Everyday Use by Alice Walker Setting

Compare and Contrast Essay
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Compare and Contrast Essay
Introduction
The short story titled "Everyday Use" was authored by Alice Walker while "Marriage is a Private Affair" was written by Chinua Achebe. The two stories explores various themes and they utilize various characterizations in portraying such themes. The recurrent them in Alice Walkers’ sort story is the representation of unity or harmony and the struggles and conflicts in the African-American culture. On the other hand, women’s oppression is the recurring them in Chinua Achebe’s short story. This research paper seeks to compare and contrast the themes in "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker and "Marriage is a Private Affair," by Chinua Achebe while paying attention to the settings and/or characterization, and then make an argument regarding the conflicts that exist between generations.
Comparison between Everyday Use" by Alice Walker and "Marriage is a Private Affair," by Chinua Achebe
In Achebe’s story, Marriage is a Private Affair, there are two phases in the society: the older generation and the new generation. As such, while the older generation are conservative of their traditions and customs, the new generation do not believe in such traditions. For instance, there are some differences as well as similarities between the attitudes of the current generation towards marriage and love and the attitudes of the older generation towards the same. In this story, the younger generation is represented as Nnaemeka while the older generation is represented as Okeke. In light of this, the story attempts to convey the message that marriage is perceived by the younger generation as a private affair. This argument brings tow important themes in the story: rigid tradition against personal freedom, love can conquer all. In the prevailing system, the story portrays the concept that parents select life partners to their children while the personal freedom of getting children comes in between their parent’s choice and this results in conflicts.
On the other hand, "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker emphasizes on the bond between the mother and her daughter and defines the identity of the African-American woman in terms of such bond as well as other relationships. The story utilizes humor in portraying Wangero/Dee’s excessive zeal in attempting to claim her own heritage and her despise of the truth regarding Afri...