Abhishek Ray

ENGL-210
Dr. Adkins
Response Paper 1
3. Wangero has been to school and learned a great deal about heritage. What does the story
have to say about the nature of heritage and about the nature of education?
Education is an asset which people attain in order to become more thoughtful, better
critical thinkers and broaden their perspective in life. It is an integral part of a social and
structured society. One would also associate education with the sense of higher self-esteem
which is true without any doubt. Contrary to that we see in Alice Walkers short story Everyday
Use, Dee being the only one educated in her family, developed a false identity of herself and her
action such as changing her name, wearing very bright clothes and not understanding the
importance of the quilts which her grandmother had knitted herself, etc paints a ill picture of her
in the readers mind so as to how she uses her possession of education to create standards within
her family. Warengo uses the education (i.e. complicated words, other intellectual references) to
gain an upper hand over Mama and Maggie instead of being a helping hand towards her family
which the education was intended for. Both the sisters have their own problem somehow relating
to education. One has adequate of it which has made her into a big headed, self-centered person
while there is other one whose lack of education in life has kept her from not cultivating the
confidence to stand up against anybody.
Wangero may have learned the concept of heritage in her school but she clearly fails to
apply them in her life. Her mother and sister never received formal education but they have a

much better understanding of heritage. It was Maggie who had to explain it to Wangero that the
quilts have a very personal touch on them by their grandmother and that she shouldnt use them
for daily use rather take really good care of them. What puts another question mark on
Wangeros education is when her ego is hurt as Mama tells that she had promised to give the
quits to Maggie instead of her. Heritage is something that one should be happy to share with
other family members but Wangeros selfishness gives in making her furious. In my opinion,
education should not be mistaken with life lesson. Mama had worked very hard to ensure the
best possible up-bringing of the two daughters she had. Her experience has made her wise which
education does not serve that purpose all the time. Instead, what education has given Dee is the
freedom to do whatever she wants thinking that that shed be excused of the consequences
because she has an education. She wants to create her own identity but in the process of doing so
she is moving away from her roots. Heritage is passed on from generation to generation and in
this case it were such as Wangeros original name, Dee and the quilts. Mama and Maggie
understand this really well. In fact Dee is unaware of the rich history of the materials used to
make the quilts but she is pretentious as if she cared a lot about the tradition. For Mama and
Maggie, it is the love and care that were infused into making the quilts or the tables that matters
the most. They hardly see them as objects for everyday use but something to remind them of
their elders and where they have come from (i.e. struggles of African American people).
All in all, we learn from this story that staying true to your roots and respecting them is
what defines a persons real character. Education may prepare us to face the world in a better
fashion but traits like humility and values are cultured by oneself.