Friday, December 4, 2009
Everyday Use
Thi story as told by the mother, is about two sisters who born and raised in the south. One daughter Maggie grows up to stay at home living in the south with her mama, while her sister Dee, moves away to the big city, gets an education and becomes a big shot. This story is basically showing us two options of growing up. While one sister stays home close to her roots values her family, her heritage and her upbringing, the other wants nothing to do with any of it. She moves away only to visit,and act like a tourist who's never belonged there. I think its sad what happened to Dee. That she was so far removed from everything that she was, because although she tries to show that shes happy and better off than her mama and sister, it seems to me like she is the less fortunate one. It seems like she doesnt have a place she calls home, yet when she comes back she is so cold and horrible that her own family cant even invite her back in.
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Rather than thinking of Dee as being removed from, or evading, "what she was" (and I suppose that implies, what she is), consider that she may represent another concept (one might say, more pan-African) of cultural identity; is their evidence, however, that, while acknowledging the benfits of both, the story tends to see one as more authentic than the other? (This could be a function, of course, of the 1st person narrative point of view, and should be considered in this context...)
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting. I somewhat agree with your thoughts on the story. I feel that she doesn't show off to her family, but rather deals with her life differently. Maggie chooses to stay home, absorbs her heritage, but remains uneducated, while Dee decides to move away and receive some sort of education.
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