"Growing up in different eras and disparities in the quality of education influence people's perception of heritage." Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" was an inspiring story of family and heritage. Simplicity versus complexity. The old ways and the new ways. It was about people fighting for change and other people being happy with the way things were. The story is set in the 1960s or 1970s and is written in the first person from the mother's point of view. He has two daughters Dee and Maggie who are complete opposites. Maggie is a shy and not-so-intelligent black woman who is scarred by a fire that affects the family when their house burns down. She is always by her mother's side and has pretty much the same educational background and understanding of her mother's cultural heritage. Maggie has always lived in Dee's shadow. Mother notes: "Maggie will be nervous until her sister is gone: she will stand helplessly in the corners, insignificant and ashamed of the burnt scars along her arms and legs, watching her sister with a mixture of envy and awe. She thinks her sister resisted life." always in the palm of her hand, that 'no' is a word the world never learned to say to her." (Walker 157). Dee usually got everything she wanted and probably did it at Maggie's expense. Understanding the Mom and Maggie's heritage is different from Dee's. Heritage means living the way they live. Memories of past relatives and passing on customs and items from generation to generation. Heritage means working on the farm and living a simple life without worry about getting complicated Simply believe in... middle of paper... because the white man has control and authority over them due to their passive and simple nature Dee knew the history of the Atlantic slave trade, of how his people were beaten, humiliated and enslaved and how their civil rights were violated. He hated the white man and America. He wanted to disconnect from this world his ancestors were forced to live in and create a new one where its people could be respected. This was his legacy. Reconnecting ties with the old country. Learning his native language and dressing in his native African clothing. Thinking that her mother and sister didn't understand the legacy, as Dee says, "You just don't understand." . . .,”your legacy”. . . . “You should try something too, Maggie. It's truly a new day for us. But the way you and Mom still live, you'd never know it." (Walker,163)