The Importance of Home

A detailed Summary of The Importance of Home

The place where you hang your hat, where the heart is, is a link to the past, and through its door one walks into the future: home can be many things t one person. To many Georgians, home is the place where they come from, the place where the famiy line can be traced from memories and keepasakes. In "Everyday Use", Alice Walker explores the importance of home to a family of three women in Georgia.

This story is told from the eyes of Mama, Dee and Maggie's mother. Walker uses Mama to characterize her daughters and herself in an unbiased light that only a mother could love or know. Mam is a "large, big boned woman wit rough, man working hands", "who can kill and clean a hog as mersilessly as a man"(1). Mama, a round cahracter, lives a life that contradicts Dee's ideas. Mama contributes it mostly to her and Maggie's lack of academis intelligence. She usually allows Dee to receive what she wants because of this difference. By the end of this short story, Mama puts her foot down. Mama describes Maggied, a dynamic character, with a tone of pity. "She knows she is not bright. Like good looks and money, quickness passed her buy"(3). Maaggies is accustomed to being pushed aside. Maggie is characterized in this s

Symbolism, the association of a meaning or theme to an item, is used in this novel to give ther reader a greater understanding of each characters inner thoughts. Walker linked these characters with tow main contextual symbols: the house and the two quilts. As the house burns, each character's position around the house directly related to how they feel about their family background. Maggie felt that the house was a part of her For Maggie, the house held memories of her and her family. As her dress fell off "her in little black papery flakes" in the fire, parts of her were lost with the house(2). Dee, on the other hand, was far from the ho;use, steadily concentrating on the burning house until it was completely destroyed. Dee did not desire to be associated with her family, like she did not want to be associated with the house. Both were slow to change and confirm to the actions of the world outside of her family's own tight circle. The quilts had a similar meaning but meant something different for Maggie and Dee. For Maggie, the quilt was a link to her grandmother and her family's past. Dee saw the quilt only as art that was temporily valuable. Like the house, the quilt represented a family's heritage.

Home holds one's history and heritage. Like a tree, stronger are one's roots that run deep or know where one comes from. As Walker displays

Some common words found in the essay are:
Dee Maggie, Walker Mama, Waiting Dee's, , Alice Walker, short story, Dee Maggie's, heritage dee's, boned woman, pushed aside, maggie house, sullen attitude, seen dee, world outside, dee maggie,

Approximate Word count = 924
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English