Parent Child Relationship in The Stories "Everyday Use" and "Fences"

My two pieces of literature both have themes that can relate to each other. One of them is, “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker and the other is “Fences” by August Wilson. “Everyday Use” is about an African American family that has everything to do with family history, relationships, and drama, including Mama, Dee and Maggie the two daughters, and last but not least, Dee’s boyfriend Hakim-a-barber. “Fences” has everything to do with race, circumstances, responsibility, and love. It is about a father and son relationship, who are named Troy and Cory, and Troy fears that racism will prevent his son Cory from achieving success that leads to his dad's unrecoverable relationship with his son. Both themes are based on parent child relationships.

The story “Everyday Use”, explores how daughter Dee decides to move out from Mama’s house to get an education and ends up disobeying their very long family tradition. Dee can be known as the direct opposite of Mama. They are contrary energies inside and out. Mama is fat, and Dee is skinny. Mama is uneducated, while Dee has a college degree. Mama cherishes both of her little girls, yet we’ve noticed that Mama dislikes Dee. She realizes that Dee is humiliated by her, the manner in which she looks, the manner in which she talks, the manner in which she lives. The story starts when Dee returns back wearing traditional African apparel and having changed her name to Wangero, grasping her African heritage. Mom feels that Dee's dismissal of her social legacy isn't right. At first, 'Dee' was a family name that went down through ages, in this way Dee's adjustment shows an unexpected absence of association with her actual heritage. The motivation behind her visit is to get some family treasures to show in her home, which are the quilts. Dee’s desire to acquire the carved dasher and family quilts only as items to display also offends Mama because Dee fails to understand the true purpose of the objects.

In “Fences”, there is a lot of responsibility and circumstances. Troy is creating a rivalry with Cory in regards to sports. Cory feels that Troy is declining to permit him to play football out of a jealous urge. He feels that Troy is stressed that he will improve to be a better athlete than his dad. Cory likewise feels that Troy just doesn't care for him. Troy can't acknowledge that his child may succeed where he had failed, and Cory blames his dad for simply such a motivation. The conflict between the dad and child is part rivalry and part obstinate fatherly consideration. However, Troy's inability to communicate any adoration or kindness to his child drives Cory to see just the rivalry and none of the consideration. The two become cut off from each other to a great extent because of Troy's failure to yield any friendship or delicate quality to his child. The comparability of Troy's activities to those of his dad hints comparable consequences because of Cory and Rose his wife eventually left him. The fantasy that Cory had in his life is broken by his dad Troy since he restricts it. This makes the connection between the two to be extremely tense. Troy and Cory's relationship is very similar to Troy and his dad. Troy separated from his dad due to conflict and abuse at 14 years old. The one trait Troy regarded and gladly acquired was a sense of responsibility. Troy's dad accommodated eleven youngsters, and Troy also turned into the sole provider for his family.

Both of these pieces of Literature’s themes are very similar due to their parent child relationship and all of the circumstances that they both have. Also, because of the settings and dates of the two. “Everyday Use” and “Fences” were both set between the 1950’s and 1970’s and took place in the front yards. Mama and Dee’s relationship are identical to Troy and Cory’s. Mama disliked Dee in a way due to her leaving home, changing her name, and disobeying their long family tradition. In the other story, Cory disliked his father Troy in a way due to him rejecting him to play football because of jealousy. Troy wants Cory to have a better life than he has had and Mama wants Dee to not take the quilts because she is going to end up using them for decoration instead of using them the correct way which is for family tradition purposes only. 'Everyday Use' is set in the late 1960s, a wild time when numerous African Americans were attempting to rethink and hold onto control of their social, social, and political personality in American culture. Also, the setting is rural Georgia in the mid 1970s when the Black Nationalist Movement developed. Numerous African Americans battled for social and political way of life as they looked to bring into the American cognizance the commitments of their race.

The fact that Mama cherishes both of her daughters but then shows a completely different side of her when Dee comes to visit, which is very understandable. Mama shows that side of her because Dee left her house in the past and has moved on and has gotten an education and even forgot about their family tradition. Any parent would act the same way towards their child if he or she disrespects their tradition and even changes their name and the way they talk. The motivation behind her visit is to get some family treasures to show in her home, which are the quilts. Troy is creating a rivalry with Cory in regards to sports. Cory feels that Troy is declining to permit him to play football out of a jealous urge. “Everyday Use” and “Fences” were both set between the 1950’s and 1970’s and took place in the front yards.