Essay on Everyday Use by Alice Walker

She shows no respect for anyone and that there is not a single possession that she should not have. Firstly, Dee thinks that no matter what she sees, it should be hers. Without asking Mama if she could have it, Dee took the butter churn from the kitchen, and told Mama she would use it as a centerpiece (53). Another example would be that Dee shows no respect for anyone even her mother. When they were finished eating, Dee disrespected her mother by going through her trunk at the foot of the bed and took the quilts (53). Lastly, Dee shows how controlling and how she puts herself above people. “Dee moved back just enough so that I [Mama] couldn’t reach the quilts. They already belonged to her” (53); Dee has not even gotten these quilts, and has already put her control on them. In these ways and more, Dee is showing herself as someone who respects no one and thinks she is above

Dee seems to be having an self-internal crisis trying to identify herself. She is portrayed to be arrogant and ignorant in the process of her attempts to recreate herself and retrace her roots. When Dee is younger and the house burns down Mama describes her “standing off under the sweetgum tree she used to dig gum out of; a look of concentration on her face as she watched the last dingy gray board of the house fall in toward the red-hot brick chimney. Why don’t you do a dance around the ashes?... She hated the house that much”(Walker, 293). Dee has exhibited her hatred for the lifestyle she was living and her desire to reconstruct everything about, at a young age. She fails to realize that her attempts are only leading her to rejecting her true heritage. Through Dee’s character, Walker disputes the ideology that some African Americans have of tracing back their African roots rather than aiding the Black community in the American society to progress and nationalize themselves. People fail to realize that even though their ancestors were forced into this country from Africa, the Blacks have to work together in helping the community grow as they have now formed a new community. There is nothing wrong with wanting to retrace your roots, however, abandoning your heritage in doing so is where the controversy comes in. Dee’s character is a representation of people who abandon their legacy to be someone they are

     Dee believes she is more cultured than her family. She may have more knowledge about different cultures and religions that she learned in school, but she does not know as much about the family heritage as she thinks she does. For example, when Dee changes her name to “Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo” she destroys important links to her heritage that she will never understand. Her mother tries to explain to her that her name is significant because it belonged to particular beloved ones. However, Dee seems to reject the names of her ancestors, yet she is eager to seize their handmade goods. When Dee realizes she is not going obtain possession of the quilts, she storms out of the house without saying a word. It is apparent that the only reason for her visit is to get the family heirlooms, not to see the house, her mother, or Maggie.

A daughter who uses her mother's gifts in contrast to a daughter who preserves them, is far more valuable just like in “Everyday use” by Alice Walker because heritage values can be preserved. From here on, Walker utilizes a prideful tone which later shifts into an authoritative tone by illustrating a proud mother who becomes defensive because of her modern daughter’s opposing views.

     In this story, Dee is completely unappreciative. One can get the feeling that the mother in the story had worked long and hard rearing her daughters, and has even gotten Dee into college somehow. Dee returns with her college education and new personality trying to preach to her mother and sister about what they are doing wrong. Plenty of times Dee spoke down to her mother and little sister, Maggie.

Dee’s selfishness is also portrayed by her cultured verbal skills. Dee can talk her way through anything. Dee often manipulates others with her verbal skills. This is shown when she reads to her mother and sister “without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks’ habits, whole lives upon us, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice” (Walker 289). This statement further demonstrates the fact that Dee’s family feels inferior to her. Mama describes the situation as if Dee has some kind of power over her family because she is scholarly and her family is not. Dee uses her education to make Mama and Maggie feel less important without, necessarily meaning to.

Dee is a controlling person who always wanted everything to herself only and don't want anybody to take something more than her. And that appeared when mama said that the quilts which were handmade by their grandma Dee, that she would give it to Maggie, Dee was very angry for that and she wanted to take the quilts herself not because she wanted, just because she don't like anybody to take something more than her and wants everything for herself only. Dee was well educated and didn't liked her mother's and sister's way of living so she traveled and when

In "Everyday Use," Alice Walker stresses the importance of heritage. She employs various ways to reveal many aspects of heritage that are otherwise hard to be noticed.

In Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" Mama is the narrator. She speaks of her family of two daughters Maggie and Dee. Through the eyes of two daughters, Dee and Maggie, who have chosen to live their lives in very different manners, the reader can choose which character to identify most with by judging what is really important in one’s life. Throughout the story three themes consistently show. These themes show that the family is separated by shame, knowledge, and pride.

Dee on the other hand, represents more of a modern, complex, materialistic way of life. She moves to the city to become educated. She is ashamed of where she comes from. In a letter mama receives, Dee writes “no matter where we ‘choose’ to live, she will manage to come see us” (Walker 281). Furthermore, when she comes home to visit she tells mama that she has changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo because “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me” (Walker 282).

As the story advances however, Dee does get more complex and is demonstrated to be battling with her own particular personality and heritage. Concrete subtle elements are expressed about Dee that lead you to know she is beautiful, smart and certain. Dee is described as thin with a little waste. She is a light cleaned dark individuals with a decent review hair. She is also well educated. Dee is fashion conscience, continually needing more pleasant things that were not affordable to her family. First and foremost of the story, Dee’s mother and sister, Maggie are is getting ready for Dee’s entry for a visit. Here is the place you get the first flash of Dee’s obvious identity. Maggie is portrayed by her mother as being apprehensive until after Dee goes when Dee hasn’t arrived yet. This persuades that maybe Maggie is threatened by Dee and maybe feels inferior compared to Dee. Dee’s mother discuss dreaming a fantasy about being welcomed by Dee with a grasp and tears in her eyes. All things considered Dee’s mother and sister don’t appear to feel just as they truly measures up to what Dee expects or needs them will be Dee’s mother never had much of an education and Dee’s mother raised enough cash to send Dee off to school. Maggie is specified as having poor sight and not being brilliant. Dee the again is smart.

values. Mama was proud of her skills on the farm. She knew her heritage, even if she couldn't read or write, and was proud of it. She could tell you the why and the who. Maggie in her self-defacing way also displayed real attachment to her heritage. Dee on the other hand appeared to be more

The story 'Everyday Use', written by Alice Walker, is a story of heritage, pride, and learning what kind of person you really are. In the exposition, the story opens with background information about Dee and Maggie's life, which is being told by Mama. The reader learns that Dee was the type of child that had received everything that she wanted, while Maggie was the complete opposite. The crisis, which occurs later in the story, happens when Dee all of a sudden comes home a different person than she was when she left. During the Climax, Mama realizes that she has often neglected her other child, Maggie, by always giving Dee what she wants. Therefore, in the resolution, Mama defends Maggie by telling Dee that she cannot have the

Through contrasting family members and views in "Everyday Use", Alice Walker illustrates the importance of understanding our present life in relation to the traditions of our own people and culture. Using careful descriptions and attitudes, Walker demonstrates which factors contribute to the values of one's heritage and culture; she illustrates that these are represented not by the possession of objects or mere appearances, but by one's lifestyle and attitude.

She wants to find her true heritage although she does not show that she cares much about it. Dee is a very selfish girl who thinks that it is all about her. She is embarrassed of the way her mama lives and the way her sister Maggie looks from being burned. Her schooling was paid for by Mama’s church, but she showed no appreciation. Mama says, “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.” (Walker) At times while living at home she would read to them, but it was like she did that to prove a point to them because she felt as if they were not as smart as she was. Once she leaves home and comes back Dee wants to take a quilt that was once offered to her, but then she rejected it because she thought it was ugly. All of the sudden she wants to know her heritage. She is very needy and likes to take things from her relatives without understanding the purpose of items.