Point of View in Everyday Use by Alice Walker Essay

“Everyday Use” is a story about family and heritage. Through various arguments the authors, Susan Farrell and Nancy Tuten, share their thoughts and ideas on Walkers meaning of the story. Although they both agree that the story has to do with heritage, Nancy Tuten’s ideas and Susan Farrell’s differ.

The story 'Everyday Use', written by Alice Walker, is a story of heritage, pride, and learning what kind of person you really are. In the exposition, the story opens with background information about Dee and Maggie's life, which is being told by Mama. The reader learns that Dee was the type of child that had received everything that she wanted, while Maggie was the complete opposite. The crisis, which occurs later in the story, happens when Dee all of a sudden comes home a different person than she was when she left. During the Climax, Mama realizes that she has often neglected her other child, Maggie, by always giving Dee what she wants. Therefore, in the resolution, Mama defends Maggie by telling Dee that she cannot have the

Point of view is the narrator’s position in the story being told. Point of view changes the story drastically, since you are hearing different stories and opinions by different characters in a story. Even if the plot is the same, the point of view will change the entire story. Point of view can also create tension between different characters. For example, if you are hearing the thoughts of one character in the story, and the actions of another character who is aware of these rude thoughts, the reader knows that the two characters tension between each other will eventually rise up to a certain point that a problem will occur. Point of view creates a lot of tension in the two books, Confetti Girl and Tortilla Sun, between the narrator and their parent. Both books

She realized it was beautiful and how it was made from the beautiful tree in the backyard of where her sister Big Dee and her first husband Stash used to live (Par 54). Through first person narration we connect to Mama’s deep, inner feelings as Mama is in the process of understanding the value of these objects in which carry historical significance to her family. Only through first person narrative can we as the readers get an immediate sense of what Mama is feeling and how her character is developing.

Dee, from Walker’s “Everyday Use,” is Mama’s older daughter who not only has a judgmental, insensitive attitude towards Mama and her younger sister Maggie, but also believes she appreciates her family heritage more than Mama does, when in fact, Dee is the one who is “uneducated” and lacks an understanding about what her heritage truly is.

Mama, the narrator, waits with her youngest, feeble daughter Maggie, to reunite with her eldest Dee. When they meet, Mama finds that Dee has changed, the things she used to arrogantly shrug off are now things that she identifies as being important to her heritage. Mama realizes that the quilts that Dee wants hold a different meaning to Dee than it does to Mama and Maggie, so she sends Dee away, and gives the quilts to Maggie.

In Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" Mama is the narrator. She speaks of her family of two daughters Maggie and Dee. Through the eyes of two daughters, Dee and Maggie, who have chosen to live their lives in very different manners, the reader can choose which character to identify most with by judging what is really important in one’s life. Throughout the story three themes consistently show. These themes show that the family is separated by shame, knowledge, and pride.

In the beginning of the story, Mama felt criticized by her daughter Dee, who came back to visit her mom after experiencing a different life beyond her poverty stricken home. For example, when describing herself, Mama is proud of her life as a “big boned woman with rough, man-working hands” (70). She takes pride in the painstaking life that she has as a single mother who has supported and fed both her daughters in the absence of a working man in a time period in which men’s role as the provider and head of the household was prominent. Mama’s self pride is further seen as she brags that she can “clean a hog as merciless as a man” (70). Despite Mama’s positive image of herself, she lets Dee’s image of her mom taint her self image. Mama views herself through the eyes of her daughter as she describes

“Everyday Use” is a short story written by a 1940’s black writer, Alice Walker. She did a fantastic job illustrating her characters. There are different types of character in her story from round to static. Her use of clear-cut symbolism prompts the reader to be able to take a deeper look into the characters of the story. When reading this story I felt anger for Dee, while for the narrator and Maggie I felt sympathy.

A point of view is a position in which the story is being told, but did you know that there is two point of views in The Three Little Pigs and The True Story of the Three Little pigs? The two stories have views changed by how the author tells them. In the story of the pigs it’s in third person, but in the wolf’s view he just wants sugar and see’s them as a snack so it’s first person. The story of “The Three Little Pigs” and “The True story of the Three Little pigs” have different point of views that help the readers understanding of the wolf.

1. Point of view – the view or perspective of how the story is narrated (i.e first person)

This short story "Everyday use" speaks about the life of two young ladies and their mother. They are a poor family that lived in old-fashioned life but Dee the bigger sister don'y like that life.

In “Everyday Use,” the reader understands that Mama’s feelings shift from feeling proud of her daughter to being distraught with her daughter’s

“Everyday Use” demonstrates real life struggles during the period is was written and published (1973), by using historical criticism, we can see that people are often disconnected due to their education. Alice Walker successfully shows the disconnection of heritage value by having one character well-educated and young, and another character who was not able to get an education and is much older. Taking the historical context, plays a major role in the way this short story is viewed. It was a time where people of color had a different and difficult experiences getting an education. The narrator was talking about not being able to get an education, so it was important her daughter get an education; The narrator wanted to be on a television show with her daughters to demonstrate how successful she became. However Dee the narrator's daughter sees her mother and Maggie her sister differently as if they do not know how to appreciate things for their valuable history. One example is, when she wanted the quilts that were suppose to go to Maggie; Dee gets upset that she cannot have them and her mother does not understand why she wants to put them on display.

Essentially, the point of view allows readers to form a relationship and understanding of characters. The point of view is instrumental in manipulating the readers understanding of the narrative as it can allow or prevent characters from accessing the story objectively. The novel “About a Boy” by Nick Hornby deals with the problems of two different people, both in age and personality. Even though they are different in age, attitudes toward life and personality, they are similar in many different ways (e.g. Both lonely with no friends). The first seven chapters of the book are mainly about Marcus, however, Will; the thirty-six-year-old bachelor is also introduced. Throughout the book, the author adjusts perspectives by switching between characters in first person. This creates a personal relationship with the reader to both of the characters and allows us to get an understanding of point of view and motivations. One example of point of view in the novel occurs after Fiona’s attempted suicide when a narrator tells the reader about Marcus’s thoughts and feelings; saying “this was the scariest thing he had ever seen by a million miles and he knew that he would have to think about it forever (P58)”. Another example of point of view in ‘About a Boy” is when a narrator tells the reader about Will’s attitude towards life and relationships; saying “Great sex, a lot of ego massage, temporary parenthood without tears and a guilt free Parting, what more