Everyday Use, A Character Analysis of Dee Essay - 449 Words

Although the story Everyday Use is narrated from Mamas point of view, Alice Walker reveals Dee, Mamas eldest daughter, to be the central character. Dee remains essentially unchanged throughout the story. Even though Dee achieves her aim by overcoming complications such as poverty and racial discrimination, she is not admirable for her achievements and courage. Walker describes her to be selfish and self-centered, a woman who remains unchanged from her childhood to the current position after several years. The disregard for her sisters pain, ingratitude for the money raised for her education, and the desire for quilts indicates her static behavior. The extent of Dees selfishness is evident by her lifestyle. As a child, she always†¦show more content†¦She selfishly praised quilts as priceless (91) whereas she thought the same piece was old fashioned and out of style when offered to her for college. By carrying the quilts she claims to carry the heritage, however, she shuns the lifestyle of her family, which is of course a part of her heritage. The behavior of overlooking her sisters, Maggie, and Mamas feelings since her childhood to the present indicates Dees character as a person who disregards others. Mama ponders that while the house where they used to live burned to the ground; Maggie was burning, her hair smoking and dress falling off her in little black papery flakes. Although she saw that Maggie needed her sisters aid, Dee stood off under the sweet gum tree at a distance (87). Walker reveals that Mama still finds Dee carrying her self-centeredness when she excludes herself from the pictures and never [took] a shot without making sure the house is included (89). Dee wants to capture the signs of poverty from her past so that she can show how much success she has gained in spite of being poor to her friends. Dee is so egotistical that she declares her sister is backward enough to put [the quilts] to everyday use (91) whereas she considers herself smart and would appreciate the quilts by hanging them. Her coldness and lack of concern makeShow MoreRelated Character Analysis of Dee Johnson in Everyday Use by Alice Walker433 Words   |  2 Pagesthe character of Dee Johnson in the short story â€Å"Everyday Use† in a clever way. Starting from the first paragraph, Walker creates an image of Dee, who at first seems very shallow. Dee then becomes a more complex character as the story progresses. Blessed with both brains and beauty, Dee emerges as someone who is still struggling with her identity and heritage. Dee is a flat character, who is described as arrogant and selfish. Through the eyes of Dee, one can see her egotistical nature. Dee isRead MoreAnalysis Of Walker s Everyday Use863 Words   |  4 PagesAnalysis of Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use† The short story â€Å"Everyday Use,† by Alice Walker, contains multiple different literary elements. History and heritage play a key role in the development and conclusion of this rather intriguing story. Although history and heritage are important, the driving factors of this story are the literary elements. In particular the elements of symbols, characterization, and point of view in this story are significant. The use of symbols in this short story provide a deeperRead MoreEssay on A Psychological Analysis of Alice Walkers Everyday Use883 Words   |  4 PagesA Psychological Analysis of Alice Walkers Everyday Use  Ã‚     Ã‚   The human mind is divided into three parts that make up the mind as a whole. These parts are necessary to have a complete mind, just as the members of a family are needed to make up the entire family. The use of components to equal a whole is often exercised in literature. Alice Walkers short story, Everyday Use, contains the idea of family and of the mind, therefore her work can be evaluated through psychological methods. ThroughRead More(A Critical Analysis of Alice Walker’s short story Everyday Use)700 Words   |  3 PagesAntojos de Mis Ojos (A Critical Analysis of Alice Walker’s short story Everyday Use) Albert Camus once asserted: â€Å"Men are never convinced of your reasons, of your sincerity, of the seriousness of your sufferings, except by your death. So long as you are alive, your case is doubtful; you have a right only to their skepticism.† In Everyday Use a strong willed mother tries to protect her younger daughter, Maggie, from having a quilt passed down for generations stolen from her by her materialisticRead MoreThe Meaning of Everyday Use with Characterization1495 Words   |  6 Pagesof Everyday Use with Characterization Analyzing characterization is the key to find fictions controlling idea and central insight--theme. Direct presentation--one character description technique--usually directly shows what characters are like by exposition, analysis, or another characters description. The other way to shape characters is to use the indirect presentation by describing their actions and leaving room for readers to develop their own ideas about the characters. Everyday UseRead MoreSame Theme, Different Development in of Virginia Woolf and Alice Walker’s The Legacy and Everyday Use690 Words   |  3 Pagesmajor literary works of Virginia Woolf and Alice Walker’s The Legacy and Everyday Use, both of them have the common that is the theme of the story carries â€Å"the heritage† issue but the focus of it is different. In The Legacy, the focus of the heritage was a relic diary of Angela for her husband. Implicitly, we can conclude that the heritage was meant to be recognition of Angel a to her husband. While the focus in Everyday Use, the focus of the heritage was the quilts, and in the final story we couldRead MoreAn Analysis of Alice Walkers quot;everyday Usequot; Essay929 Words   |  4 Pagesp An Analysis of Alice Walkers Everyday Usep Alice Walkers novel, The Color Purple, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982. This novel, in addition to her short story collections and other novels, continue to touch the emotions of a vast audience. This ability, according to critics, has solidified her reputation as one of the major figures in contemporary literature (Gwynn 462). Born to sharecroppers in Eatonton, Georgia, in 1944, Alice Walkers life was not always easy. Her parents strived toRead MoreEveryday Use by Alice Walker an Analysis1049 Words   |  5 PagesTamica Powell September 30, 2011 Everyday Use Analysis Everyday Use is a compelling story of a mothers conflicting relationships with her two daughters. Maggie, which the mother feels contains more practical and traditional ways of living life and then Dee her oldest and most promising daughter, who she feels has broken away from tradition and has lost a lot of their heritage. At first glance you would see this as the normal mother daughter spat of maybe the wild child versus the littleRead MoreA Psychoanalytical Reading of Everyday Use by Alice Walker1201 Words   |  5 PagesEman Mohammed A psychoanalytical reading of Everyday Use by Alice Walker In everyday use the story is about a black family consists of two daughters and a mother. Its main idea is the attachment between each character to the past and to their family. Each character has different perspective towards the past. In my following essay I intend to look deeply in the characters mind by applying the psychoanalytical reading which can present details not only about the text but alsoRead MoreConfronting Social Identities in Society Essay1580 Words   |  7 Pageson television, featured in magazines, and even brought into the limelight by celebrities. While Toni Morrison’s â€Å"The Bluest Eye† (1970) and Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use† (1973) both target ongoing social problems, Morrison structures her story to reveal just how pervasive and destructive social racism is, whereas Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use† focuses on the character’s conflicting ideas about their identities and heritage. â€Å"The Bluest Eye† is focused on a little girl name Claudia who is confused