Stories in our world today are viewed by millions of different people in many different ways. To have a group of literature that is "commonly accepted" is a dangerous statement. It can be argued and debated on many different points. The canon, a word defined by A Glossary of Literary Terms as "in relation to literature, this term is half seriously applied to those works generally accepted as the great ones. Books are much more likely to be called "great" if they reflect the philosophical ideas of the critic." Many books are being argued about because some people want them in the canon and others want them out. Everyday Use, a short story written by Alice Walker is one of those stories that is considered to be in the canon. Why is that though? Sure the message of the story is strong, the characters are ones you can relate to and also the story has much meaning and significance but so do hundreds of other books out there that are not in the canon. What is it about Everyday Use that makes it so much better than the other stories that have almost the exact same morals, writing style and so on? Or could it just be the story should not be in the canon to begin with? .
Everyday Use is a deep story that is categorized in my mind as great. The significant themes that are intertwined throughout the story make every page interesting. A major theme in the story is the quilts. They tie the story together as a whole and represent much conflict and turmoil between the mother-daughter relationships. Other themes such as heritage and integrity add a lot of signifigance to the main points of the story. The clever way that Alice Walker took heritage and presented it through different perspectives showed the reader the real meaning of the word which makes the story unique. .
The characters in the story are ones that you feel close with. Maggie the youngest girl, is dealing with issues that many children deal with in our world today.