Dee in “Everyday use” by Alice Walker, She’s shown to have a very selfish characteristic. From when Dee first showed up at her families placed and introduced them to her boyfriend, she immediately begins to ask for things. …show more content…
For instance, Dee asked to have the quilts from their grandmother, although they were supposed to go to her younger sister, Maggie. Dee doesn 't settle for any other quilts, she wants the ones that are handmade and have family heritage “They’re priceless”(Walker). Although Dee was put into college, she was still uneducated, not just by school education, but by her heritage education. “What happened to ‘Dee’?…’She’s dead… I couldn 't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me” (Walker). When Dee went off to college she decided to change her name, from Dee to Wangero. Dee isn’t just uneducated about her heritage, she’s confused about it as well. For example, when she changes her name, to escape her african roots. But then she wants a specific quilt that has plenty of heritage and cultural meaning to it, and explains to …show more content…
Aboriginals are denied who they are and have to choose whether to be Canadian or American. The mother in “Borders” by Thomas King. She is an aboriginal woman who never once denies her heritage. She keeps her identity as black foot no matter how many times she is asked what her nationality is “Citizenship?’’Blackfoot’…’Ma’am?’ ’Blackfoot’…’Canadian?’ ‘Blackfoot”(King). The mother, no matter what or who tries to make her identify with any other nationality than Blackfoot, she doesn’t stand for it and she keeps her ground with her nationality, and will not identify as anything but Blackfoot. She 's not defined by citizenship, that’s not her identity, her identity comes from within her and her heritage and how she chooses to identify herself, not how others want her to identify herself with. The mother has a lot of pride in how she is and her heritage. She is not ashamed of who she is and where she comes from. She takes a lot of pride in where her roots are, no matter the struggles. “It would have been easier if my mother had just said ‘Canadian’ and been done with it. But i could see she wasn 't going to do that” (King). No matter how hard society tries to form and shape everyone, they should all take pride in who they are, and not let anyone tell them who they can and can’t be. Like the mother in