Crafting a well-developed character in a short story takes extreme talent. Compared to novels, where, in some cases, authors may use chapters to build someone’s profile, a single sentence can make or break the strength or weakness of a person’s personality. Authors have to utilize dialogue, diction and tone of their creation to display the traits of the characters. In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” she constructs Dee Johnson’s character based on the emotional descriptions and anecdotal content from her mother’s point of view. Mrs. Johnson is preparing for her daughter’s arrival. In some cases, a parent may be excited or hopeful for their child to return from school. They cannot wait to bask in the presence of a person they raised, and they are interested to hear what new adventures or stories their child may have to share with them. Mrs. Johnson seems she is preparing for scrutiny, as she describes how clean she has made the yard for her eldest daughter. Dee’s shy sister, Maggie, seems fearful of her return. It is clear it is deeper than …show more content…
She cannot bear the fact that something did not go how she wanted it to. She is not remorseful about the way she treats her family, and it is clear her happiness is more important than being a sensible person with emotions. As she left, Maggie finally cracked a smile, a sign of peaceful rejoice of Dee’s departure. It is unfair the way Dee has always alienated her family, and it is uncertain where she gets her conceited attitude from. In essence, Alice Walker displayed Dee Johnson as careless, vain and selfish. Dee showed no true emotion to her family, as if they were not related. She was only worried about things that made her happy and did not care what bridges she burned receiving that happiness. Alice Walker used a great deal of dialogue and intriguing diction to show how complex Dee’s personality