Analysis of Patches: Quilt and Community in Alice Walkers Everyday Use

Analysis of Patches sympathiser and Community in Alice Walkers Everyday Use In a critique titled Patches Quilt and Community in Alice Walkers Everyday Use (Short Story Criticism Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Short Fiction Writers, 1990), the authors reveal that tradition and the description of holiness were key elements throughout the story. The writers began the analysis by discussing the significance of a quilt a quilt is a complete piece of artwork that is essentially made up of fragments. These patchwork quilts, when effectively put together, exposed a way of life. The Africans traditional way of life was one of sacredness and usefulness. By using scrap from old clothes they were able to create a masterpiece that could be passed down from one generation to the next. The title Everyday Use implies that quilts, while they whitethorn be priceless heirlooms, are also made to function. The Johnsons are a typical African family that has settled in America. The mo ther, and narrator of the story, is a working woman who often imagines herself as someone else, someone who her children would non be ashamed to be seen with. While awaiting the arrival of Dee, her eldest daughter and a goddess (415) in the eyes of her family, she dreams of being on a TV program where a host reunites long lost family members. As she greets her daughter who has been away at college, she is not only one hundred pounds thinner but is beautiful in the eyes of her children. Howeve...