Alice Walker Identity

Tuten shows her readers that what Dee wants is superficial and that Maggie has a better understanding of heritage. Susan Farrell states in her article that in the story, Mama’s views of Maggie are not accurate. She makes the point that perhaps Mama’s views of Dee are not accurate either, because the story is told from Mama point of view and we never hear Dee’s side of the story (179). Farrell believes that Mama views Dee as a sort of goddess, she may even envy her. Susan states that, “Dee inspires in Mama a type of awe and fear more suitable to the advent of a goddess that the love one might expect a mother to feel for a returning daughter” (180). Later in the article, Farrell makes the point that what Mama’s thinks Dee wants may not actually be what she wants. This could just be a perception of what Dee wants. Farrell also points out other instances in the story that shows Dees actions contradicting Mama’s thoughts.

Momma's point of view defines how she feels about her daughters and the degrees of separation that exist between the two girls. Momma describes Maggie as a partially educated child who does not look as appealing as her older sister. Maggie was burned in a house fire that left her scared all over her body. She does not wear revealing clothes, nor does she attract men as Dee does. Dee, on the other hand, is described as an educated young woman who is ready to take on any and every adventure. Momma says that Dee used to read to her and Maggie without pity (94). She describes Dee as the stylish child; she always prepared dresses out of momma's old suits and is always up on the current style. Momma likes the different qualities Dee possesses, but she is slightly threatened because they are unfamiliar to her. From the description that momma gives of her daughters the reader can feel the differences that exist in her thoughts about her daughters.

Dee's physical beauty can be defined as one of her biggest assets. The fact that Maggie sees Dee "with a mixture of envy and awe" (160) lets the reader know that Dee has the more favorable appearance. The simplistic way in which Walker states that “Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure,” (161) gives the reader the idea that Dee's beauty has made it easier for her to be accepted outside her family in society, “…her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand, that ‘no’ is a word the world never learned to say to her,” (160). One is left with the impression that Dee's appearance is above average. Walker plays on Dee's physical beauty to contrast the homeliness of Maggie and her mother. Walker goes so far as to describe her feet as being more favorable as if God only wanted Dee to have pretty feet, “Her feet were always

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.

Maggie and Dee have completely different physical appearances than each other. Maggie has a thin body figure, and her arms and legs are scarred from the house fire. Maggie is jealous of Dee’s beauty, and she seems to be ashamed of the way she looks. Mama says, “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eyeing her

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.

Dee's physical beauty can be defined as one of her biggest assets. The fact that Maggie sees Dee "with a mixture of envy and awe" (409) cues the reader to Dee's favorable appearance. The simplistic way in which Walker states that "Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a

For example, “Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure…She was determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts… She burned us with a lot of knowledge we didn’t necessarily need to know”(492 ). In this quote, Mama, who is the narrator, describes Dee as being good looking, ambitious, and educated. All of those characteristics play a part in the way Dee interprets the African- American culture. According to Nancy Tuten, Dee uses language to abuse her mother and sister, leading Mama to form an alliance with Maggie, which will eventually lead to the exclusion of Dee (128). Furthermore, “Most critics see Dee’s education and her insistence on reading to Mama and Maggie as further evidence of her separation from and lack of understanding for her family identity and heritage” (Farrell 182). Alice White uses a completely opposite characterization for the younger sister, Maggie. “[Maggie] has been like this, chin on chest, eyes on the ground, feet in the shuffle, ever since the fire that burned the other house to the ground… She knows she is not bright. Like good looks and money, quickness passed her by”(492 ). Maggie is being described as a shy, unattractive, uneducated person by her mama; however, one can infer that Maggie and her mother have the same interpretation of the African- American culture because of their same educational level. For example, “ [Dee] used to read to [maggie and mama] without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks' habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice” (cite page number). In this quote, Mama states that Dee would use her ability to read to put them down leading me to believe that Mama would have to be on the same educational level as Maggie to be put down by Dee.

Throughout the story, Walker personifies the different sides of culture and heritage in the characters of Dee and the mother (the narrator). Dee can be seen to represent a materialistic, complex, and modern way of life where culture and heritage

The strongest example of Dee's confusion and of Walker's belief that a family's heritage should be alive and not frozen in time is at the end of the story. Dee finds the two quilts that had been pieced together by many generations of her family, and she wants to keep them. Her mother says, "In both of them were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and more years ago. Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell's paisley shirts. And one teeny

In the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, the character of Dee is depicted as being arrogant, stylish, and selfish. Dee can be characterized as being arrogant due to how she treats her family as if she is better than them. When Dee first arrives at her family’s home, she takes a picture of her mother and sister without actually being present in the picture herself. This action shows how she chooses not to associate with her family as though she is superior to them. Additionally, Dee is depicted as being stylish based on her clothing choices. For her graduation, Dee had wanted a fancy yellow dress and when she arrives at her family’s home in the story, she wears a long dress despite the hot weather outside. Dee’s commitment to being

Dee has developed a passion for superiority over everyone, including her own mother. "She wrote me once that no matter where we "choose" to live, she will manage to come see us. But she will never bring her friends" (Walker 1). Maggie on the other hand, is "...nervous until after her

Throughout Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,¨ Dee is portrayed as the unsatisfied member of her family. She is constantly trying to escape her heritage, unlike her mother, Ms. Johnson, and her younger sister, Maggie, who accept their heritage and adopt it to their lifestyle. By doing so, Dee is separating herself from her family because they are a part of that heritage.

She is beautiful, confident and comes across as insensitive and arrogant. Dee argues with her mother that she wants the family quilts that had been tucked away in a chest. The ones her mother had promised to her younger sister Maggie. Dee tells her mother that Maggie is naïve enough to put their precious family heirlooms to “everyday use”, (www.enotes.com) when she knew they belonged in a special showcase for people to see. Maggie was always the quiet type who preferred to be at home. Maggie “is a figure of purity, uncorrupted by selfishness or complex emotional needs” (www.sparknotes.com) who wishes to be untouched by the outside world.

Dee doesn’t care for following in her mother’s footsteps. She is driven to be someone to shed her identity leaves her with no moral qualms. When the family’s’ first house had burned down, Mama watches Dee staring hard into the flames. “Why don’t you dance around the ashes?”(316) These are Mama’s own words and they lead the reader to ponder Dee’s morals. “Being situated outside of time and the laws of logic, the Id also disavows value judgments, and, consequently, fails to recognize the difference between good and evil.” (Moreira) She seems to lack sympathy and compassion, for a home lost seeing it as a fresh start; she hated the house, whereas Mama and Maggie lost everything.