Culture shapes the way we view the world; it teaches us life lessons, how to see the world, and how we should treat each other. It is the foundation on which we build our morals, beliefs, and lifestyle. In "My Mother Pieced Quilts", the author's mother taught her the importance of her hardwork and the significance in her quilts.
On the other hand, culture may not have great of an impact when knowledge is involved. In "Everyday Use" Mama's culture is threatened by Dee's newfound education, which ultimately Mama saw as a sense of arrogance. Knowledge seems to deny and discredit culture. Instead of being proud of Dee for having the opportunities for a better life, she began resenting her instead. To quote Mama, "She used to read to us without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks’ habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice. She washed us in a river of make-believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge we didn’t necessarily need to know."
