Everyday Use by Alice Walker
A first-person narrator, a practical, self-educated Black mother, recalls raising two very different daughters in the rural South and confronts conflicting understandings of heritage when her older, more cosmopolitan daughter returns with a new name and a desire to claim family heirlooms as symbols for display; through the quiet, scarred sister who remains close to home and the narrator’s ultimate choice to give the handmade quilts to her, the story explores the meanings of cultural identity, the value of everyday use versus aesthetic appropriation, and the tensions between pride, memory, and authenticity in preserving family tradition.
Purchase from
Bookshop.org
- Published
- 1973
- Nationality
- American
- Length
- Very Short
- Pages
- 8-12 pages
- Original Language
- English
- Avg User Rating
- No ratings yet
- Alternate Titles
- None
This book is not currently on any lists.