Everyday Use Symbolism Essay

Words: 1405
Pages: 6
Open Document
According to Webster’s dictionary, Symbolism is used in literature when one thing is meant to represent something else. Symbolism helps create meaning and emotion in a story. Metaphors and allegory are literary elements that help writers create symbolism in their literary pieces. In “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker tells a story of a mother’s relationship with her two daughters Dee and Maggie. “Everyday Use” tells how mama has to make a choice between her two daughters. Maggie is the youngest of the daughters. Maggie was severely burned in a house fire that left her scared. “Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him? That is the way my Maggie walks. She has been like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle ever since the fire that burned the house to the ground.”(White) Maggie always gave into her sisters wants because she felt her sister was smarter and prettier than her. Maggie's burned skin represents how she's been "burned" by the events of her life. She's …show more content…
Mama describes herself as “a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands. In the winter I wear flannel nightgowns to bed and overalls during the day. I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man” (White). This description, along with her reference to a 2nd grade education (White), leads the reader to conclude that this woman takes pride in the practical aspects of her nature and that she has not spent a great deal of time contemplating abstract concepts such as heritage. However, her lack of education and refinement does not prevent her from having an inherent understanding of heritage based on her love and respect for those who came before her.(White) Mama is the one who keeps the family together even after the fire and is able to get the things that Dee wants. The nice dresses and is able to pay for
Show More

Related Documents: Everyday Use Symbolism Essay

Stephen Greenblatt Culture Analysis

In the essay Culture by Stephen Greenblatt it covers three important ideas. The constraints of culture on society, how literature enforces cultural boundaries, and how symbolism taken from culture affects literature. On page one the author begins the essay by explaining in the broadest way possible the definition of culture. This is the most important part of the essay because it sets the tone and gives us a general understanding of the main idea which is culture. Culture is the guidelines in which…

Words 530 - Pages 3

Symbolism In Everyday Use

small object can mean the world to them. This is where symbolism begins. What does symbolism signify? Symbolism is the meaning or feelings you have towards an object or even a place. For example for many families their antiques from past ancestor mean a lot to them. Many simple things you might see as nothing can mean a lot to them. Even your own family might have objects that are symbolic. In Alice Walker 1973 short story “Everyday Use” portrays how Dee(Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo) has no clue…

Words 1678 - Pages 7

The Supper At Emmaus Four Mandalas Analysis

Religious symbolism is defined as the use of imagery and iconography to convey religious ideals or characteristics of a deity. The works of art are The Supper at Emmaus, The Seated Man, Virabhadra, and The Four Mandalas. This essay will present how religious art in Italy, Tibet, India and Mesoamerica use specific symbolism and attributes to represent the beliefs and mythology of each faith. In Italy, Christianity was the primary religion. Depictions of Jesus and other figures of the Christian religion…

Words 2188 - Pages 9

Essay about Modernism: History of Painting and Short Brush Strokes

Impressionism is a style of painting that began in Paris, France in the mid-1800’s (Rahn). Impressionists would take their supplies outdoors and paint the world around them. If the painting included people, they would look like actual people you see in everyday life. For example the local store keeper, a child eagerly waiting for a play to begin. Often family and friends were used as subjects in their paintings. The style was called impressionism because the artist did not focus on making the painting realistic…

Words 555 - Pages 3

Everyday Use, By James Baldwin

The threads of individuality and culture intertwine in the stories of “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker and “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin. From the rural South to the bustling streets of Harlem, each of the stories portrays how the search for personal identity and cultural identity affects different characters. Both explore the tenuous relationship between family members against the backdrop of African American struggles and the journey of self discovery, yet one embraces both the cultural and personal…

Words 968 - Pages 4

Italian Neorealism And Modern Hollywood Cinema

industry. Film has become such a huge part of our culture that whether a film movement intended it or not, films have a lot of political power in the way that they are presented. In this essay I will attempt to show how two…

Words 1817 - Pages 8

Essay about rhetorical analysis

In her piece, Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp, Joy Williams employs the use of such rhetorical devices as the Rhetorical Triangle (logos, pathos and ethos), in order to make her essay more effective in moving her audience to a state of praxis. It appears that ‘you’ are the target audience of the writing and Williams is speaking directly to you. Her goal is to show the reader how humans are destroying their world and to try to make them change their actions. The first paragraph alone begins…

Words 1295 - Pages 6

Symbolism In The Shape Of The Water

Shape of the water essay In the film “the shape of the water “directed by Guillermo Del Toro, Mr. Toro uses many rhetorical devices and symbolism to depict an mutual enchantment between an mute woman and an aquatic being from the amazon. Guillermo beings to distinguish the love story between the two beings by showing foreshadowing in the beginning when he has giles narrate on his personal ecounment between elisa and the amphibian . Some of the rhetorical devices that were used throughout the film…

Words 723 - Pages 3

African Art Vs Native American Art

different places that strive to achieve harmony. This is not to say that America is the only country to have done this, it has been repeated since times of old. It has occurred in Chinese art, African art, and the one that will be discussed in this essay is, Native American art. Native American art is, like music in Native American culture, a subject of great meaning. Art was not simply a picture or sculpture, it was an expression, it depicted how the people…

Words 739 - Pages 3

Terms And Device In Literature

written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. chronological order(排序) - a sequence of events arranged in their order of occurrence in time. cliche(陳詞濫調) - over use expression. climax/rising action(高潮) - its point of highest tension or drama or when the action starts in which the solution is given. colloquial(口語) - phrased or word uses in everyday speech. conflict(爭執) - the inherent incompatibility between the objectives of two or more characters or forces. connotation/denotation(含義, 意義) - something…

Words 778 - Pages 4