Comparisons

Heritage is a birthright passed along through generations. To others it may translate into items passed along from ancestors. Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” depicts a contrast between a mother and her daughters understanding of heritage.

Dee was an educated young lady often reading to her mama and sister. Her education in an Augusta school moved her out of the simple life she had grown up in, taking gum from a sweet gum tree or wearing a re-made green suit from an old hand me down. Dee wasn’t close to her mama like her sister Maggie. Dee was determined to have nice things and with her education came opportunities to meet new people. When Dee and her friend Asalamalakim, whose appearance struck Mama and Maggie as odd with his long hair and goatee, arrived at Mama’s home, she exited the car with all the flash of a movie star. She was wearing a long yellow and orange dress with bracelets and earrings that made noise when she walked. Dee began taking pictures of the house with Mama and Maggie in each picture. She corrects Mama after being called “Dee”. “No, Mama,” she says. “Not �Dee,’ Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!” (Walker144).The picture taking and her name correction were the first indications of Dee’s view of her heritage. Dee wanted to distinguish herself from names associated with oppression. Mama explained how Dee’s name came to be. Mama talked about her ancestry providing the names of aunts Dee was named after.

Going into the house Dee sat on a bench made by her father and marveled at feeling rump prints. From that point Dee continued raving about items in the house. Dee told Mama that she had a reason for coming to their house. Dee wanted to collect items from her families past. She wanted the churn top and dasher her Uncle Buddy and whittled. Later that day Dee went to Mama’s bedroom and came out with two quilts. The quilts were handmade by Dee’s mother, Grandmother, and aunt. Dee wanted to take all of these pieces back to her home and hang them on the wall. Displaying her heritage was in direct contrast to Mama and Maggie’s view of items of everyday use.

Mama and Maggie didn’t understand Dee’s longing to have useful items, the churn top and quilts mounted on a wall or displayed on a table. The quilts were made to keep a person warm at night and Mama along with her sister and mother had made them out of old pieces of cloth for that purpose. The churn and dasher created butter for the families. Mama and Maggie understood the love and care used in making the quilts and