Duty To Ones Family And Heritage English Literature Essay

Duty To Ones Family And Heritage English Literature Essay perceive of profession and honor to ones hereditary pattern and family What is it about that feeling that beckons individuals to fulfill that responsibility? Is it because they feel pressured to do so by their family, or is it the culture of a family that pressures the individual into fulfilling that duty. Whatever the reason, this idea of ones responsibility to their heritage and family is the almost evident and arguably the most important theme in Alice Walkers ordinary Use and Eudora Weltys A wear Path. Both narratives provide and in depth look at the barriers that divide families, and the challenges they go through to get the best them.The main theme in the short theme Everyday Use concerns the char prompters connections to their ancestral roots. In Everyday Use, Dees beliefs about her heritage and family contrast those of her mother and superficial sister Maggie. Maggie and her mothers connection to their heritag e lie in their memories and traditions of their foremothers. They would rather remember their ancestors for who they were as people, not as members of a specific society. Dees bond to her heritage comes from collect and displaying her ancestors possessions as Afri derriere art. Dee believes that she is asserting her African heritage by changing her appearance, her personality, and even her name, in transgress of the fact that her family has lived in the America for several decades. Her mother states that when Dee sees the new house, a three-room shack with no authentic windows and a tin roof, she will want to tear it pop up. (Walker 445) When Dee arrives at her mothers house her appearance confirms this trend. She is dressed in intricate clothing with an assortment of gold jewelry and she crudely informs her mother and sister thats she now goes by the name of Wangero. Maggie and her mother are bemused and somewhat intimidated by Dees new image as Wangero. Dees selfishness and ne ed for independence is demonstrated at a young age when she watches her humble home conflagrate to the ground, with a look of concentration on her face. (Walker 444) Later, Dee wanted nice things (Walker 445), particularly clothes, and was obsessed with capturing a means and lifestyle that contrasted with her humble roots. In contrast to Dees material life is Maggies and her mothers pride in their home and heritage, and their propitiation with their own lives. They have made the front yard clean and wavy, a yard like this is more comfortable than most people know. (Walker 443)Because of their opposing views, each member of the Johnson family values their possessions for different reasons. Dee searches the house for objects she can display in her own home as examples of African-American folk art. Maggie and her mother value the equivalent objects not for their artistic value, provided because they remind them of their bashd ones. Dee admires a butter churn, and when Maggie say s it was carved by their aunts conserve His name was Henry, but they cal get up him Stash (Walker 447) Dee replies mockingly that her sister has a memory like an elephants. (Walker 447) But the story implies that Maggies elephant-like memory for her loved ones and her appreciation for their handiwork is a more authentic counselling to celebrate their heritage than Dees artistic interests. Dees interest in the butter churn and the quilts is brought up because they are priceless objects. She wants to have them as antiques and would not think of using them for everyday use. However, everyday use in the narrators opinion is the best way to value the past, and to keep it alive.Phoenix Jackson, the protagonist in the short story A Worn Path, is a character who defines the theme of duty to ones family. She is the symbol of determination, endurance, and the will to survive in the face of adversity and death. In the character of Phoenix, Welty is able convey the virtue in doing selfless t hings for others. Her selfless concern for her grandson is the most virile representation of giving and self-sacrifice. Critics have noted that her total determination in making the long go on foot and alone points to these qualities, as does the mythological meaning of her name Phoenix, an Egyptian bird mean resurrection. Christian symbolism is also quite clear in the narrative. For example, the fact that the story is set during the Christmas has led many critics to parallel Phoenixs travel with that of a religious pilgrimage. Phoenix Jacksons overwhelming sense of duty to her grandson is the exclusively thing that seems to keep her focused on the long and hazardous journey to township. Because she is the all person her grandson has to believe on, We is the only two left in the world, (Welty 69) she tells the nurse, she is determined to make the trip to town to get the medicament that will relieve his injured throat. Her responsibility dominates her personality, over orgasm her progressing senility, her poor eyesight, and her difficulty in walking. Phoenix again demonstrates her consignment to her grandson when she speaks to the hunter about her journey into town, she tells the hunter I bound to go to town, mister, the times come around.(Welty 67) sequence much of the storys power comes from the imagistic and symbolic use of language, the action in the story shows Phoenix in direct conflict with the outside world, a society run by white people who have little respect or understanding for her situation. A man hunting in the woods assumes that she is going to town simply to see Santa Claus, while a nurse somewhat politely calls her as a charity case and offers little compassion for the troubles of Phoenix or her sick grandson. The nurse however has a duty and a responsibility to keep giving Phoenix the medicine as long as she keeps coming to get it. She says that, the doctor said as long as you came to get it, you could have it, but its an adverse ca se.(Welty 69) Even the hunter who helps Phoenix out of the ditch, and the young woman on the street, who ties up her shoes, seem to act purely out of duty, not out of compassion or love. Only Phoenixs actions, making the difficult journey into town for her grandson, are due to a true sense of responsibility and are motivated by a true love.Most people are compelled by this sense of duty and responsibility for their families and their heritage at some point in their lives. People wouldnt be who they are today if it wasnt for their ancestors and those that came before them, and if it wasnt for the love and life lessons that families provide for each other then individuals would have no idea where their place in the world is, or what to do with the gift that is life. People will often go to extreme lengths to sustain or simply fulfill their own sense of duty to the ones they love. Some might argue that they only do this because they feel that they must, or that there will be some unkn own consequence if they dont, but I would like to think that people do what they do for the ones they love because it has positive effects for them, as well as themselves. Its human nature to want carry out responsibilities that have been laid down and set before us, not just the need to please others.Works Cited PageGioia, Dana and X.J. Kennedy, eds. Literature An accounting entry to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Tenth ed. juvenile York Pearson Longman, 2007.Tom Hopkens. A Worn Path Critical Analysis. Eudora Welty Literary Criticism. 14 Oct. 2002. Google. 15 Apr. 2010.Anthony David. Everyday Use Literary Criticism. Women Literature Newsweek. 7 May. 2004. Google. 15 Apr. 2010Walker, Alice. Everyday Use. Literature Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York Pearson Longman, 2007. 64-68. Print.Welty, Eudora. A Worn Path. Literature Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York Pearson Longman, 2007. 443-447. Print.