The Character of Dee in the Short Story Everyday Use by Alice Walker Essay Example

more educated and superior she is. When Dee insisted on taking the quilts made by her mother and grandmother, which was promised to be given to Maggie, she argued that Maggie "can't appreciate these quilts" because she is "backward" and will put them to "everyday use". Her condescending tone reveals that she believes that Maggie is inferior and cannot understand the importance of preserving the quilts due to her lack of knowledge.

Before Dee left, she told Maggie "you ought to try to make something of yourself, too," implying that she believes Maggie is an unsuccessful and useless being. She also hinted that Maggie and her mother will never know anything about the world if they continue living like that. Dee's harsh words suggests that she knows that she is more superior to her family after being educated. The employment of the character's condescending attitude towards her family and the way she treats and views her family characterizes Dee as an insensitive person who rejected her own culture and family from the start and transformed into a new person to dissociate herself from her true heritage.