everydayuseforyourgrandmother.docx
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everydayuseforyourgrandmother.docx
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everydayuseforyourgrandmother
Tableofcontent
IIntroduction.
IIAboutAliceWalker
IIIAbout“EverydayUseforyourgrandmother”.
III.1PlotandStructure.
III.2MainCharacters.
III.2.1Mrs.Johnson(Mama)
III.2.2Maggie.
III.2.3Dee
III.3Heritage.
III.3.1Dee’sConceptofHeritage.
III.3.2Mrs.JohnsonandMaggie’sConceptofHeritage.
III.3.3TheQuiltasanImageofHeritage.
III.4NarrativeSituation.
IVConclusion.
I Introduction
TheaimofthisworkistointroducethereadertosomevitalideasofAliceWalker’swritings,especiallyconcerningtheconceptofblackheritage,byinterpretinghershortstory“EverydayUse”.
Beforebeingledintothestory’sinterpretationthereaderlearnsaboutAliceWalker’snotablebiography.Ashortoutlineofthestory’splotandstructureinformsthereaderaboutthemaintopicsandprepareshimtoenteradeeperlevelofunderstanding.Themaincharactersarepresentedandcharacterizedbeforetheirdifferentconceptsofheritagearejuxtaposed.Finally,thestory’skeyimages,thequilts,areexaminedalittlemoredeeplyandthenarrativesituationisdiscussed.
Thestoryiswidelyacceptedasoneofthebeststoriesonthedilemmaofblackheritageandhasawiderangeofimages.Itgivesbirthtonewaspectseverytimeyouhaveunderstoodoneofthenumerouslevelsofmeaningthestoryincludes.
ThemainsourceforthisworkisRaimundBorgmeier’sveryprofoundarticleontheshortstory[1].ItwasnoteasytofindusefulmaterialforthisworkastheSLUBlacksthemostrecommendedbooksforthisstory,butfortuitouslytheinternetprovidesenoughmaterialtogivethisworkasolidbasis.Althoughtheinterpretationofsomeimagesormetaphorsmaybeunsatisfactory,themainideasarecertainlyexplainedadequately.
II AboutAliceWalker
AliceWalkerwasbornonFebruary9th1944inEatonton,Georgia,astheeighthchildofsharecropperparents.Shegrewupinthemidstofviolentracismandpovertywhichinfluencedherlaterwritings.Aftergraduatingfromhighschoolin1961shegotascholarshipforSpelmanCollegeinAtlanta,Georgia,whereshestayedfortwoyearsandwroteherfirstnovelwhichwaspublishedin1970asTheThirdLifeofGrangeCopeland.WhilestudyingatSpelman,sheparticipatedincivilrightsdemonstrationsandwaseveninvitedtoMartinLutherKingJr.’shomebecauseshehadattendedtheYouthWorldPeaceFestivalinHelsinki,Finland.In1963,WalkerreceivedascholarshiptotheveryprestigiousSarahLawrenceCollegeinNewYorkfromwhichshegraduatedin1965,havingtheBA.In1964,afterherjunioryearatSarahLawrenceCollege,shewonascholarshipasanexchangestudenttoUganda,andinthesummerofthefollowingyearshealsowenttoKenya.ThismostprobablyhelpedhertounderstandtheAfricanculture.BysenioryearAliceWalkersufferedfromextremedepression,likelyduetothefactthatshegotpregnant.Inanefforttoexplainhersuicidalfeelingsshewroteseveralvolumesofpoetry,butshewasabletohaveasafeabortionwiththehelpfromaclassmate.Throughoutthe1960sshewasactiveintheCivilRightsMovementandsheevendroppedherplanstospendherwritingfellowshipinSenegalbecauseshesaidshe“couldneverlivehappilyinAfrica–oranywhereelse–until[she]couldlivefreelyinMississippi”
.Subsequently,shereturnedthereinthesummerof1966,andinthesameyearshemettheJewishcivilrightslawstudentMelLeventhaltowhomshesoongotmarried.Duetotheblack-and-whitenatureoftheirmarriageandthefactthatLeventhalwasworkingfortheNAACP[2],thecouplehadtodealwiththreatsofviolence.Walkergotpregnantagainbutsadlylostthechild.Theirmarriageshouldlastforelevenyears.
From1968to1969,AlicewasateacherofblackstudiesatJacksonStateCollegeandduringthenextyearatTougalooCollege.Duringthattime,herfirstcollectionofpoems,Once,waspublished.NextshemovedtoafellowshipfromtheRadcliffeInstituteandin1972sheacceptedateachingpositionatWellesleyCollege.Fouryearslatershepublishedhersecondnovel,
Meridian.ItreceivedsuchacclaimthatWalkeracceptedaGuggenheimfellowshipwhichallowedhertoconcentratefull-timeonherwriting.In1977,shesplitupwithMelLeventhalonapersonallevel,butwhenshemovedtoSanFranciscoshefellinlovewithRobertAllen,theeditorofBlackScholar.TheysettledinMendocinowhereshefinallybegantowritefull-time.Sheproducedcountlessworks,someofwhichbecameverywell-known.Ofallherworksonebookhastobeemphasized:
inthespringof1982,shebecameacelebratedwriterwithherfamousbookTheColorPurple.Forthisbookshereceivedthegreatestawardsofherlife–theAmericanBookAwardin1982andoneyearlaterthePulitzerPrizeforLiterature.ItwasevenmadeintoasuccessfulmoviebyStephenSpielberg.AtthattimeshewaslecturingintheAfro-AmericanstudiesdepartmentintheUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley.
Shegainedseveralotherawards,forexampletheNationalBookAwardnominationforhersecondcollectionofpoemsRevolutionaryPetuniasandOtherPoemsin1973,anditwasalsointhisyearthatshepublishedInLoveandTrouble:
StoriesofBlackWomen,herfirstcollectionofshortstories,oneofwhichwasEverydayUse.ItwontheRichardandHindaRosenthalFoundationAwardin1974andwaswrittenoveraperiodoffiveyears,between1967and1973,intheearlyphaseofherwritingcareer.
TodaysheisstillactivelyteachingatYaleUniversityinNewHaven,Connecticut.
III About“EverydayUseforyourgrandmother”
Theshortstory“EverydayUse”,fromthecollectionInLoveandTroublepublishedin1973,waswrittenduringtheheydayoftheBlackPowermovement,whenAfricanAmericansweretryingtogainracialequalityandcalledforself-determinationandracialdignity.AfricanAmericanshortstoriesofthisperiodoftendealtwithproblematicissueslikeseparation,integrationandredefinitionoftheAfricanAmericanpast.BlackswereseekingtheirculturalrootsinAfrica,theslogan‘Blackisbeautiful’andtheAfrohairstylearose.EverydayUseisAliceWalker’sanswertothesocialdiscourseofthattime,especiallyconcerningtheAfricanAmericanconceptofheritageandidentity(cf.Hoel,Helga.PersonalNamesandHeritage:
AliceWalker’s«EverydayUse».1).
III.1 PlotandStructure
“EverydayUse”,setaroundtheyear1970,isaboutapoor,blackmother(Mrs.Johnson)andhertwodaughtersDeeandMaggie.Dee,goingtoacollegeinthenorth,visitsheroldhomeforadayandbringsafriend,apparentlyherboyfriend,whomMrs.JohnsoncallsHakim-a-barber.Theotherdaughter,Maggie,stillliveswithhermother.WhenDeearrives,itbecomesobviousthatthedifferenceshavedeepened.Shehaschangedhername,adoptedtheideasoftheBlackPowermovementandcriticisesherfamilyforthewaythey“stilllive”(Walker2373).TheculminatingpointofthestoryisthemomentwhenMrs.JohnsonrefusestogiveDeesomeoldquiltsbecausetheywerealreadymeanttobeaweddingpresentforMaggie.Thesequiltsarethecentralimageofthestoryandrepresenttheconceptofheritage[3].BywithholdingthequiltsfromDee,Mrs.JohnsondecidesthatMaggie’spracticalapproachtoheritageisbetterthanDee’ssuperficial,impersonalconceptofheritage
DeeandMaggieareextremelycontrastivecharacters,Deebeingthesuccessful,beautifulbutarroganttypeofwoman,Maggiebeingsimple-minded,disfiguredandslow.TheybotharelovedbyMrs.Johnson,butitisobviousthatDeehasalwaysplayedaspecial,independentroleinthefamilybecausesheissodifferent.
Thestructureofthestorycanbedividedintotwobigparts:
thefirstpartissetbeforeDee’sarrival.Itprovidesaninsideviewofthefamily’spastandintroducesthecharactersandtheirrelationshipstowardseachother.ThesecondpartbeginswhenDeearrivesandlaststilltheendofthestory.
Thesubdivisionofthefirstpartiscomplicated.Theeasiestandmostconvincingwayseemstobeadifferentiationoffourkindsoftextthataremixedupanddonotformparagraphsoftheirown.Thesefourkindswouldbe1)thedescriptionofMrs.Johnson’sdreamand2-4)thedescriptionofeachofthethreewomen.Thereisonlyoneproblem:
theveryfirstparagraphcouldbeseenasaparagraphofitsown,butitcanalsobeunderstoodascloselyconnectedtoMrs.Johnson’sdream:
thenarrator’sthoughtsseemtoleadtothequestion“ForwhatreasondoesDeecomehomeafterthislongtime?
”–Mrs.Johnson’sfirstideaisthesimplicitywithwhichsheandMaggieleadtheirlivesorthewaytheyarestillabletotakepleasureinsomethingtriviallikea“cleanandwavy”yard(Walker2367).ButasMrs.JohnsonknowsDeeverywell,shealsoknowsthisiswrongasitsimplydoesnotcorrespondto
Dee’scharacter.Nowthistrainofthoughtisthecommonpatternwhichunitesthefirstparagraphandthedream:
Mrs.JohnsonnaturallyseesthedifferencesbetweenDee’sandherlifeandtheirmoralconceptsbutshestilllongsforareunion,unabletoacceptthatthegapbetweenthemisalreadytoobig.
Thesecondbigpart,beginningwithDee’sarrival,hasalinearstructure.Itconsistsoffoursmallerparts.ThefirstpartendswiththefirstoccurrenceofDee’snewname“WangeroLeewanikaKemanjo”.Thereadernoticesthechangeofthetimeofnarration:
uptothatpointthenarratorusesthesimplepresent,butafterDeehaschangedhernameitsuddenlychangestosimplepast.Thispassagecanbeseenasthefirstturningpointofthestory.
Thesecondpartismainlyaboutnames.ItdealswithDee’snewnameandintroducesHakim-a-barber.Itendswhenthefourofthemsitdowntoea
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