Analysis of Dee

In Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use", Dee Johnson is portrayed in a unique way. Dee is a beautiful girl that left home to get an education and make something out of her life. The image of Dee that the reader gets in the beginning of the story is that she is a very shallow minded person who doesn't understand the importance of where she came from. Throughout the story Dee remains a flat character who is constantly being selfish and haughty. For the most part, Dee believes that she is better than her mother and sister because she moved off and escaped from poverty.

Dee exploited her heritage as a materialistic object, as evidenced by her selfish behavior throughout the story. As a child, she always demanded "nice things". For example, "A yellow organdy dress to wear to her graduation from high school; black pumps to match a green suit she'd made from an old suit somebody gave me. At sixteen she had a style of her own: and knew what style was." (Walker, 445)

Dee continued her education, which symbolizes her outreach to society, and wanting to be known. She attempts to reconnect with her heritage when she comes to visit. When Dee arrived home, she was described as wearing a dress down to the ground, wearing earrings that hung down to her shoulders and dangling bracelets. Dee even asked to be address by a Swahili name known as Wangero. When her mother addressed her by the name "Dee", she replied by making the statement that Dee is dead and that she could no longer bear the name of