The Importance Of Heritage In Alice Walker's Everyday Use

Dee: the one who is most in touch with her heritage After reading the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker it was hard to determine whether or not the mother, Dee, or Maggie was more in touch with her heritage. But after reading Fight or Flight by Susan Farrell and Alice Walker’s Everyday Use by Nancy Tuten the answer came pretty clear to me. Maggie, Dee, and their mother were all in touch with their heritage in some type of way. However, I believe that Dee is the character in this story that was the most in touch with her heritage. There are three main reasons why I believe this. The first reason is, she “…offers a view of heritage and a strategy for contemporary African Americans to cope with an oppressive society”. To me, this so called “oppressive society” was the time in which African Americans didn’t have the means to afford and education or other things that white people could afford during this time. The fact that Dee was able to earn an education in this oppressive society helped other Africans believe that they could achieve the same thing if they put forth the effort. However, getting Dee to school was not easy for her Mama. Her mama states that “…we raised the money, the church and me, to send her to Augusta to school”. Being able to get an education as an African American during this time was a huge deal for most of them. I assume school in Augusta is where she learned about her true African culture. I also believe this is what lead her to change her name from Dee to “…Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo”. She had become a “…black Muslim…” …show more content…
"Fight Vs. Flight: A Re-Evaluation Of Dee In Alice Walker's “Everyday Use”." Studies In Short Fiction 35.2 (1998): 179. Literary Reference Center. Web. 28 June 2017.
Tuten, Nancy. "Alice Walker's Everyday Use." Explicator 51.2 (1993): 125-128. Literary Reference Center. Web. 28 June 2017.
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” In Love and Trouble. New York: Harcourt, 1973. 47-59.