Miss Dee : My Best Friend In Our Life

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.

     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.

Maggie always loved her mother no matter what happen, and Dee was just an ungrateful child that thought she was better than everyone else because she was educated and pretty, but, Dee had a big flaw, she didn’t even know her own family heritage. The readers of this story really get the hint of the change in Mamas point of view on her daughters when Mama hands Maggie the quilts and not Dee. Maggie was never the winner of anything, and for Mama to do that, it shows that Mama is looking at Maggie in a whole new way. Therefore, Dee gets extremely mad and had a temper tantrum. Dee says, “You just will not understand the point of these quilts!” (Everyday Use pg11). Which ironic because Dee doesn’t even know the real purpose of what these quilts are for. She thinks they’d be great for hanging on a wall and putting them on display, whereas Maggie will use them for her own family. Maggie could even fix them if they had ever gotten ripped or torn, but Dee couldn’t. Dee then goes too far, she tells Mama "You just don't understand," (Everyday Use pg12) she said. Mama was certainly confused with this statement. Mama asked, “What don't I understand?" (Everyday Use). Dee replies as blunt as can be by saying "Your heritage"(Everyday Use pg13). Dee got in her car and drove away with bitterness. However, Mama and Maggie, happily watch Dee dive off. Mama and Maggie spent the

     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

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).

She would always help my mom with me. I would say one of the main things I’ve learned from her is to be friends with people who make you a better person. She would ask, “would you rather be a better person than you are now or become lesser?” Yes, as a young girl I could only understand to a point. At one point in middle school I realized what she truly meant. I was a extremely shy girl and making friends were hard. As this shy girl I was more likely be by myself so I saw how others would act and talk. It brought a new light to my eyes. When I started making friends I made sure they were people that were kind and truthful people. These people are still my friends today and honestly made me a better

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, from Walker’s “Everyday Use,” is Mama’s older daughter who not only has a judgmental, insensitive attitude towards Mama and her younger sister Maggie, but also believes she appreciates her family heritage more than Mama does, when in fact, Dee is the one who is “uneducated” and lacks an understanding about what her heritage truly is.

She lacks all the qualities her sister has. She’s not bold, and she walks with her head down on the floor, showing she has no self-confidence. She has scars all over her body, from the time the house burned down. She’s more of a quiet person who would stand in the corner and not talk to you. You can tell she’s always been kind of jealous of her sister, but I guess also a bit proud of her, and despite everything she does love her. If she didn’t, she would have never raised money with her mom and the church for her sister to go away to college. She also always looks at her sister with a mixture of envy and awe. She’s used to getting everything she wants and loves taken away from her, right in front of her eyes. When Dee finds these quilts that Maggie is supposed to have once she gets married, she’s in the kitchen. When she hears her mom and sister talking about the quilts, she comes out of the kitchen and tells her mom "She can have them mama", and she says it as if she’s used to never wining anything "I can remember Grandma Dee without the quilts." And she smiles, but you can tell it’s not a smile of happiness; it’s more of a forced smile she is used to giving

Dee?s character in the story is a direct relation to any number of people in society that do not know or are confused about their heritage. She is struggling to create an identity for herself, and is confused as to what it encompasses. She grasps at African tradition and culture, yet fails to acknowledge her own African American culture. This happened all over America, particularly in the North, in the 1960?s, following the civil rights movement. Dee is misconstruing her heritage as material goods, as opposed to her ancestor?s habits and way of life. This may be due in part to her leaving her hometown and becoming an educated, sophisticated young woman. Dee?s direct heritage is that of African Americans.

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

Dee however, always thought she was too proud to live with what her Mother provided for her. She still loved her Mother, no doubt, but she said things like "She wrote me once that no matter where we "choose" to live, she will manage to come see us" (415). Another way that Dee thought she was too proud for what her Mother provided for her was when she changed her name. She felt that it was too below her, and that it did not even deserve to be associated with a living person. After she tells her Mother her new name, and her Mother asked her what happened to her old one, she said that "She's dead…I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me" (416). With this statement, Dee sums up everything she thinks about her history and her Mother. She feels that the only way that she could change herself and her background is by changing her name, or killing her other

Dee is the afro-centric, ego- centric and eccentric pseudo-intellect. She values her culture in a more materialistic aspect. She respects the artifacts of her history rather than the usefulness. Dee’s earthly-mindedness sets the stage for conflict throughout the entire story, from her arrival until the central conflict when there is a battle amongst the other two main characters Mama and Maggie, about who is truly entitled to the hand-stitched quilts. The quilts were works of art that have been passed down throughout