The Use of Heritage in Everyday Use and A Pair of Tickets :: Alice Walker Amy Tan Papers

The Use of Heritage in occasional Use and A oppose of TicketsA key factor in Alice handcarts Everyday Use, and Amy Tans A Pair of Tickets, is hereditary pattern. Throughout both stories the use of heritage can be bring downn easily. Walkers avoidance of heritage in her writings and Tans understanding of heritage in her writing. Through this readers can see the honest meaning of heritage. Understanding both sides of these two stories gives readers a chance to look for their own heritage and reflect on how they accept their past.By incompatible the family characters in Everyday Use, Walker illustrates lost heritage by placing the implication of heritage solely on material objects. Walker presents Mama and Maggie, the young missy, as an example that heritage in both knowledge and framing passing from one generation to a nonher through a skill experience connection. However, by a broken connection, Dee the older daughter, represents a misconception of heritage as material. Dee, the heritage queen portrays a rags to riches daughter who does not understand what heritage is all about. Her definition of heritage hangs on a wall to show off, not to be used. Dees avoidance of heritage becomes clear when she is talking to Mama about changing her name, she says, I couldnt bear it any longer being named after the people who oppress me (Walker 75). Thus resembling that Dee just takes another name without even understanding what her authorized name means. She tries to explain to Mama that her name now has meaning, quality, and heritage neer realizing that the new name means nothing. Changing her name bothers Mama and Maggie because Dees name is a fourth generation name, truly giving it heritage. Dee likes to jubilate to her friends about how she was raised, so she tries to show off by decorating her house with recyclable items from her past. Her argument with Mama about taking quilts that were hand stitched as opposed to sewn by machine gives readers a chan ce to see Dees outlook of heritage is short lived. Dee says to Mama, But theyre priceless. . . Maggie would mold them on the bed and in five years theyd be in rags. Less than that (Walker 77). Mama will not allow her daughter to take the quilts because she has been saving them for Dees sister, Maggie, and she wants the quilts to be put into everyday use. By helping