The character Dee walker,alice everyday use Essay

The character Dee walker,alice everyday use - Essay Example She is the successful daughter, â€Å"the child who has made it† (Walker, Para. 3) and carved a place for herself in the outside world. Her style of dress, in striking shades of yellow and orange, ethnic jewelry and hairstyle all deliberately accentuate her African heritage and call out loudly for attention. They constitute her apparently defiant statement of identity. Dee’s use of the Swahili style of greeting, â€Å"Wasuzo-Teano† (Walker, Para. 21), and her adoption of the name, â€Å"Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo† are also meant to reinforce her assertion of her roots. Dee’s veneer of pride in her heritage is like her â€Å"sunglasses which hid everything† (Walker, Para. 82). A deeper study of Dee’s personality reveals that she has actually rejected her roots. â€Å"She had hated† (Walker, Para. 10) her childhood home. Her attitude towards her mother and sister is marked by criticism and condescension. Dee takes pictures of them as if they were curiosities and includes the house and the cow, but not herself. She does not see herself as a part of their world. Her change of name is again a rejection of her lineage. The name Dee, which has passed down to her through generations of her family, is more a genuine part of her heritage than the affected African name she has adopted. Her rejection of her past is irrevocably made by her statement about the old Dee: â€Å"She’s dead† (Walker, Para. 27). Dee covets the churner top and dasher, not as treasured parts of her past life, but as pretentious artistic curios to be flaunted as exotic ornaments. Likewise, her estimation of the quilts, â€Å"they’re priceless!† (Walker, Para. 52) is not based on the value of her love for the grandmother and the aunt who made them, but on their considerable monetary value as antiques, which will make a striking fashion statement. Dee does not know who made the dasher, nor does she know how to quilt. Unlike her sister Maggie, who will use