Alice Walker（1944─1983）年出版的小說Color Purple獲頒普立茲獎，是非裔美籍女作家首次獲此殊榮，也拍成電影「紫色姐妹花」。短篇故事〈日用品〉中，母女因價值觀不同，產生對傳統文化的認同與接納的衝突。

故事以母親Mrs.Johnson為第一人稱敘述情節發展。為迎接就讀大學的女兒Dee返家，我（Mrs.Johnson）和小女兒Maggie將前院打掃乾淨。我長得胖又壯，像個男人幹著粗活。而Maggie在十多年前的火災中燙傷，手腳上滿是疤痕；她下巴貼胸，雙眼注視地面，走路拖著腳。而Dee和我們都不一樣；她說話直視對方，從不猶豫。高中畢業典禮她穿黃色棉質洋裝；她也會穿黑色舞鞋，搭配綠色套裝。遭遇災難時，她眼皮眨都不眨，好像只要眼睛一瞪，災難就被嚇回去。十六歲的她就有自己的品味。

She would always look anyone in the eye. Hesitation was no part of her nature……. Dee wanted nice things. A yellow organdy dress to wear to her graduation from high school; black pumps to match a green suit she'd made from an old suit somebody gave me. She was determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts. Her eyelids would not flicker for minutes at a time……At sixteen she had a style of her own and knew what style was.

Dee回到家，故事衝突也一一浮現；她不但改名為Wangero，還交了信仰回教不吃豬肉的男友。晚餐後，Wangero拿起一只木碟子、牛奶桶蓋以及攪乳棒包裹起來。她說要將這些用品擺在壁龕正中央當做裝飾。接著她又翻出臥室床底下的箱子，取出兩條拼織被。這兩條被是Dee的外婆、阿姨和我共同織的，一塊塊拼布有來自外公的襯衫，也有曾祖父參加內戰的軍服。我不准她拿，因為我要送給Maggie當嫁妝，而且Maggie也會拼織被子。Wangero生氣地說Maggie不會欣賞，只會當日用品用，不多久就變成破布了。而她會把拼織被掛在牆上顯出它們的價值。

“Maggie can't appreciate these quilts,”she said.“She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.”……

“But they're priceless！” she was saying now, furiously; for she has a temper. “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they'd be in rags. Less than that!”……

“Well,” I said, stumped. “What would you do with them”

“Hang them,” she said. As if that was the only thing you could do with quilts.

這時Maggie走到臥室門邊，怯怯地說：「媽媽，給她吧！沒有拼織被我也一樣會記得外婆。」我突然一把將Maggie擁入懷裡，搶回Wangero手中的拼織被放在Maggie腿上。

  Wangero說：「你們都不懂！」「不懂什麼？」我問道。「你們的遺產。」

“You just don't understand,” she said.

“What don't I understand” I wanted to know.

“Your heritage,” she said.

Wangero憤怒地離去，而我和Maggie愉快地坐在院子裡，Maggie笑得好開心。

Alice Walker藉由Mrs.Johnson擁抱Maggie的這個動作，表達出家人休戚與共、相互扶持的生活，才能顯示傳統文化遺產的價值。而視日用品為裝飾品的Wangero和自身文化根源已經漸行漸遠，漸無交集了。