist, is beautiful but arrogant

type of woman. Maggie, the protagonist; being inferior, lack of confident and not smart.

Mama is down to earth person, who really respect her heritage family.

The three of them have different perspective in viewing their family heritage. Mama and

Maggie view the family heritage, in this context is the quilts as a tradition in “Every Use”.

These characters are symbolized the Black-American who respect and proud of their

ancestors. On the other hand Dee who prefers to neglect an abandon and abandon their

American heritage and belong to certain aspect of African heritage, is symbol of Black

Power Movement.

The different idea in viewing heritage concept, emerging such the irony of the situation.

Dee who claimed to be highly educated has no real understanding or respect for her

mother’s ancestors. Dee use quilts, as object admiration without knowing the history

behind them. Opposing view with Maggie, whom is lact educated but she is very aware her

family haritage, Maggie knows the history of the quilts.

Walker successfully make the reader feel the emotions of the two conflicting daughters,

sometimes the reader can feel the anger, the happiness, the sadness, the irony, though

Mama’s eyes. Sometimes Walker uses long sentences to cope with the line of thought the

mother having in mind.

Through “Everyday Use”, Walker teaches moral lesson about heritage and identity.

“Everyday Use” asserts that family history should be apart of everyday life. Appreciating

the admiration but rather takes the benefit of the heritage in everyday life.

References

Primary literature:

Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use” in http://xroads.virginia.edu/-ug97/quilt/walker.html (20.11.2010)

Secondary literature:

Hoel, Helga. 1997. Personal Name and Heritage: Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” in

http://home.online.no/helhoel/walker.htm. (20.11.2010)

Kennedy, X.J. 1983. An introduction to Fiction: third Edition. Boston: Little Brown and Company

Koesnoesoebroto, Sunaryo Basuki. 1988. The Anatomy of Prose Fiction. Jakarta: Departemen

Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Direktorat Jendral Pendidikan tinggi Proyek Pengembangan

Lembaga Pendidikan Tenaga Kerja

Pickering, James H and Jeffrey D Hoeper. 1981. Concise Companion to literature. New York:

Macmillan Publising Co., Inc