Everyday Use Heritage Analysis

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To Finally Feel Pride For some, pride is easy to find. Pride in community. Pride in talent. Pride in heritage. But for people like Dee in “Everyday Use,” it is an elusive concept. In this story by Alice Walker, Dee comes home when she is finally proud of her heritage and is again discouraged when it fails to meet with her family’s concept of ancestry. Dee’s childhood evoked embarrassment. Society deemed African Americans inferior, so Dee was never able to to find worth in her heritage, which is turned around when society starts to encourage black rights. However, Dee’s family is less enthusiastic about this new idea of heritage. “Everyday Use” shows how much Dee is embarrassed of her true heritage, thus creating an insecurity. Dee’s heritage includes her family, culture, and possessions. When the narrator, Mama, begins, she briefly describes Maggie, then continually describes Dee’s wishes rather than Dee, herself. Dee would like Mama to be thin and witty, two things Mama is not. From the beginning, Dee is already ashamed of something she cannot control. Being African…show more content…
In Wangero’s mind, everything is now perfect. She can be proud of her heritage and is receiving family heirlooms to exhibit. Her insecurity about her heritage can finally go to rest. However, Mama and Maggie do not feel the same. Mama’s idea of heritage is living by heritage, not bringing it out only when needed to show off. As a result Mama tells Dee she can only take a machine stitched quilt. Now Dee is back to where she started. Her heritage is nothing she can show off, only pretended to have memories. Then Dee kissed Maggie to encourage her to follow in her footsteps. To be proud of her heritage the way Dee is proud and to show off that pride. Then Dee storms out and leaves. She did not receive what she came to get. There is nothing about her heritage to

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