Summary:
Tradition is an underappreciated positive in "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker and a dangerous tool for blind obedience in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery."
The theme of "Everyday Use", written by Alice Walker, is the fact that selfish people don't understand the true value of heritage. Alice Walker establishes this theme through the first person point of view of the mother. The mother realizes that Dee does not deserve the quilts because Dee does not recognize the true heritage of the quilts. A quote from the text that supports this theme is "Maggie can't appreciate these quilts! She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use" (Walker 371). Dee wants these quilts just for showpiece. She does not want to use and appreciate these quilts in her everyday life. These quilts are meaningless to Dee. Dee wants the quilts for their economical value and not their traditional value.
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