Animal Imagery and The Women in Everyday Use
The story "Everyday Use" is written by Alice Walker. "Everyday Use" is narrated by a middle aged black women who has two daughters; Maggie and Dee. Dee is depicted as a smart but ruthless college girl, while Maggie is a sweet but ineffectual homebody. The story frequently discusses animal characteristics that parallel the three female characters; the Mother, Maggie and Dee. The mother as a character is compared to the cow. In the beginning the mother describes herself; "In real life I am a large, big boned woman, with rough man- working hands...my fat keeps me hot in zero weather, I can work outside all day"(149). Later in the story the mother says she use to love milking cows; "Cows are soothing and slow and don't bother you unless you try to milk them the wrong way"(150). In a sense the mother describes her common characteristics. The description of herself vividly parallels the qualities of a cow. She is large, similar to a cow and big boned. The image of rough hands assimilates with a cow being a rougher less fragile animal. The description of her fat that keeps her hot in cold
Alice Walker."Everyday Use", in English 024 Course Anthology, 149-152. The thematic richness of "Everyday Use" is made possible by the flexible, perceptive voice of the first-person narrator. It is through the mother's point of view which permits the readers understanding of all three women. The animal imagery in prospect to the women allows the reader to assimilate animal characteristics and human characteristics. Since animals and humans have lived together and been an integral part of existing for many years, it allows for a better understanding of the characters present in this story. Alice Walker has written a meaningful, captivating and unique story. weather and her being able to work outside all day creates the image of the cow who carries a large amount of fat to enable it to stay outside all year round. The mother also lives in the middle of a cow pasture, this evidently adds to the cow imagery. The fact of the mother being an older black women, could also incorporate that in the days of slave labor black women were perceived as "breeders" like the cow because they were va
Some common words found in the essay are:
Maggie Dee, Dee Dee, Maggie Maggie's, Alice Walker, Walker Everyday, Dee Maggie's, , mother describes, WalkerEveryday English, black women, Course Anthology, animal imagery, animal characteristics, mother character, dee dee, fat hot, family dee, lame animal, animal dog, lame animal dog,
Approximate Word count = 736
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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