Critical Analysis of Two Short Stories Walkers Everyday Use and Strong Horse Tea - Essay Example

“Strong Horse Tea” is a story revolving around Rannie Toomer, a single black mother of a baby boy named Snooks. She struggles to keep herself composed in the most difficult of situations which primarily involves the health of her son who is extremely ill but, no doctor would attend to his needs. She patiently waits for any kind of help from the doctors and refuses all sorts of home remedies or magic to heal her son because she does not believe in such notions proposed by her neighbor. She ignores the fact that the doctors are not willing to give her an appointment because of her color and, this represents her strength of self-worthiness and her capability of rising above the mundane.

Hence, when Sarah, an old black woman, attempts to convince Rannie of using home remedies to heal her son, she blatantly declines her offer. Rannie remains fearless and independent with regard to her decision for seeking help from the modern facilities in the midst of the traditional methods her black community still revered. To split away from her own tradition was a courageous move she taken by Rannie. In the story “Everyday Use”, the situation is more or less the same but, what Mama’s eldest child Dee undergoes is a rebellious identity crisis.

She is sent away from home for educational purposes but she realizes how little she knows about her own heritage. She renames herself Wangero which is an African name. She believes in a new optimistic, Americanized world for the blacks, which is not her fault. She was sent away from home and indirectly away from her own tradition. This, however, was not Mama’s intention. She sent her away so that she could receive the best education and also because Mama feared that she and Maggie would not be able to tolerate each other.

When she arrives home on vacation she accompanies a boyfriend Hakim who