Direct Characterization In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

Characterization is a way an author can use to show the theme of their heritage. “Everyday use” by Alice Walker, is a story about the conflicting ideas about culture and heritage an African American mother and her two daughters face. The three women’s action toward this conflict is characterized as being indirect and direct. Direct characterization is the character’s traits told by the narrator. Indirect characterization is the character’s traits shown by the author through their actions. The story is set in the 60’s in which African Americans were struggling with discrimination and defining values within their culture. The story starts at the mother’s home where she and her daughter Maggie live, Dee is Maggie’s sister she comes to visit her …show more content…
When the mother characterizes Maggie’s reaction toward her sister wanting to have the quilts for herself “Maggie by now was standing in the door. I could almost hear the sound of her feet made as they scraped over each other.”(99)These quilts were Maggie’s portion, however Dee insists on wanting them. Maggie offers Dee the quilts .This shows how Maggie is better than Dee, as she has much stronger sense of family connection and kinship than Dee can experience as she does not need the quilts to remember her family’s heritage. Maggie is basically like her mother who believes in the traditions of family and seeking to pass on her family 's heritage without getting affected by the white people and what they think of …show more content…
Dee has her own idea about heritage as she was very angry with the unfair history in her family, which made her change her name. She failed to look over her family’s heritage instead she chose a name that meant nothing. “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.” (Walker 96). Dee believed that the name she chose represents her black heritage. Instead of honoring her roots, Maggie and the mother get confused about Dee’s idea of changing her name, as they look on their heritage to the people before them and the memories about them. Whereas Dee views heritage as piece of art (reminder) from her family. Everyday use by Alice Walker depicts how the black faced challenges during this period of time in their life to get respected by the American heritage. Also it builds a conflict between two different views about the heritage meaning for the family, two sisters portray their contrasting family views on what they understand to be heritage. The mother’s appreciation for heritage distinguishes her from her two daughters. The story title refers to the living heritage of the Johnson family, a heritage that is still in everyday