The story of Alice Walker, entitled “Everyday Use”, was published in 1973, to focus on the tradition of quilting in African American women, which was prevalent for a long time (Whitsitt 443). The quilt has become a cultural artefact for the African Americans, making it a “symbol of gossipy women’s sewing circles” (Whitsitt 143), which was evident back in the 1960s. It also became the “central metaphor of American cultural identity” (Showalter 215). In the short story of Alice Walker, the quilt represents a creative legacy that they come to inherit from their maternal ancestors, who for them carry the centermost value of who they are as a person. In this story, it is evident that the quilt symbolizes not only a cultural artefact but an ancestral heritage that is full of value, blessing and sanctity.
