Alice Walker Heritage Analysis

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Alice Walker was born in 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia. She had 7 siblings and lived with her family in a small shack on a farm, as her father was a tenant farmer. Her mother was a maid and also helped out on the farm. Although they were extremely poor, Alice enjoyed her youth as her Mother did the best she could to beautify the home and surroundings where they lived. When she was only eight years old, her brother accidentally shot her in the eye with a BB gun. This tragedy left her blind in one eye and scarred, which deeply affected her self-esteem. As a result, she didn’t want to be seen in public. She withdrew from others, but her mother, recognizing her daughter’s gift, put that time to good use as she insisted that Alice continue to read and write. Alice was fortunate to receive a scholarship and have the opportunity to go to college, where she began to …show more content…
Although her fight for her people can be admired, from the narrator’s point of view, we can gather that it is much more self-gratifying than heartfelt. For the narrator, the Mother in the story, heritage is about hard work and what she has physically endured in a difficult life that she has shared with those who came before her. It is a tie to those real people in her family that she lived with and worked alongside. Maggie’s viewpoint is closely tied to that of her mother. Heritage is a connection to those that she lived with, learned from, and became a part of. They in turn, become a part of her and who she is. With the conclusion, and the decision regarding who will keep the quilts, the author seems to conclude with the belief that heritage is a part of who you are and the people who have shaped and influenced your life and understanding of the world. However great a cause might be, sincere conviction is lost when one doesn’t understand the heritage they are
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