African american lit

Everyday Use

Summary

In Alice Walker 's tale of family and tradition , Everyday Use ' the author challenges the popular Black nationalists ' movement of the day It was the heyday of the ideology of Black Power and the return to the African roots of the pre-slavery days . The eldest daughter , Dee , seeks to find her culture in the new movements that stress the importance of African culture , while rejecting the American heritage of the Black population . Although the black population prior to the 1950s and 1960s felt significant pain , many black American

still took pride in the efforts that were taken to fight oppression . In addition , as the black American fought through the pain of slavery , the population took pride in their scars and built a tradition that is still prevalent within the black population today

The character , Dee , joined the black nationalist movement that stressed the growth of black culture and art with the goal of furthering the desire for black liberation . Dee often wears traditional African attire but has no understanding of what part of Africa embraced such attire Dee has no clue as to the African culture and her trend to copy it seems like folly . Dee is shallow and should have more understanding of the culture she so wants to emulate (Hoel 1997

The younger daughter , Maggie , embraces the African-American tradition through her love of quilting . The quilt becomes a metaphor for the ability to make something beautiful out of items to be thrown away . In other...