For my in class reading this week, I chose to write about Everyday Use by Alice Walker. When I started reading the background information on her I was very intrigued. I liked that she was an African-American writer who was still living. And that she was the most widely read of any American woman of color. I was also interested in reading her story because I have wanted to read The Color Purple for awhile but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I think it would be an interesting story to read because I enjoyed reading Everyday Use. I also liked how she coined the term “womanist” to stand for the black feminist concerns of much of her fiction. That really stood out to me.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading the story. I felt like I could relate to the story too. I have two older sisters so I could relate in that way. The bond I noticed between Maggie and Dee wasn‘t like the bond I have with my sisters. I didn’t really like how Maggie put herself down and thought that her sister was better than her. Dee was always the one wanted nice things. And she never took NO for an answer. I like how she was determined in that way to get what she wants in life, but at the same time, she degraded Maggie a lot. Plus Maggie was already shy because she felt self-conscious of how she looked. She had burns on her arms and legs from when their first house burnt down. That too was also like symbolism, because there is always going to be that constant reminder of her old life.
I think the character I enjoyed the most in this story would have to be Mama. I love how she wanted the best for her girls and would do whatever she had to do to make that happen. She was also like the alpha-female who could do anything. Nothing like a down-home farm girl to show you how to do something!
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I agree with your ideas on each of the characters and how each has something good about them. I also liked the mom because she was still the "mother hen" to Dee, even if Dee had made a social life for herself. This story has been one of my favorites to read so far.
ReplyDeleteExcellent work on this blog, Megan.
ReplyDeleteI, too, like the term "womanist." It doesn't have the sometimes loaded connotation of "feminist," and it also reaches out to include all ethnicities.
My favorite character was Mama, too, and I wanted to shout when she stood up for Maggie at the end!
"Everyday Use" has been one of my favorite stories since college. It is deceptively simple on the surface but has layers and layers of meaning.