Beginning of Essay
Through contrasting family members and views in "", Alice Walker illustrates the importance of understanding our present life in relation to the traditions of our own people and culture. Using careful descriptions and attitudes, Walker demonstrates which ....

Middle of Essay
.... disdain for Dee’s materialistic connection to her heritage. This is demonstrated from the outset of the short story, we learn very quickly that the mother (narrator) has inherited many customs and traditions from her ancestors. She describes herself as "a large big-boned woman with rough man-working hands" (485). She also describes here various abilities including, " I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man…I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing. I can eat pork liver cooked over the open fire minutes after it comes steaming from the hog. One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain ....