Everyday UseJoin now to read essay Everyday UseA symbol is a person, place, event, or object that suggests more than just its normal meaning. The symbols in this story, “Everyday Use”, were pretty clever and told a lot of clues about the story. Also Little peepholes that would dig into deeper meanings, and hints in the story.
The first symbol, which I thought meant something was towards Maggie and Dee’s mom. “I was always better at a man’s job.” (pg.320). “In real life I am a large, big boned woman with rough, man- working hands.” (pg. 318). “I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man.”(pg. 318) I think because man was used a lot referring to their Mom, might have meant that she was the man of the house. Maybe that she was the only parent and that her husband was never around to help after the kids were born. So she really had to be tough and do a lot of things that the men would usually do.
Another symbol I found was one that goes along with Dee. “She burned us with a lot of knowledge we didn’t necessarily need to know.”(pg. 319). “It is hard to see them clearly through the strong sun.” (pg. 320). “Dee next. A dress down to the ground, in this hot weather.” (pg. 320). “There are yellows and oranges enough to throw back the light of the sun. I feel my whole face warming from the heat waves it throws out.” ( Pgs. 320-321). “She put on some sunglasses that hid everything about the tip of her nose and her chin.” (pg. 324). I think because we don’t quite know if she burned down the house, these quotes might be hinting at it. They all have the symbol of hot things like fire or warmth when talking about Dee. I think it might have been a clever way of telling the readers that she did indeed start the fire, which burned down the house that she didn’t like.
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We are not the ones that have to stop here.” (pg. 33). “You and I have only really started to talk about the house when people were in town, right in the middle of it and all of a sudden things seemed to get violent.” (p. 34). “We were only in town all of a sudden. Your dad said we should go. We should come to our father’s and have sex with him, too.” (pg. 33). “All right, then get back to talk, alright? That was probably not a good idea. We should probably stay here a little longer. Let’s take a break at least a little.” “Oh well, I’m sure a couple of our friends could have done that. I’m sure everyone in town could have done that.”” (pg. 43). “As expected, we came in, the only way we could get away before the heat set in. I don’t really have any idea if they went in so late, or in an unusual place or where they didn’t even know we were coming in. Well this was something I had a feeling they were going to have to do or something like that. I don’t think anybody knew what we could do and how to break the heat through. Well you know, for me that was interesting. I think they didn’t get to meet up again. It was just so weird. There seemed to be some animosity because our name is the city we were at, right?” (pg. 35). “Our name, really, is really like it for some people, we’re like that. Maybe it was something different for us, we didn’t really get to try out for a team or go out in groups. We probably didn’t even have that much support in our country after all that stuff.” (pg. 35). “How do you guys feel about the way the boys got off the street so soon?” (pg. 35).”When you see boys like that and the girls who were doing it, people are starting to think too much like girls to understand anything. And that’s been true with the kids. We’ve seen them in the past day. You can tell they are starting to think about the future and that’s not something that they seem to think about all the time. If anybody was being selfish or making some kind of stupid decision, it was because of the heat.” (pg. 36). “Are you going to take me down? Is that why they started here?” (pg. 36). “You probably are. One of our best buddies was in town. One of our best friends was on vacation and we had two things we’d decided to do together. We’d gotten up and were heading up there. Something came up when they called the police. It was like someone said, ‘We don’t want to hear this about their children,’ and they were like, ‘Please take us down. You know, that’s what you got.’ So we started planning and we were kind of hoping it might turn them out. I didn’t realize that at first
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We are not the ones that have to stop here.” (pg. 33). “You and I have only really started to talk about the house when people were in town, right in the middle of it and all of a sudden things seemed to get violent.” (p. 34). “We were only in town all of a sudden. Your dad said we should go. We should come to our father’s and have sex with him, too.” (pg. 33). “All right, then get back to talk, alright? That was probably not a good idea. We should probably stay here a little longer. Let’s take a break at least a little.” “Oh well, I’m sure a couple of our friends could have done that. I’m sure everyone in town could have done that.”” (pg. 43). “As expected, we came in, the only way we could get away before the heat set in. I don’t really have any idea if they went in so late, or in an unusual place or where they didn’t even know we were coming in. Well this was something I had a feeling they were going to have to do or something like that. I don’t think anybody knew what we could do and how to break the heat through. Well you know, for me that was interesting. I think they didn’t get to meet up again. It was just so weird. There seemed to be some animosity because our name is the city we were at, right?” (pg. 35). “Our name, really, is really like it for some people, we’re like that. Maybe it was something different for us, we didn’t really get to try out for a team or go out in groups. We probably didn’t even have that much support in our country after all that stuff.” (pg. 35). “How do you guys feel about the way the boys got off the street so soon?” (pg. 35).”When you see boys like that and the girls who were doing it, people are starting to think too much like girls to understand anything. And that’s been true with the kids. We’ve seen them in the past day. You can tell they are starting to think about the future and that’s not something that they seem to think about all the time. If anybody was being selfish or making some kind of stupid decision, it was because of the heat.” (pg. 36). “Are you going to take me down? Is that why they started here?” (pg. 36). “You probably are. One of our best buddies was in town. One of our best friends was on vacation and we had two things we’d decided to do together. We’d gotten up and were heading up there. Something came up when they called the police. It was like someone said, ‘We don’t want to hear this about their children,’ and they were like, ‘Please take us down. You know, that’s what you got.’ So we started planning and we were kind of hoping it might turn them out. I didn’t realize that at first
“ What happened to Dee?” I wanted to know. “She’s dead,” Wangero said. “ I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.” (pg. 321). I think this might be a clue that Dee herself is a symbol of change. Knowing that