Although Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use” is told from Mama’s point of view, the author portrays her oldest daughter Dee as the main character who conveys the story’s main lesson and remains unchanged throughout the story. Dee is a young confident, and learned African American lady who is the daughter to Mama, sister to Maggie and later a wife to Hakim-a-barber. This story concentrates on Dee’s family visit at her upbringing home located in the Deep South. Dee was a resentful, bitter and angry child because her family lived in a less wealthy and poor background with her mother struggling to make ends meet by working hard to survive. When she returns to the same home, her attitude and perception towards her family’s way of life had changed completely. She goes against her family’s beliefs and traditions and fails to appreciate and accept them as part of her typical life. At the end of the story, Mama decided to give grandmother’s quilts to Maggie instead of Dee, who intended to preserve it to honor her culture and heritage instead of using it until it became worn out. Therefore, Dee is an important character who illustrates the current behaviors of the young generation who accept and embrace modernization and get educated only to forget and abandon their backgrounds, including their cultures and traditions.
One crucial thing that Dee does is discovering her personal meaning and developing a stronger sense of self-awareness despite her growing up in an impoverished setting. She leaves home to get educated in Augusta and gets married to a Muslim man who is from a different culture and ethnicity with her. The fact that Dee took that step to desire a better life indicates the development of self-identity that enabled her to change her life. However, by discovering her identity, she is portrayed as an object of agitation, jealousy and awe in her mother’s eyes, sister and the community at large. She develops a tendency to judge others, which affected her relationship with Mama and Maggie. The unfortunate thing is that she puts in no effort to mend her relationship with her family, which makes her insensitive and arrogant, making Mama perceive her positive life achievements as annoying and extreme. She views Dee’s quest for education as a provocation since it makes her think that she is superior to her sister instead of respecting and honoring her roots. Thus, although being educated and changing one’s lifestyle is positive, it is essential to balance family cultures and beliefs instead of completely throwing away and discarding the teachings and values that were taught to you during your upbringing.
Another significant thing that Dee did in the story was to stand her ground and choose a companion of a different religion. This act shows bravery, confidence and flexibility and openness to change. She got exposed to a different world when she went to Augustus to receive education, and one would not blame her for adapting and wanting to change. The only mistake that she made was to go against her family’s heritage and traditions. For instance, she changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, which indicates complete detachment with her roots. Her mother explains that she was not allowed to change her name since it was to get passed through generations to come, yet she still refused to listen. Her ability to remain firm in her decisions is impressive; however, it was vital for her to acknowledge and maintain her family’s culture.
Walker uses Dee’s character to illustrate a common trend that is happening even in the current society of people, forgetting their cultures and traditions due to modernization. Dee does important things like being ambitious enough to desire an improved lifestyle and being firm in her life decisions. However, she fails to balance and observe her culture and traditions, which ruins her relationship with her family. Therefore in as much as being ambitious and seeking a better life is a good thing, it is essential to respect our cultures and roots.