Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" is a dense tale that brings together many disparate elements of the story to reinforce the thesis advanced by W.E.B. DuBois that black Americans are trapped in a double consciousness between their African heritage and their American citizenship. Walker's story is about the bifurcation between a mother and a daughter, between America and Africa, and between two cultures fighting for a single identity. Beyond the obvious identity confusion expressed in the character of Dee/Wangero, Walker imbues his story with symbolism that points to the general identity confusion inherent in the African experience. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayDuBois identifies the black American experience with the attempt to create a singular consciousness out of an identity composed of dual perspectives. DuBois writes that “One always feels one's duplicity…two conflicting ideals in one dark body” (564). Walker's story is about this war for identity and extends it to the symbolism of the objects Dee desires. Dee urgently wants the butter churn and asks, "Didn't Uncle Buddy cut it out of a tree you all had?" The very fact that the churn was made from a tree, that its identity was forged into something new based on its labor value from something that formed naturally, is indicative of the soul searching he writes about DuBois. But beyond this, there is something more to the importance of churn rate. Wood which was itself something important and valuable was fashioned into the churn, a tool that takes one thing, milk, and turns it into something else, butter. DuBois talks about blending without losing any essence (565) and the churn is as good a symbol of this commitment as any other object that could have been found in the house. Because what is butter? Is it milk or is it something completely new? What is an African American? Is he African, American or both? Can it be both? If butter isn't milk yet, then what is it? Walker takes this symbol of identity fusion that flows from a mechanism that is itself a forged tool, and refuses to overdo it. Instead, it extends the metaphor further by having Dee decide to take charge and imbue herself with another identity. Dee perhaps sees turning the churn into a centerpiece as a kind of emancipation; the churn no longer has to function, it can become merely ornamental. Change transforms one thing into another, just as slavery transformed Africans into Americans. But Walker doesn't stop there. His use of symbolism extends to the main subject of the story. What Dee has really come for are the quilts her grandmother made, quilts that her mother promised Maggie. These quilts, while more emphasized than the churn, are equally subtle symbols of the search for identity. A quilt is by its nature something with a double consciousness. The quilt Dee specifically wants was made from parts of old clothes her grandmother wore. The quilt, like the churn, is a utilitarian device. However, the quilt differs from the churn in that it is made with pre-existing utilitarian devices – clothing – rather than something solid and independent in its identity before being made. Beyond that, of course, is the fact that Dee doesn't want the quilts for their intended purpose. Once again, Dee wants to take something that has a use and turn it into an ornamental device. Dee's desire to take simple tools and transform them into something greater reflects DuBois's struggle against prejudice. DuBoishe writes that prejudice generates self-humiliation in the black individual. (567) The way to fight against this degradation is to aspire to culture. Dee considers herself cultured and beyond the degraded quality of life she lived as a mother and sister. Maggie would have the audacity to use quilts to keep warm. Dee recognizes the true quality and value of quilts. He will hang them on the wall. Taking something that has a use and a purpose and using it for something beyond that purpose is the end result in high culture. For Dee, quilts and her ability to use them for decoration rather than warmth represent her empowerment. The fact that quilts were once parts of clothing used on the front line of defense only serves to make them even more valuable. The symbolism of conflicting identities is emphasized throughout the story by Walker's choice of objects Dee desires. Even more obvious than the symbolism of the objects that Dee wants in reference to DuBois's theory of double consciousness among black Americans is Dee herself. In many ways, Dee is not so much a fully realized character as the embodiment of the struggle for a unifying identity that DuBois speaks of so eloquently. Dee is a character at war not only with her mother and her culture, but also with herself. This schizophrenia is addressed by DuBois, at least tangentially, when he writes of "the idea of ​​fostering and developing the traits and talents of the Negro, not in opposition or contempt for other races, but rather in broad conformity to the greatest ideals of the American Republic ." At this stage in her life Dee has not yet learned to achieve this goal without contempt. Dee clearly shows contempt for her mother, her sister, and their entire way of life. Yet it is equally clear that he has not achieved any true emancipation; he has not achieved true self-awareness. Dee accuses her family of not understanding their heritage. She, in fact, returns home to recover these cultural artifacts that she believes represent her heritage. But his plans and intentions are anything but respectful of his legacy. In fact, he wishes to showcase them in a way that is really not that different from that of the white capitalist who makes money off ethnic works of art. Dee may have changed her name to the more African-sounding Wangero Leewanikia Kemanjo, but in reality she has become even more Americanized than her family. Mother and Maggie use their heritage items in homage to the legacy; that is, quilts made from old clothing were a necessity because they could not afford a new blanket or quilt. The legacy inherent in the clothes has been passed on to the quilt; everything was utilitarian because it had to be. Either you made a quilt out of your old clothes or you're stuck. This is the heritage. Taking a quilt and hanging it on the wall is an American waste, as is obvious. Dee may have become Wangero, but she could also have changed her name to JC Penney. Dee successfully conformed to the greatest ideals of the American Republic as well as its worst, but she did so specifically in opposition to and contempt for her own race. Dee has failed to find a single self-awareness that combines her American and African parts; instead she simply exchanged her African for her American. DuBois writes about black people living a life where they see themselves “through the revelation of the other world” and this is exactly what Dee does throughout the story. Dee can only achieve awareness by confronting what her family was and still is, or what Hakim-a-barber claims to be. The fact that she is still struggling to combine the two into a single sense of consciousness is made evident by the story itself. Dee's return to recover.