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Two Generations in Everyday Use


            The 1900s were a breakthrough age for black culture with the rapidly growing desire to learn. Many of the younger African Americans across the nation wanted to go out and explore the realm of education, whether it was about themselves or a world that they'd never known personally. Just the idea of expanding one's knowledge was extremely enticing, to some at least. On the other hand, some blacks were content with going through life as blissfully ignorant as the day is long. Living a routine life within the borders of a small town was enough for some, and an example would be Alice Walker's "Everyday Use;" a tale about the interpretation of the word heritage and the vast differences of new and old generation's way of living. The story views the lives of a small African American family through the eyes of the mother raising her two daughters. With one of them being as meek and timid as a baby deer and the other being boundless and domineering. The different paths that the sisters take becomes quite evident when the younger sister, Dee, comes back home from college to visit the family with a new afro-centric mindset. The mother and older sister, Maggie, are filled with mixed emotions while they await the arrive of the new and "improved" Dee.
             Maggie and her mother have both lived peaceful, simple lives in a house in which the sisters spent a large portion of their childhood. With both of them not having ventured outside of the town they lived in, they enjoyed their serene existence. The mother was a very traditional black woman, having to work from a young age to sustain herself and her family. She passed this old-fashioned way of thinking to her daughter, teaching her how to tend to household responsibilities, like churning butter and quilting to pass on their way of life to future generations.
             With the arrival of Dee and her new outlook on black heritage, you begin to see how much of a difference their lifestyle choice has made.


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