Argument paper on "Everyday use" by Alice Walker

With contrasting family members and views in "Everyday Use", Alice Walker illustrates the importance of understanding our present life in relation to the traditions of our people and culture. Using careful descriptions and approaches, Walker demonstrates which factors contribute to the value of a heritage and culture; it shows that they are not the possession of objects or mere appearances, and one way of life and relationships.

In "Everyday Use" Walker personifies the different aspects of culture and heritage in the characters of Dee and the mother (the narrator). Dee can be seen to represent a materialist, sophisticated and modern way of life, where culture and heritage to be valued only for their "trendy-ities, and aesthetic appeal. Mother, on the other hand, is a simple way the content of life, where culture and heritage are valued as not lost its relevance, as well as his personal significance. History clearly endorses a simple mom, an inexperienced eye heritage, and shows contempt for the materialistic connection Dee its heritage. This is demonstrated from the very beginning of the story, we learn very quickly that his mother (the narrator) has inherited many customs and traditions of her ancestors. She describes herself as "big-boned woman with rough man working hands" (Walker, 485). It also describes here the various abilities, including, "I can kill and clean a hog mercilessly as a man ... I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing. I can eat pork liver cooked over an open fire minutes after it enters steaming from pigs. One winter I knocked the bull right in the brain between the eyes with a sledgehammer and had the meat hung in the cold and into the night. "(Walker, 485)

While these feats are not extraordinary, ...