Everyday Use: The Differences Between Dee and Mama
Should parents and adult children have the same morals? Parents and children should have similar morals. This is not the case in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. In “Everyday Use,” the writer shows us how the mother and Dee, her daughter, have different moral standpoints. Dee is self-centered and entitled while the mother is selfless and cares for others.
Some believe that you should learn about your culture while others don't. The narrator and Dee have different views on this topic. The narrator believes that Dee should get an education but doesn't think that she should be changing her name for her culture. Dee believes that it will help her to learn about who she is and change her name to respect former relatives. This is shown in the short story when Dee and Mama have a brief conversation about Dee’s name change: “‘ What happened to Dee?’ I wanted to know’ ‘ She dead,’ Wangero said ‘ I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppressed me’.” This shows that Dee feels oppressed by the name she has because of the history it has. The history Dee believes it has is that white slave owners gave it to the slave so they had no culture and had common American names. This is why Dee believes that her history is more important and diverse than her mother believes it to be. Mama, the narrator, likes that Dee is attending college but doesn't like how she is expressing herself to the world. She believes that Dee should look at her recent history instead of her older African history. She believes this because of how Dee expresses herself to the world and how this shows that Dee thinks that Dee is better than everyone.
Throughout the story, Dee and her mother have disputes about their lineage and how they should use this lineage in their daily life. This is because Dee put down Mama and Maggie, her sister, because of her knowledge about her racial lineage. Mama believes that Dee was doing this because she would tell Mama and Maggie random stories they necessarily didn't want or need to know. This is shown in the text by when Mama says, “She washed us in a river of make-believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge we didn't necessarily need to know.” Dee did this to Maggie and mama because she wants to show that she was entitled because of education and knowledge.
Mama and Dee are similar in many ways, but the main way is that they are both strong-willed people. Mama is a strict and in-charge parent. Dee is stubbornly focused. When you put Mama and Dee together, arguments will ensue. This is shown by who gets the quilts in the short story “Everyday Use.” Mama ends up winning the argument and giving Maggie the quilts. This argument happened because Dee thought she was entitled to everything. She wants most of the house items so she could use them as centerpieces in her home at college. Mama and Maggie did not like this because most of the items were still in use by them. The thing that made the argument more heated was when Dee wanted the quilts so she could hang them up in her house. Mama explained that Maggie would get the quilts when she married and moved out. This angered Dee because she knew Maggie would put them to everyday use and they would be ruined.
Overall, Dee and Mama are two characters that have similar traits but express them differently than one another. Mama is a strong, independent, black woman of character who expresses herself in a kind and caring but in a strict way. Dee is also strong, but she expresses herself in an entitled and arrogant way. This is because she believes she is better than most people because of her education and knowledge.
