Everyday Use

Looking back, far back in time. I can see my grandma, great-grandma and grandpa. They are sitting around a fire slowly stitching by hand as my great-grandpa is sleeping soundly in an old rocking chair. I sit and watch as a large quilt is slowly sewn together. That quilt wasn't the greatest, but it was made with fine American ingenuity. A breeze rushes over my whole body and I am suddenly pulled away from the scene. Soft pounding slowly starts in my ear. It gets louder and louder. I'm rushed into a modern day factory, but the pounding was still there. I looked around, and sewing machines were everywhere. In the short story "Everyday Use," by Alice Walker the author illustrates the importance of understanding our present life in relation to traditions of this family's culture. You can see the aspects of this story by the characters, symbolism, and the actual meaning of the story.

The characters in the story are Maggie, Dee, and their Mother. Dee is a lovely young lady that only wants to make it big in the world, so it wouldn't be a surprise that her name would mean "a rising river." Maggie on the other hand loves to be involved in her heritage and traditions of her family. She is one of a kind just like her name meaning "pearl." The mother in the story is very simple and has a unsophisticated view of her heritage. Early on in the story we learn that the mother has inherited many customs and traditions from her ancestors, like the quilts that she has kept.

Even though the characters in this story are very important, the symbolism is also a important part of the story. Throughout most of the story the family was out in the yard. "It is like an extended living room(pg. 102)." This shows that the yard was like a safe area for the family. Another part of the story that had symbolism was when there was a fire in the house. "Her eyes seemed stretched open, blazed open by the flames that reflected them(pg.104)." In this part of the book it tells how the yard became a sanctuary for the family.

Not only is the symbolism essential, but so is the meaning of the story. The women in the story care deeply for their heritage. Even though Maggie feels as though the rest of her family are neglecting it, they still all have a mutual respect towards their culture. This story shows the relationship towards people's heritage, and how we see it now in the present day. The author shows that the heritage is shown not by possession of the object, but by one's lifestyle.

Anyone can see the significance of this story by the characters, symbolism, and the meaning of the story. I thought this story showed how some people neglect their heritage. Though our world has become more dependant on the technology in the world we should still try not to forget the little things in life even if it is only a quilt.

Dead Man's Path

You wake up in the morning. You’re on your way out of your house. Soon you are confronted with a path. Your start to walk down this path, but soon it falls from under your feet into thin air never to be seen again. In the story "Dead Man’s Path" by Chinua Achebe Mr. Obi wants to get rid of this path that goes through the school yard, but when the village priest finds out about it he doesn’t want the path to move, because it was put there by the town’s ancestors. Mr. Obi thinks that this town could benefit from this because it is new and improved, but is new always better? Some main aspects of this story are the characters, symbolism, and the whole meaning of the story.

The main character in this story is Mr. Obi. Mr. Obi was just appointed headmaster of Ndume Central School, and he thinks he has some great ideas for the school. Obi means “heart” and Mr. Obi has a lot of it when he is trying to improve the school. What Mr. Obi doesn’t realize though is that the path set through the school yard is a landmark for that town. Mr. Obi is a brilliant man, but that doesn’t mean that changing this tradition is the right thing to do.

Even though the characters in the story are very important the symbolism is just as vital. Symbolism is important to this story because it can give you clues to whether or not something good or bad will happen in the story. “…dream-gardens came to life with the coming of the rains, and blossomed(477).” This sentence is about a garden, and gardens usually bring new life to things which could mean something good is about to happen.

The symbolism is very important to the story, but so is the meaning of the title. The title of the story is Dead Man's Path, but there is no secret that there is a deeper meaning to the story than a path that has a dead man on it. In the story when the priest comes to inspect the school and finds out that Mr. Obi wants to redo the path that goes through the school yard the priest is devastated because that path was a local landmark that the town's ancestors were buried under.

The main focus of this story are the characters, symbolism, and the complete meaning of the story. This story tries to show that even though something may be new it is not always better. Things that are traditional aren’t always the most popular thing for people, but it can also be very important to others.