Identity In Alice Walker's Everyday Use
addresses her as Dee, she quickly corrects her saying that she’s changed her name claiming that she didn’t want to be named after the people that oppressed her. It is implied that when she went off to college she was taught that family names typically originated from the slave owners and got passes down through generations. This is the usual assumption to why Dee wanted to change her name. “No mama, Not ‘Dee,’ Eangero Leewanika Kemanjo! … I couldn’t bear it any longer being names after the people who oppress me” (846). Changing her name was apart of her quest to link herself to her African roots, but in this process she is not respecting her immediate heritage. “You know as well as me you was named after your aunt Dici” (846). Dee asks her
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All throughout her child hood, Dee wanted nothing to do with her heirlooms or her heritage. Dee’s change of mind adds to the differences between her and her mother. One of the main heirlooms that Dee wanted to use to decorate her new house were the quilts that her family had passed down. Dee’s mother says that they have already been promised to Maggie. This causes a upset with Dee. She claims that Maggie will put them to use and not honor them properly. “These are all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear. She did all this stitching by hand. Imagine!” (848) Dee tries to reason with her mother by saying that her grandmother did this by hand and that they should be admired not used. However, Dee’s mother contradicts her by exclaiming that these quilts were made up of fragments of history, scraps of dresses, shirts, uniforms, each of which represent those people who forged the family’s culture heritage and its value. All of the quilt’s materials were lived in so they should remain a part of everyday use. Among the differences between Dee and her mother, there are also some similarities. Dee and her mother are both very strong willed in their beliefs and neither are chasing their opinions based on the other. While they both have different ways of honoring their heritage, they have both made this a goal to achieve. Another similarity is that they are both comfortable in their setting. Mama is comfortable on the farm with her raggedy clothes. Meanwhile, Dee is much more vibrant in her clothing choices and wants to own things that won’t get put to
All throughout her child hood, Dee wanted nothing to do with her heirlooms or her heritage. Dee’s change of mind adds to the differences between her and her mother. One of the main heirlooms that Dee wanted to use to decorate her new house were the quilts that her family had passed down. Dee’s mother says that they have already been promised to Maggie. This causes a upset with Dee. She claims that Maggie will put them to use and not honor them properly. “These are all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear. She did all this stitching by hand. Imagine!” (848) Dee tries to reason with her mother by saying that her grandmother did this by hand and that they should be admired not used. However, Dee’s mother contradicts her by exclaiming that these quilts were made up of fragments of history, scraps of dresses, shirts, uniforms, each of which represent those people who forged the family’s culture heritage and its value. All of the quilt’s materials were lived in so they should remain a part of everyday use. Among the differences between Dee and her mother, there are also some similarities. Dee and her mother are both very strong willed in their beliefs and neither are chasing their opinions based on the other. While they both have different ways of honoring their heritage, they have both made this a goal to achieve. Another similarity is that they are both comfortable in their setting. Mama is comfortable on the farm with her raggedy clothes. Meanwhile, Dee is much more vibrant in her clothing choices and wants to own things that won’t get put to