"Every Day Use"

Alice Walkers “Everyday Use” shows how each member of the Johnson’s family chooses a different path according to the circumstances in each of their lives. The Johnson’s live in the rural south where they are forced to depend on their land and livestock to survive. Although Mrs. Johnson is uneducated, she does everything possible to provide for her two daughters. Ironically, each girl looks at their heritage differently. One has a realistic view that accepts both the positive and the negative aspects. The other chooses only to embrace the positive. Walker uses the mother’s point of view to illustrate the disparity between two sisters’ views of their heritage.
Mrs. Johnson describes herself as a “big-boned women with rough, man-working hands” (1152). One night she killed a bull calf between the eyes with a sledge hammer and “had the meat hung up to chill before the nightfall” (1152). She is a mother of two daughters, Maggie and Dee. The story begins wit...