Dee in Everyday Use Essay

Alice Walkers Everyday Use

In the beginning of the short story, the mother talks about her two daughters Maggie and Dee and how the both of their lives were completely different from one another (Everyday Use). Her daughter Maggie is the shy thin young lady whom had gotten caught in the house fire (paragraph 2). Her daughter Dee is the oldest daughter, whom has the fuller shape and prettier hair (paragraph 3).

What I got from the story everyday use, is how one daughter drifted on her own to take care of herself cause she no longer wanted to be sheltered by her mother, so she ventured off on her own to live a better life, but made a special trip to see her mother and sister when she had the time (Alice Walker, 1944). Dee was always the type of young lady who did things differently from her sister and mother, like she never walked with her head to the ground, she always looked people in the eyes cause hesitation was not in her nature (paragraph 3, last line). Her sister Maggie was completely different, she was more of a mama girl because she was sheltered all her life, but the mother act like she didnt love her due to the way she looked and walked after being caught in a previous house fire (paragraph 4).

To me, Dee was a young lady who believed in showing her heritage instead of believing in it. Reason being is because she wanted to take her grandmother old quilts so she could hang them instead of using them like her grandmother had. So instead of her getting them, Maggie got to keep them because her grandmother they called Grandma Dee and Big Dee taught Maggie how to quilt, which was a family heritage (paragraph 17).

I dont think Dee was really interested as to why they were keeping the quilts and churn in the family, I believe she felt there was no reason to keep things around since her grandmother and uncle had passed but her mother was completely against it (Everyday Use, 1944). Everyday use is based on the heritage of family and things they have done or still do to keep the memories going but this one daughter didnt see it that way nor did she feel the same as her mother and sister about it, she figured that their was no reason to keep things stored away until the next person gets it, she was a young lady that was always trying something different and venturing in life as to where the other sister and mother believed in keeping their heritage going.

References:

B Walker Alice (1944)

Literature: A World of Writing Stories, Poems, Plays and Essays

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