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Everyday Use By Alice Walker Analysis

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To further support this, when Dee finally greets her mother she gives her a kiss on the forehead instead of embracing her with a hug, thus demonstrating once again her superficial attempt at embracing her culture while keeping her distance. In his analysis of the story, Sam Whitsitt states, “she wants to frame the world, define its borders, give it a wholeness which then allows her to handle it without being a part of it” (Whitsitt 448). With this statement, it is seen how Dee does not appreciate her heritage enough to fully immerse herself in it and how she lacks the desire to do so. She manipulates her mother and Maggie by taking the photographs with the house included and makes them believe that she is finally ready to accept their roots when in reality she does not have those intentions. …show more content…

The photographs that Dee takes present how her embrace of her heritage is superficial in the sense that she is embracing only parts of. Dee’s reasons are not made clear in the story, but it can be assumed that she is taking the pictures as a reminder of what she left behind, or in other words, “she wants the photographs for purposes of display, reminders that she no longer has to live in such a house” (Cowart 175). All throughout the beginning of the story we are made to believe that Dee wants nothing to do with her heritage and how quick she was to leave it behind; this allows us to make the assumption that Dee sees the photographs as a trophy or reminder of how far she has come. At this point, Alice Walker manipulates the reader into seeing Dee in a positive light by making them believe Dee has

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