Everyday Use
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Quilting and Story Writing
In Alice Walker's short story, "Everyday Use," Walker is showing that art should be a living part of the culture it came from. Art should not be a timepiece observed from a distance; instead it should be an integral part of "Everyday Use." Walker uses the quilts in her story to symbolize art.
The quilts themselves, as art, are indivisible from the culture they arose from. The history of these quilts is a history of the family. The way in which the quilts are treated shows Walker's outlook of how art should be treated. Dee covets the quilts for their financial and aesthetic value. "But they're priceless!" she exclaims, when she learns that her mother has already promised them to Maggie. Dee argues that Maggie is "backward enough to put them to everyday use...