literary analysis essay everyday use

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Analysis of Alice Walker’s Everyday Use

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on May 24, 2021

Probably Alice Walker ’s most frequently anthologized story, “Everyday Use” first appeared in Walker’s collection In Love and Trouble: Stories by Black Women. Walker explores in this story a divisive issue for African Americans, one that has concerned a number of writers, Lorraine Hansberry, for instance, in her play Raisin in the Sun (1959). The issue is generational as well as cultural: In leaving home and embracing their African heritage, must adults turn their backs on their African-American background and their more traditional family members? The issue, while specifically African-American, can also be viewed as a universal one in terms of modern youth who fail to understand the values of their ancestry and of their immediate family. Walker also raises the question of naming, a complicated one for African Americans, whose ancestors were named by slaveholders.

The first-person narrator of the story is Mrs. Johnson, mother of two daughters, Maggie and Dicie, nicknamed Dee. Addressing the readers as “you,” she draws us directly into the story while she and Maggie await a visit from Dee. With deft strokes, Walker has Mrs. Johnson reveal essential information about herself and her daughters. She realistically describes herself as a big-boned, slow-tongued woman with no education and a talent for hard work and outdoor chores. When their house burned down some 12 years previous, Maggie was severely burned. Comparing Maggie to a wounded animal, her mother explains that she thinks of herself as unattractive and slow-witted, yet she is good-natured too, and preparing to marry John Thomas, an honest local man. Dee, on the other hand, attractive, educated, and self-confident, has left her home (of which she was ashamed) to forge a new and successful life.

Alice Walker/Thoughtco

When she appears, garbed in African attire, along with her long-haired friend, Asalamalakim, Dee informs her family that her new name is Wangero Leewanika Kemanio . When she explains that she can no longer bear to use the name given to her by the whites who oppressed her, her mother tries to explain that she was named for her aunt, and that the name Dicie harkens back to pre–CIVIL WAR days. Dee’s failure to honor her own family history continues in her gentrified appropriation of her mother’s butter dish and churn, both of which have a history, but both of which Dee views as quaint artifacts that she can display in her home. When Dee asks for her grandmother’s quilts, however, Mrs. Johnson speaks up: Although Maggie is willing to let Dee have them because, with her goodness and fine memory, she needs no quilts to help her remember Grandma Dee, her mother announces firmly that she intends them as a wedding gift for Maggie. Mrs. Johnson approvingly tells Dee that Maggie will put them to “everyday use” rather than hanging them on a wall.

Dee leaves in a huff, telling Maggie she ought to make something of herself. With her departure, peace returns to the house, and Mrs. Johnson and Maggie sit comfortably together, enjoying each other’s company. Although readers can sympathize with Dee’s desire to improve her own situation and to feel pride in her African heritage, Walker also makes clear that in rejecting the African-American part of that heritage, she loses a great deal. Her mother and sister, despite the lack of the success that Dee enjoys, understand the significance of family. One hopes that the next child will not feel the need to choose one side or the other but will confidently embrace both.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” In Major Writers of Short Fiction: Stories and Commentary, edited by Ann Charters. Boston: St. Martin’s, 1993, 1,282–1,299.

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An Analysis of 'Everyday Use' by Alice Walker

Appreciation, Heritage, and the Generosity of Effort

• Short Stories
• Best Sellers
• Classic Literature
• Plays & Drama
• Shakespeare
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• Ph.D., English, State University of New York at Albany
• B.A., English, Brown University

American writer and activist Alice Walker is best known for her novel " The Color Purple ," which won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. But she has written numerous other novels, stories, poems, and essays.

Her short story "Everyday Use" originally appeared in her 1973 collection, "In Love & Trouble: Stories of Black Women," and it has been widely anthologized since.

The Plot of 'Everyday Use'

The story is narrated in the first-person point of view by a mother who lives with her shy and unattractive daughter Maggie, who was scarred in a house fire as a child. They are nervously waiting for a visit from Maggie's sister Dee, to whom life has always come easy.

Dee and her companion boyfriend arrive with bold, unfamiliar clothing and hairstyles, greeting Maggie and the narrator with Muslim and African phrases. Dee announces that she has changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, saying that she couldn't stand to use a name from oppressors. This decision hurts her mother, who named her after a lineage of family members.

Claims Family Heirlooms

During the visit, Dee lays claim to certain family heirlooms, such as the top and dasher of a butter churn, whittled by relatives. But unlike Maggie, who uses the butter churn to make butter, Dee wants to treat them like antiques or artwork.

Dee also tries to claim some handmade quilts, and she fully assumes she'll be able to have them because she's the only one who can "appreciate" them. The mother informs Dee that she has already promised the quilts to Maggie, and also intends for the quilts to be used, not simply admired. Maggie says Dee can have them, but the mother takes the quilts out of Dee's hands and gives them to Maggie.

Chides Mother

Dee then leaves, chiding the mother for not understanding her own heritage and encouraging Maggie to "make something of yourself." After Dee is gone, Maggie and the narrator relax contentedly in the backyard.

The Heritage of Lived Experience

Dee insists that Maggie is incapable of appreciating the quilts. She exclaims, horrified, "She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use." For Dee, heritage is a curiosity to be looked at—something to put on display for others to observe, as well: She plans to use the churn top and dasher as decorative items in her home, and she intends to hang the quilts on the wall "[a]s if that was the only thing you could do with quilts."

Treats Family Members Oddly

She even treats her own family members as curiosities, taking numerous photos of them. The narrator also tells us, "She never takes a shot without making sure the house is included. When a cow comes nibbling around the edge of the yard she snaps it and me and Maggie and the house."

What Dee fails to understand is that the heritage of the items she covets comes precisely from their "everyday use"—their relation to the lived experience of the people who've used them.

The narrator describes the dasher as follows:

"You didn't even have to look close to see where hands pushing the dasher up and down to make butter had left a kind of sink in the wood. In fact, there were a lot of small sinks; you could see where thumbs and fingers had sunk into the wood."

Communal Family History

Part of the beauty of the object is that it has been so frequently used, and by so many hands in the family, suggesting a communal family history that Dee seems unaware of.

The quilts, made from scraps of clothing and sewn by multiple hands, epitomize this "lived experience." They even include a small scrap from "Great Grandpa Ezra's uniform that he wore in the Civil War ," which reveals that members of Dee's family were working against "the people who oppress[ed]" them long before Dee decided to change her name.

Knows When to Quit

Unlike Dee, Maggie actually knows how to quilt. She was taught by Dee's namesakes—Grandma Dee and Big Dee—so she is a living part of the heritage that is nothing more than decoration to Dee.

For Maggie, the quilts are reminders of specific people, not of some abstract notion of heritage. "I can 'member Grandma Dee without the quilts," Maggie says to her mother when she moves to give them up. It is this statement that prompts her mother to take the quilts away from Dee and hand them to Maggie because Maggie understands their history and value so much more deeply than Dee does.

Lack of Reciprocity

Dee's real offense lies in her arrogance and condescension toward her family, not in her attempted embrace of African culture .

Her mother is initially very open-minded about the changes Dee has made. For instance, though the narrator confesses that Dee has shown up in a "dress so loud it hurts my eyes," she watches Dee walk toward her and concedes, "The dress is loose and flows, and as she walks closer, I like it."

Uses the Name 'Wangero'

The mother also shows a willingness to use the name Wangero, telling Dee, "If that's what you want us to call you, we'll call you."

But Dee doesn't really seem to want her mother's acceptance, and she definitely doesn't want to return the favor by accepting and respecting her mother's cultural traditions . She almost seems disappointed that her mother is willing to call her Wangero.

Shows Possessiveness

Dee shows possessiveness and entitlement as "her hand close[s] over Grandma Dee's butter dish" and she begins to think of objects she'd like to take. Additionally, she's convinced of her superiority over her mother and sister. For example, the mother observes Dee's companion and notices, "Every once in a while he and Wangero sent eye signals over my head."

When it turns out that Maggie knows much more about the history of the family heirlooms than Dee does, Dee belittles her by saying that her "brain is like an elephant's." The entire family considers Dee to be the educated, intelligent, quick-witted one, and so she equates Maggie's intellect with the instincts of an animal, not giving her any real credit.

Appeases Dee

Still, as the mother narrates the story, she does her best to appease Dee and refer to her as Wangero. Occasionally she calls her as "Wangero (Dee)," which emphasizes the confusion of having a new name and the effort it takes to use it (and also pokes a little fun at the grandness of Dee's gesture).

But as Dee becomes more and more selfish and difficult, the narrator starts to withdraw her generosity in accepting the new name. Instead of "Wangero (Dee)," she starts to refer to her as "Dee (Wangero)," privileging her original given name. When the mother describes snatching the quilts away from Dee, she refers to her as "Miss Wangero," suggesting that she's run out of patience with Dee's haughtiness. After that, she simply calls her Dee, fully withdrawing her gesture of support.

Needs to Feel Superior

Dee seems unable to separate her new-found cultural identity from her own long-standing need to feel superior to her mother and sister. Ironically, Dee's lack of respect for her living family members—as well as her lack of respect for the real human beings who constitute what Dee thinks of only as an abstract "heritage"—provides the clarity that allows Maggie and the mother to "appreciate" each other and their own shared heritage.

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Everyday Use

Alice walker, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Alice Walker's Everyday Use . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Everyday Use: Introduction

Everyday use: plot summary, everyday use: detailed summary & analysis, everyday use: themes, everyday use: quotes, everyday use: characters, everyday use: symbols, everyday use: theme wheel, brief biography of alice walker.

Historical Context of Everyday Use

Other books related to everyday use.

• Full Title: Everyday Use
• When Published: 1973, as a part of the collection In Love and Trouble
• Literary Period: Contemporary African American Literature
• Genre: Short story
• Setting: the Deep South
• Climax: The argument over family quilts
• Antagonist: Dee, partly
• Point of View: First person narrative from Mama’s perspective

Extra Credit for Everyday Use

Zora Neale Hurston . Alice Walker is credited with renewing literary interest in Zora Neale Hurston, one of her major influences. Walker was responsible for placing a headstone on Hurston’s previously unmarked grave. It reads: “A Genius of the South.”

Color Purple on the Silver Screen. Alice Walker’s epistolary novel The Color Purple was made into a 1985 film directed by Steven Spielberg, as well as a Broadway musical.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Everyday Use — Literary Analysis: The Importance of Heritage in “Everyday Use”

Literary Analysis: The Importance of Heritage in "Everyday Use"

• Categories: Everyday Use Heritage

About this sample

Words: 678 |

Published: Jan 25, 2024

Words: 678 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Symbols of heritage, character conflict, works cited.

• Walker, A., & Christian, (1994). Everyday use. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press.
• ZHANG, Y. (2008). Analysis of the Characters in Alice Walker's" Everyday Use"[J]. Journal of Hubei University of Education, 9.

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Conflict in Everyday Use Essay

In the short story Everyday Use , Alice Walker talks about the conflict that exists between Mama and Dee. This observation is shared by many. All the literary critic and commentator will agree that there is conflict between the mother and her eldest daughter. All of them will also agree that Mama chose to stand beside Maggie and supported her while she turned her back on Dee. However, there is no universal agreement when it comes to who is right and who is wrong.

There are those who said that Mama recognized the superficiality of Dee while she favored the moral strength of Maggie. On the other side of the fence there are those who said that Dee had the correct worldview and that she was justified her attempt to transform Mama’s old way of thinking. The reader must not take sides and instead find a way to reconcile the opposing worldviews of Mama and Dee.

Nancy Tuten echoes the sentiment of most readers and most commentators who said that Dee was a bad example of how a girl should behave. This is evident in the introduction to an article that she had written on this subject and she wrote “Commentaries on Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” typically center on Mama’s awakening to one daughter’s superficiality and to the other’s deep-seated understanding of heritage (Tuten, 1993, p.125). There are many examples in Alice Walker’s story that supports this view.

In the very beginning of the story one can already see the reason why Tuten disapproved of Dee’s actions and supported the desire of Mama and Maggie to continue with their way of life. There was a romantic air to Mama’s description of her home. She said it with affection and pride:

A yard like this is more comfortable than most people know. It is not just a yard. It is like an extended living room. When the hard clay is swept clean as a floor and the fine sand around the edges lined with tiny, irregular grooves, anyone can come and sit and look up into the elm tree and wait for the breezes that never come inside the house (Walker, 1973, p. 284).

The simple life is favored over the sophisticated life of the urban dwellers. Based on the world view of Tuten someone has to preserve the best of yesteryears, when the world was all about the beauty of family and enjoying the slow-paced lifestyle. A world populated by people who are not pressured to buy the latest gadgets and be updated with the latest trend.

Tuten’s commentary is a criticism to the lifestyle chosen by Dee. Tuten condemned her using a strong word and she said that is superficial. In other words she implied that Dee is all about the outward appearance and yet unable to fathom and appreciate what is deep and real.

Tuten’s made some valid arguments but she must also consider the importance of progress. It is being overly romantic to keep on wishing that the old days will not pass away. Sooner or later change will overtake every country and every community. The well swept hard clay may be nice during summer but what will happen when there is heavy rain? Is it possible that Mama and Maggie will not be able to come out of the house because the place is all muddied and they can even walk to buy their food?

On the other extreme Susan Farrell disagrees with the worldview of Mama and Maggie and instead favored the forward-thinking attitude of Dee. Susan Farrell made an emphatic argument against those who try to put down Dee and she wrote: “We must remember from the beginning that the story is told by Mama; the perceptions are filtered through her mind and her views of her two daughters are not to be accepted uncritically” (Farrell, 1998, p.179).

This is in direct opposition to Tuten’s analysis of the short story. However, Farrell went to the extreme. It is difficult to understand why she turned a blind eye to the faults of Dee.

It has to be made clear that Farrel’s understanding of Alice Walker’s story is an acceptable argument. One has to question who had the correct worldview. It is no loner convenient to praise Mama and Maggie’s dedication to preserve traditions and to condemn Dee for her progressive thinking.

It has to be said that perhaps Dee was not materialistic but simply wanted to improve her life. She simply wanted progress over backwardness and chose improvement over stagnation. However, Farrell just like Tuten went to the extreme in their praise and condemnation of the main characters.

Both Mama and Dee needed to see the big picture. Mama cannot keep on postponing her date with the present reality. It is time for her kids to experience what it feels like to be educated. There is nothing wrong with the fact that Dee decided to go to school and desire for a better life. It is wrong for her in not encouraging Maggie to reach for the stars.

She seemed justified in her actions because of Maggie’s injuries but even with a disability a child must go to school. There is no indication that Maggie is retarded and so it begs the question why she is attached to her mother like a cat’s tail to a cat.

On the other hand Dee must learn to value family and traditions. She must value it the way Mama and Maggie values their family history and heritage. It seems that Dee can only manage to appreciate what they have on an intellectual level while Mama and Maggie were able to embrace what they went through and their past history from an emotional and spiritual level.

It can be argued that Alice Walker is suggesting that the qualities of Mama and Dee must be fused. This is perhaps the reason why she inserted Maggie in the story. Maggie does not hate Dee’s sophistication and learning, in fact she wants to be like Dee. But at the same time Maggie is sensitive enough to honor and respect her mother and their traditions.

Maggie is the embodiment of what is possible if Mama’s conservatism and Dee’s progressive mindset can be combined in one person. The only thing that Maggie needed to do is to get out of her shell and not use her injuries as an excuse to grow and mature as a person.

It is not correct to take sides to choose between Mama and Dee. Both of them are correct and both of them are wrong when it comes to specific areas of their lives and their worldview. Mama cannot force her daughters to be like her – uneducated and living in a mud hut. On the other hand it is wrong for Dee to reduce everything into an intellectual treatise.

She knew the value of the quilts from a historical and analytical perspective but she is unable to show her mother and sister how much she respects the spiritual and emotional value of those quilts. Both mother and daughters must learn to live in the modern world without forgetting where they came from.

Works Cited

Farrell, Susan. “Fight vs. Flight: A Re-evaluation of Dee in Alice Walker’s ‘Everydayuse’”.

Studies in Shrot Fiction . 35.2 (1998): 179. Academic Search Premier. Web.

Tuten, Nancy. “Alice Walker’s Everyday Use.” Explicator . 51.2 (1993): 125. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web.

Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Fiction: Reading, Reacting, Writing . Laurie Kirszner & Stephen Mandell. FL: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994.

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IvyPanda. (2018, July 23). Conflict in Everyday Use. https://ivypanda.com/essays/everyday-use/

"Conflict in Everyday Use." IvyPanda , 23 July 2018, ivypanda.com/essays/everyday-use/.

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IvyPanda . 2018. "Conflict in Everyday Use." July 23, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/everyday-use/.

1. IvyPanda . "Conflict in Everyday Use." July 23, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/everyday-use/.

Bibliography

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Everyday Use

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Discussion Questions

In “In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens,” Walker writes, “And so our mothers and grandmothers have, more often than not anonymously, handed on the creative spark, the seed of the flower they themselves never hoped to see.” Discuss “Everyday Use” in light of this quote.

Compare and contrast Walker’s physical descriptions of Dee and Maggie . How does Walker use physical appearance as a means of characterization?

When Mrs. Johnson reminds Dee that Maggie could make new quilts if the old ones fell apart, Dee insists, “The point is these quilts, these quilts!” (Paragraph 70). How does this statement reflect Dee’s understanding of art and heritage?

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Everyday Use Literary Analysis

This essay about Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” examines the intricate dynamics of familial relationships and cultural heritage. Through Mama, Dee (Wangero), and Maggie, Walker skillfully navigates the complexities of identity and authenticity. The narrative into the symbolism of quilts as tangible representations of shared history and the clash between superficial appropriation and genuine connection. It culminates in a poignant exploration of the true essence of heritage, emphasizing the importance of lived experience and familial bonds over academic understanding. Walker’s work prompts readers to reflect on their own relationship with heritage and the enduring significance of personal connections.

How it works

In Alice Walker’s compelling narrative “Everyday Use,” the tapestry of familial bonds, cultural lineage, and the quest for authenticity intertwine to unveil profound insights into human relationships and identity. Through the characters of Mama, Dee (Wangero), and Maggie, Walker masterfully orchestrates a symphony of symbolism and character dynamics, inviting readers into a realm where heritage is not merely a matter of artifacts but a tapestry of lived experiences and personal connections.

Within the narrative, the tension between Mama’s daughters serves as a microcosm of broader societal struggles over the interpretation and preservation of cultural heritage.

Dee, now Wangero, emerges as the embodiment of a modern, cosmopolitan worldview, infused with a desire to reclaim her African roots. Her return home is marked by a palpable eagerness to lay claim to family artifacts, like quilts and churns, as symbols of her newfound cultural identity. However, her approach is tinged with a superficiality that belies a deeper yearning for connection, as she seeks to possess these artifacts more as trophies of heritage than as conduits of familial memory.

Conversely, Maggie embodies a quieter, more understated reverence for her familial heritage. Scarred by the remnants of a childhood house fire, Maggie’s physical scars serve as a poignant metaphor for the deeper wounds inflicted by the passage of time and the erosion of cultural traditions. Yet, her connection to the family’s history runs deep, woven into the fabric of her being through the everyday rituals and traditions passed down through generations. While lacking Dee’s outward confidence and academic prowess, Maggie’s authenticity shines through in her unassuming demeanor and her steadfast commitment to preserving the familial legacy, not as a relic of the past but as a living testament to resilience and continuity.

Central to the narrative’s exploration of heritage is the symbolism imbued within the quilts themselves. These patchwork masterpieces, painstakingly stitched together by generations of women in the family, serve as tangible manifestations of shared history and collective memory. Each swatch of fabric carries with it a fragment of the past, woven into a larger narrative of survival, creativity, and familial bonds. While Dee sees the quilts as objects of artistic merit, to be preserved and displayed as tokens of cultural heritage, Mama recognizes their true value lies not in their aesthetic appeal but in their utility and the stories they encapsulate.

The climax of the story unfolds as Mama is faced with the pivotal decision of to whom she will entrust the quilts: Dee, with her academic understanding of heritage, or Maggie, whose connection runs deeper than words can convey. In choosing to bestow the quilts upon Maggie, Mama not only affirms her daughter’s intrinsic worth but also challenges Dee’s superficial interpretation of heritage. It is a moment of profound significance, wherein the true essence of heritage—rooted in lived experience and familial bonds—is reaffirmed, transcending the confines of academic discourse and cultural commodification.

Through “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker invites readers on a journey of self-discovery and introspection, urging us to confront our own relationship with heritage and identity. In the tapestry of Mama, Dee, and Maggie’s story, we find echoes of our own struggles, aspirations, and yearnings for connection—a reminder that, ultimately, the most enduring legacies are those woven not from thread and fabric but from the intangible threads of love, memory, and shared experience.

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“Everyday Use” Literature Analysis

In the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is a story about a mother and her two daughters in which one comes back home to visit the family. The history behind the author is she is a highly acclaimed novelist. She experienced her first collection of poetry, in which was published in 1968. The talents she had for story telling sparked her work even more. In The looks of the “ Everyday Use” it seem that the two girls are way different than one another. One of the girls, as it explains in the story “Dee, is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure”, it explains that she’s now become a woman (Walker Pg.346). As far as Maggie, “She had it hard not being so bright and that looks and money”, her mother clearly stated how she doesn’t feel comfortable not being cute enough and not smart enough (Walker Pg.347). So, throughout the story, you will understand what makes them different.

In “Everyday Use”, the mother explains dee and how she thinks she’s too good for what happened. Dee was lighter than Maggie, she had nicer hair and a fuller figure. She was a woman and her mom sometimes forgot that. When the house burned down about 12 years ago (Walker Pg.345). The mom explains how she can see Maggie’s arms sticking to her, her hair smoking and her dress falling off in little black papery flakes. As she glances over, she sees dee standing off under the sweetgum tree she used to dig gum out of, look of concentration on her face. She then asks dee “Why won’t you do a dance around the ashes?” that’s how much dee hated the house (Walker Pg.345). This explains how dee felt that she was way better than what they had. They raised money to send her Augusta school. She got to become full of knowledge and fill their heads with what she knew. She wanted the nice things. Dee was the kid who got it all and felt better than how she was raised.

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Maggie will be nervous until her sister leaves She will stand in shame because of the scars down her arms in legs, eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy. She’s having issues with the way she looks Maggie says, “In real life, I am large, big-boned woman with rough, man working hands”, she is shaming her herself for not being able to look flawless and know the nature of booty(Walker Pg.345). She explains that she’s good at man work, but not at female work. She has tendencies to kill and clean hogs as a man. The structure of her being big boned keep her from being cold in the zero weather as she explains the ways she looks and how horrible she feels.((Walker Pg.346). Maggie was left out in the story , it seemed that since she had been the one to discover the pain and heartache, she was looked at with shame. As the story go on , you start realize how much she doesn’t appreciate herself and how she’s afraid to even be around her sister . But the fact that she found someone who love her for her which was john. The mother is also excited about Maggie marrying John and her being able to sing hymns.

As Dee arrives, Maggie attempts to dash in the house. The glimpse of her feet was always neat as if God himself shaped them with a certain style. Dee and her boyfriend arrive and that’s when Maggie sucks in her breath and says “ Uhnnh” (Walker Pg.347). Dee’s mother that doesn’t approve of the boyfriend and his appearance and doesn’t like what Dee’s appearance looks like either. Dee than gets a camera and snaps a few pictures of Maggie and her mama. Dee’s boyfriend then tries to shake Maggie’s hand and she refuses (Walker Pg.348). The mothers then try to pronounce Dee’s new name, in fact, she can barely pronounce (Walker Pg.348). Dee then tells her mom she doesn’t have to call her that, but mother insisted that she will call her that. In this story, it has plenty of allegory with two parallel and one consistent level of meaning. Throughout the remainder of the story, Dee has this sense that she wants to be like her heritage and not just what her mama think. She rather take it upon herself to be what she wants and doesn’t care how anyone else feels about that. She states that “ She’s dead “, which shes saying that dee no longer exist and that was the name that oppressed her. She rather stick with her heritage(Walker Pg.348).

In conclusion to this story, Dee wants to get in touch with her African side of the family. But in doing so in the meantime, she ignores the fact that her mom has other ways of doing so. Dee wants to showcase the African heritage and show it off which is why she changed her name to Wangero. At the end of the story, Dee says “You ought to try to make something out of yourself, too, Maggie. It’s really a new day for us. But from the way you and mama still live, you’d never know it (Walker Pg.352).” She is setting that even though they have a different lifestyle than her, they should make the best of what they have and even better. Dee’s style of living is symbolic of her culture. For Maggie and her mother, they are living in real experience.

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