Everyday Use Opinion Paper - 766 Words

Alice Walker’s short story, â€Å"Everyday Use,† reflects the intimate struggle within a poor African American family as they run up against monumental issues of history, heritage, and family values. Dee in Alice Walker’s story, â€Å"Everyday Use,† is struggling to find her place in the world and who she is. This story reflects a transitional period in her life where tradition and heritage meet a new contemporary reality. Dee was raised among the poor and ignorant, and resented it. She believed that she was cut from a different cloth, and thus her environment wouldn’t dictate her place in life. And so seemingly out of a profound embarrassment Dee was driven to break the mold of history by tirelessly differentiating herself wherever she†¦show more content†¦The items in the house now become priceless antiques as opposed to worn out utilities. The benches her father made, complete with rump prints, suddenly bears some higher truth and is now of personal worth. The churn top is prized as well, for it is a family relic, and as such would make a beautiful centerpiece. Next, Dee prizes the quilts that are made from various sentimental pieces of fab ric, a literal patchwork of family history. She will hang them, as they are too symbolic to actually use. Dee believes these pieces tell of the plight of the African American, not of her own upbringing, which she would happily forget. So it is in the nature of her metamorphosis that is truly telling. The reader begins to understand that within Dee’s transformation there lies an austere disconnect. Indeed, she is proud of her new found enlightenment and heady liberation; she has found herself, or has she? Really, the only thing she has found is that which she sought, something different. In detaching from the old she has lost something very valuable, her true rooted and personal heritage, and gained very little in return. The irony of course is that the heritage Dee now prizes and extols in the abstract is the same that she turned her back on in the literal. Education has taught her of her history, but not her heritage. Dee has come to appreciate her own loftiness, releg ating herShow MoreRelatedGenetically Modified Organisms And Organic Organisms Essay1578 Words   |  7 Pagesdetermined in the production. Everybody has an opinion about organic and GMO and believes which ones are better. The reader of this paper will also learn the differences between organic and GMOs and the pros and cons of each of them. After reading this paper the reader will be educated on what to buy at the grocery store between organic and GMO. Organic and GMO will always be a topic that has controversy. Introduction People will have their own opinions when it comes to Genetically Modified OrganismsRead MoreYou Cant Steal A Culture By John Mcworter861 Words   |  4 Pagessteal a culture was written by John McWorter. 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