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Old quilts symbolic meaning in “Everyday Use” Alice Walker
For years, quilts have been a way to memorialize their lives and their experiences,
including hardships like war and hunger. As shown in Alice Walker's article, "Everyday Use,"
the family's history of pride and hardship is reflected in the quilts. For African-American
women, the craft of quilting has a significant place in their cultural heritage. A European
women's custom, quilting was embraced by African-American women even before
enslavement began. Making a quilt provided black women a sense of pride because they were
able to create something useful out of scraps they found about the house. Despite their
marginalization in society, black women's quilts serve as a creative legacy and a means to
memorialize the oppression they endured. In addition, since they are a part of the family's
history, the quilts mentioned in the short tale have sentimental importance to the family.
Mama even discusses the use of “scraps from dresses that Grandma Dee had worn fifty and
more years ago” (809). Quilts have been handed down from generation to generation, and
they are a reminder of the lives of those who made them. Wangero asked, “Can I have these
old quilts” (811). As a result, in "Everyday Use," the quilt serves as a representation of the
history and culture of African-Americans. As a work of art, a quilt exemplifies the creativity
and self-worth of black women.
