What Am I?

Lifted from the rightful home of the side pocket of his backpack, I am lifted to quench this man's thirst. As my top lid gets opened and cool cool water runs through me, I suddenly feel lighter. I am losing what once made me complete. Then once I am finished, I am thrown in the recycling with all the other types of my kind. Maybe this time, I will not be finished and be placed in the col cold world of a refrigerator, but then again, most likely that will not happen. Just another day, knowing my destiny as a water bottle.

Heritage: Old vs. New

When it comes to heritage, it is not a question of who your people were, but yet who you are. In the short story "Every Day Use," the character Dee comes back home, somewhere in the South, looking very "african." Her hair is tall and her clothing is filled with bright colors that can be described best with the word loud. Also, her jewelry was very lavish and it is almost like she was taken out of African royalty. Upon returning home, Dee asks to receive the families quilt opposed to her sister. Her argument for this is that she deserves it more because she is more in touch with her roots. But in all truth, she was the one not in touch with her heritage. Maggie was more in touch with who she was because she was not trying to be someone that she is not.

So this raises the question of what heritage is. Is it the past of your nation or your personal past? It is probably a combination of both, but it does have to be primarily based on your own personal past because that is who you are. At the end of the day, you can try and try to be someone that your not and you will fail every time. This is what Dee refuses to recognize. As much as she wants to make it seem like she is is not touch with her heritage, in all truth she is diverging from it which makes her a failure and thus not deserving the quilt.