Understanding Your Own Heritage In 'Everyday Use' By Alice Walker
Understanding Your Own Heritage
In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, Dee, Mama’s oldest daughter who later renames herself as Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, returns back home with her boyfriend Hakim-a-barber to hopefully inherit items that she feels to be important to her heritage. Dee becomes frustrated when Mama refuses to let her inherit the butter churn, the dasher, and the two quilts. The most important line in “Everyday Use” is when Dee becomes furious and tells Mama that she does not understand. Mama becomes puzzled and says, “What don’t I understand?” I want to know. Your heritage, “she said (496). This line is important for it shows the irony in that Dee is truly the one who lacks the understanding of her own heritage.
The butter churn
In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, Dee, Mama’s oldest daughter who later renames herself as Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, returns back home with her boyfriend Hakim-a-barber to hopefully inherit items that she feels to be important to her heritage. Dee becomes frustrated when Mama refuses to let her inherit the butter churn, the dasher, and the two quilts. The most important line in “Everyday Use” is when Dee becomes furious and tells Mama that she does not understand. Mama becomes puzzled and says, “What don’t I understand?” I want to know. Your heritage, “she said (496). This line is important for it shows the irony in that Dee is truly the one who lacks the understanding of her own heritage.
The butter churn