The Quilt (Annotation) (LONG BLOG)

          In “Everyday Use” the quilts were obviously something both Maggie and Dee found to be valuable, but why? The handmade quilt was a symbol of their family heritage. Something, such as a quilt, that was hand made has a certain special quality about it. Dedication and years of work is what was represented in a quilt, especially ones that had been passed down in the African-American community. As you pick up a quilt and look at it, you will see that it has several pieces of cloth that are sowed together. According to Oxford English Dictionary a quilt is defined as, ” A bed covering consisting of two joined pieces of fabric enclosing a layer of soft material (such as wool, cotton, or down) which acts as padding or insulation.” The Grandmother made the quilt by hand and that is why it was special and appreciated. However, people show their appreciation for things in different ways. I believe Dee does appreciate the quilt for being a part of her heritage, or at least thinks she does. Since receiving a good education and having a recent self discovery of who she was, Dee had a different perception of things, especially in the way that she perceived the quilt. The issue here is that I do not believe Dee was appreciating her heritage in the correct way. As for Maggie, Dee believes she is incapable of appreciating the quilt in the same way she could. In the story she is quoted as saying, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts.” A couple sentences later she then goes onto say, “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags. Less than that!” Dee did not feel that Maggie deserved the quilt.
          “Everyday Use” focuses on the bonds between women of different generations and their enduring legacy, as symbolized in the quilts they created together. The relationship between Aunt Dicie and Mama, the experienced seamstresses who made the quilts, is very different from the relationship between Maggie and Dee, sisters who barely speak to one another and have almost nothing in common. Yet, just like the patches of fabric that were sewn and bond together, so was the relationship of the sisters who made them. “Perhaps the most resonant quality of quilt making is the promise of creating unity amongst disparate elements, of establishing connections in the midst of fragmentation.” (Whitsitt) There is definitely a correlation here.
            Now just as Dee could not understand the legacy of her name, passed along through four generations, she did not truly understand the significance of the quilts. Quilts which contained swatches of clothes once worn or owned by at least a century’s worth of ancestors. The aunt that Dee was named after made the quilts by hand, and yet, that had nothing to do with the reason why she wanted them. Dee also believed that her name was a symbol of those who oppressed her, so she comes up with a new name that has nothing to do with her family ties. It is interesting that she wished so badly to set herself a part from her family’s past yet she wanted the very thing that represented it. I do not believe she gave the appropriate value to the quilt that it deserved. It was more then just an artifact or a pretty art piece to gaze upon, it was a part of them, this was the case whether Dee liked it or not.
        "Quilting is a symbol that provides a medium which allows for expression that is representative of its original beginnings as a house-ware and art form— an inclusive and intermixed tradition comprised of varied backgrounds and cultures and histories. Quilting is a medium that can bring contrasting backgrounds together to create a new meaning from the intermixture of its contrasting influences.” (Quilts as Symbols in America) The quilts are pieces of living history, documents in fabric that supply a narration for the lives of the various generations. Even more specifically, the trials, such as war and poverty, that those generations had faced. The quilts served as a tribute to a family’s history of dignity and hardships. With the limitations that poverty and lack of education placed on her life, Mama considered her personal history one of her few treasures. Inside of her home she held onto the handicrafts of her extended family. Instead of receiving a financial inheritance from her ancestors, Mama had been given the quilts. For her, these objects had a value that Dee, despite professing her desire to care for and preserve the quilts, was clearly unable to understand.
          Nevertheless, Dee was convinced that Maggie definitely could not understand her heritage and therefore would never appreciate the quilts, at least not like she did. Dee claimed that she “can ‘member Grandma Dee with the quilts.” Maggie then agrees that her sister should have them only to avoid starting a conflict. Yet Maggie is the one who is appreciating her heritage every time she uses them. Dee believed that connecting with a person’s roots was a new thing or trend, but it was not at all, she just wasn't look at her roots the right way. If Dee received the quilts she would have only hung them on a wall to be looked at, and if Maggie took the quilts she would defiantly use them. Eventually they might rip or become completely useless; while if Dee took the quilts she would use them as decorations and they would no longer be improved and would also become useless. So if neither one seemed to be appreciating the quilts correctly, but you still had to choose a recipient, who would you choose to get them? I believe that Maggie should have the quilts, and not because I disliked Dee’s character, but because they would be in everyday use, representing the use of their heritage.
           Despite the fact that Maggie seems to be intellectually inferior to her sister, Mama insinuates that there is something she can do that Dee cannot do, and that is make quilts. Although Maggie may cause the quilts to become worn out from everyday use, she can replace them and give a scrap of her own to the family’s history which will then go onto the next generation. Although claiming that the protection and maintenance of the quilts is a huge concern of hers, Dee has no real understanding of or respect for her mother’s ancestors. While Dee does claim to hold admiration for the past, at the end of the story, she still judges Mama and Maggie for not changing and keeping to their old ways of living and thinking. Creating a life altogether different from the past is Dee’s primary objective, which is why I believe she did not deserve the quilts. This is also why I find her sudden desire to hold onto the objects of the past empty and questionable.
           In the end, for Mama, the best way to protect the spirit of the quilts was to risk Maggie ruining them while they were in her care. Maggie wanted the quilts because she was close to the grandmother and aunt who made them and who taught her the art of quilting, Dee strongly desires them simply because such artifacts of the Southern black heritage were then becoming popular and fashionable. The grandmother and aunt who made the quilts accomplished two goals: the first was that they created a work of art, and second was that they had created something to use everyday. The patchwork of the quilts binds together all of the symbols used in the story by making known to Dee that wisdom is something that cannot be taught in school. In the end, it is easy to recognize that Dee had forgotten her heritage and lost her identity. "When Dee made the decision to abandon her home and family, the result was a complete de-construction of her past. She did not appreciate that wisdom is a series of patches sewn throughout a lifetime, not to be suddenly unraveled and never pieced back together again."(Marcucilli) Caring for the quilts and not taking them out for everyday use was disrespectful because it ignored what they were originally intended for. However, allowing the quilts to be a part of daily life kept the family history alive. In the end, the quilts were more than just blankets, they were a reminder to Mama and Maggie of where they came from and of where they were going to. The quilt represents history and tradition, binding its creators to the past and the past to the present. 

• Whitsitt, Sam. "In Spite of It All: A Reading of Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" - Critical Essay | African American Review | Find Articles." Business Library. CBS Interactive Business Network, Oct. 2000. Web. 28 Sept. 2011. 
• "QUILTS AS SYMBOL IN AMERICA." Southern Quilting. American Studies at The University of Virginia. Web. 28 Sept. 2011.
• Marcucilli. "Everyday Use: Quilting Our Identity Through Feminist Theory." The Marcucilli Blog. Blogger, 06 June 2011. Web. 28 Sept. 2011.

The Yellow Wallpaper (Reflective)

The story of The Yellow Wallpaper is quite a disturbing one. The intimate details and thoughts given through the narrator's journal increase in insanity as the story goes on. Since it is written from her perspective, in her own writing, it becomes more personal and easier to grasp the thoughts that are going through her head. The narrator has, what appears to me, a serious case of depression, but nor her husband John or her brother, who is also a physician, will believe her. She is kept in a childish state by her husband who is constantly belittling her health. John’s believes that because he is a physician that he knows what is best for his wife, and that is keeping her hid away in a room without any real treatment.  He patronizes and dominates his wife, and claims that it is all in the name of “helping” her. The narrator has no say in even the smallest details of her life, and so she consumes herself with delirium and a foolish fantasy about the wallpaper in her room. She is forced to become completely passive and forbidden from using her mind in any way. Writing, she says, is especially off limits, and John warns her that she must use self-control over her imagination, which he fears will “run away with her”.  Yet, she is constantly yearning for an emotional outlet, which is why she begins her secret journal, which she refers to as a “relief” to her mind. 

At some points The Yellow Wallpaper also appears to be subtlety ironic. In the beginning of the story the narrator states, “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage.” Obviously, no one expects their partner to laugh at them, at least not in a healthy marriage.  But in the narrators mind that appears to be perfectly normal. This leads back to what I previously stated of her husband putting her in a childlike state. Typically one may laugh at their child for saying something foolish, but not their spouse. I also find interesting that she believed her room to have once been a nursery, also something that is child related. Not only that, but there are bars on the windows, which to me symbolizes that fact that she is trapped in her state of mind. Later, she goes on to say, “I am glad my case is not serious,” at which point it is beginning to become very clear to the reader that she is suffering from a very serious case indeed. She is alone, and longing for someone to understand her, that is why I believe she found some sort of comfort from the women inside of the wallpaper. She could relate to her because she was also a trapped woman. Ultimately, John’s course of treatment backfired on him and worsened the depression that he was trying to cure, which actually endued up driving his wife insane. Wallpaper is something that a person would typically relate to a nice, domestic household, which I find to be the most ironic thing of all.  Something that symbolizes home is used represent the narrator’s nightmarish thoughts that ultimately take hold of her. This “hideous” paper is very symbolic of the domestic life that trapped so many women in the era in which this story was written. The narrator does gain a type of power and insight, but only by completely losing her self-control and reason.

A Raisin in the Sun Poem/ Creative

There was a family not long ago,
That had nothing at all, nothing to show.
Yet each one had a dream of their own.

"I want a house." "No, I want a store."
"I'll be a doctor." "I just want more."
"I'll do anything to not be poor."

"Liquor is not the answer son.
See! He took our money and he run!
Do you know what you've done?"

"Stop! Do not worry or make a remark,
There's a home just for us in Clybourne Park.
What does it matter if your light or dark?"

We can all live in harmony don't you see?
Just like the Youngers we could surely be.
Finally free to themselves, totally free.

The Failed Dreams of a Dead Man

            "He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine... A salesman is got to dream, boy." This quote from Act 3 of a Death of Salesman struck me specifically. Charley states this as if Willy was just a victim of his job as a salesman. He defends Willy's death and ascribes Willy's work in the false, mythical way that Willy had always thought of it. Charley begins with saying that Willy is "out there in the blue". When I read that I envision a courageous man taking steps forward without really knowing where he's going. It almost makes Willy appear heroic in a way, which is completely adverse to reality. Willy was not a hero, and he certainly didn't die one. Next we see that Willy only had a smile and the shine of his shoe to sell himself to people. Yet, as time went by that faded out, which made it even harder for Willy to sell. Although Willy was dead to himself years ago, he still went out there and did his best, because every "salesman has got to dream." Nevertheless, Biff still does not buy into the dream that his father had. Willy thought that if he died, his funeral would be completely full because he saw himself as well known and liked. His funeral would reveal to Biff that his life left a legacy that was worth something, but that was not the case. In his own standards, Willy Loman died a failure, and Biff considered him to be that too. 
            Biff states that his father had the wrong dreams, which is how this particular quote came about. Willy was so focused on becoming a successful salesman that he missed out on using his real talent, working with his hands. If Willy had followed a different dream, not one of a salesman, his life may have ultimately resulted in success. Yet we see in this story that Willy is never a realistic or honest person with himself, or anyone else for that matter. Even in death Willy Loman's dreams do not come true, no one showed up at his funeral, and his life insurance policy did not cover suicide.  Willy Loman's story is a tragedy, which is why I find this glorifying quote so ironic. This is why as Christian's we are so lucky to have a relationship with God and the ability to know his voice. It is important not to do only what we want in life, but to follow through with his plan. If we run from God we will never truly be happy.We must not only focus on money, but on the talents and abilities that we are born with. That way we may use those things to minister to peoples lives.