Dee demonstrates that she feels inferior in her family as they do not accept her new African heritage and a new name - Wangero. Thus she tries to attract attention from her family. Dee (Wangro) takes numerous photographs of Mama, Maggie, and the house as if her new self is a tourist. “She stoops down quickly and lines up picture after picture of me sitting there in front of the house with Maggie cowering behind me. She never takes a shot without mak' ing sure the house is included.” (Walker 3). Dee takes several pictures of her family and the house to remember the disconnection with them.
Dee's malicious actions of taking pictures exemplify her disdainfulness, as she convinces others she is a good person, but in reality, she is not. In addition, it seems like she takes pictures with her family and the house every time she comes to meet Maggie and her mom. Her actions cause her family to feel like African heritage instead of living, breathing human beings. Thus it makes the relationship between the weak less authentic. In addition, Dee would read to her family in pity following her education. “But that was before we raised money...to send her to Augusta to school. She used to read to us without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks' habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice. (Walker 2) Mama struggled and raised money with the church so that Dee (Wangro) could go to Augusta. However, Dee does not appreciate her contribution as afterward, she looks with pity at her mother and sister. Unfortunately, this ruins her relationship with her family, as she makes her family feel illiterate and absurd. Additionally, she destroys any positive ties between them as simple acts of reading are now full of looking down on one another.
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Ultimately, Dee believes that she is better than Maggie and thus deserves the quilt. She believes her knowledge makes her superior to others as she says 'You just will not under. stand. The point is these quilts, these quilts!' (Walker 6). Dee is unable to express her emotions to her Mama but she desires the quilts to prove her point that she is considered inferior in the family, but in fact, she is not. Her reaction to not obtaining those quilts results in agitation, as she believes the things she learned in her education are far better than Maggie's home-learned methods. This causes jealousy between the two sisters, as Dee believes that since she is more intellectual she must get more attention than Maggie. Thus this hatred between family memories, pride, and arrogance in the relationship with herself. Overall, Dee's actions affect her relationships with Maggie and Mama. Her constructed heritage can also play a part in her relationships.
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Everyday Use’ Literary Analysis Essay.
(2024, April 18). Edubirdie. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://edubirdie.com/examples/everyday-use-literary-analysis-essay/
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Everyday Use’ Literary Analysis Essay [Internet]. Edubirdie.
2024 Apr 18 [cited 2024 Dec 22].
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