Identity Unit- Short Story One

Everyday Use

By: Alice Walker

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." This famous phrase from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet addresses the fundamental literary technique of symbolism used by Walker in her piece, Everyday Use.  In her piece, Walker takes the "everyday use" of names and instills within it a deeper meaning of identity. 

In Everyday Use, names represent a person, their past, their characteristics, their social group, their profession, and their traits. Names represent the changes in society and social movements (Page 177, Dee's name change) as well as a past. Alice Walker uses names in her writing not just as identity, but as a quality of characterization (Maggie is a static character as her name does not change, but Dee is dynamic as her name does change), a source of humor (Page 178, contemplation of Hakim-a-barber as a barber), and an allusion to culture or traditions (Page 179, quilt names). The connection of names to other aspects other than the individuality of a person is visible in Dee's explanation for her name change as she states, "She's dead. I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me (Page 177)." For Dee, her name represented a person and by detaching herself of that person, she became a knew character under a new persona. She undergoes a change in character type by becoming separated from her past and connected to a new identity. Name, as a symbol, represents the major themes of the short passage as it is an element of heritage passed down within families and possessive of family connections and meaning. 

As William Shakespeare so masterfully stated in Romeo and Juliet, a name is simply an element of classification that does not complete an object, but simply identifies it. An object could be called by any name, but it is the name that it is given that forms an association and connection in our minds. Thus, names become symbols of an object and an element of deeper meaning. For, a name tells and associates character, but most importantly, identity.