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Everyday Use Character

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Everyday Use Character Essay The story, “Everyday Use”, by Alice Walker takes place in the yard and house in the early 1970s. There are 3 main characters in this story. The characters’ names are Mama, Maggie, and Dee. Each character has different personality traits. They’re personalities’ changed from the beginning to the end. In the story, “Everyday Use”, the character Dee changes from not liking her heritage to following her heritage. This affects the theme personal values and identity. In the beginning of the story, Dee thinks she’s better and nobody has ever said “no” to her. She changed her name to Wangero, so it could sound more like her heritage. “Her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand, that ‘no’ is a word the world …show more content…

Dee wanted to have the quilts that her grandma pieced before she died. “Out came Wangero with two quilts. They had been pieced by Grandma Dee” (Walker, 57). Dee was told no because Mama promised Maggie that she would give it to her, when she gets married. This relates to the theme, the meaning of heritage, because in the end of the story, Dee believes that Mama and Maggie don’t understand heritage. “‘You just don’t understand,’ she said, as Maggie and I came out to the car” (Walker, 59). It is clearly Dee who doesn’t understand about heritage. Dee wasn’t able to get the quilts she wanted. Mama gave Maggie the quilts because she promised them to her. Since, Dee didn’t get the quilts she wanted, she felt that Mama and Maggie didn’t understand their heritage. In conclusion, The story, “Everyday Use”, has a character named Dee who changes throughout the story. Dee is someone that you can’t say “no” too. She always get whatever she wants. Dee didn’t get a happy ending because she didn’t get what she wanted. The theme of the story was the meaning of heritage because Dee felt that Mama and Maggie didn’t understand about heritage but it was her who didn’t understand

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