Setting

The short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker was published in 1973 and was probably meant to be read as contemporary to the time of publishing. This is indicated in the story by references to Johnny Carson (l. 22), a popular TV show host who began his career in the 1960s, and allusions to Dee’s and her husband’s participation in movements such as Black Power and Black Pride, which were prominent in the 1960s and 1970s in the US.

Physical setting

The events in the short story take place in the state of Georgia. This is indicated by the fact that Dee goes to school in Augusta (l. 59), which is a city in the state of Georgia. Alice Walker herself was born in a rural town in Georgia and attended school in a time when schools were segregated, so readers can imagine that “Everyday Use” is inspired by the writer’s own experiences.

The main physical setting is Mama’s yard, which she describes in the first paragraph (ll. 2-7). The yard is central to the characters’ way of life. Mama and Maggie live in a rural area, and their lifestyle is modest – their house does not have windows but holes in the walls, “like the portholes in a ship, but not round and not square, with rawhide holding shutters up on the outside” (ll. 83-84).

Mama also describes their old house, which burned down, and its surroundings: “And Dee. I see her standing off under the sweet gum tree she used to dig gum out of; a look of concentration on her face as she watched the last dingy gray board of the house fall in toward the red hot brick chimney.” (ll. 53-57).

Like the old house, the new house is built on a pasture (l. 85), on which cows come to graze (l. 128).

Note that Mama also mentions the kitchen (l. 204) and the trunk sitting at the foot of her b...