¶ … Alice Walker
Themes and Characterization in the short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
American literature of the 20th century was known for its subsistence to ideologies that have proliferated for years, as society responded to act upon the continuing oppression and inequality that some sectors of the society still experience even during the period of modernism and social progress. One of these oppressed sectors of the society is the black American sector, which is composed of the African-Americans and second-generation African-Americans. The emergence of the 20th century, unfortunately, did not signal a change in society's perception and judgment of black Americans as this sector continued to have prejudiced, unprivileged, and poor lives.
This facet of American society was mirrored effectively in the short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker. In it, she mirrored the poverty and hardships black Americans had to go through despite the relative progress society had experienced. It is important to note that Walker did not intend to address and attribute prejudice against black Americans to white Americans, but surprisingly and sadly, to her fellow black Americans as well, who have also played a significant role in perpetuating and proliferating oppression against this sector of the society.
Given this social reality that Walker depicted in "Everyday Use," this paper provides an analysis of the dominant themes and characterization shown in it. This paper posits that "Everyday Use" was a story that centered on the continuing oppression of black Americans, primarily because the sector had been assimilated with American culture, influencing black Americans with the prejudice and judgmental attitude that society had always treated African-Americans, black Americans, and their native African heritage. Through the themes and characters depicted in the story, Walker was able to emphasize on this point, creating the contrasting characters of Maggie and Dee to illustrate the animosity that exists among black Americans who have been thoroughly assimilated with American society.
The story highlighted two dominant themes that are essential in developing the characterization of Dee and Maggie. The first theme centered on the evident prejudiced held against black Americans by their fellow black Americans. It is apt to...
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