In the famous short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, Dee is perceived as an unsympathetic character. It is difficult for the reader to feel compassion for Dee since she possesses repulsive characteristics; she is equally controlling, manipulative and self-centered. Although "Everyday Use" gives a brief glimpse into the past, it is almost impossible for the reader to have a complete understanding of the truth about Dee's upbringing before the story. Ruth and Augustus Goetz's play The Heiress presents the journey of Catherine, a character who, in the final scene, shares similar characteristics with Dee; however, the audience witnesses Catherine's difficult upbringing and the traumatic events that unfold before the final scene. In The Heiress, the audience sees a change in Catherine, explaining why she has become a cold-hearted character. “Everyday Use” is equivalent to the last scene of The Heiress, with the significant difference that the reader does not get to experience Dee's journey. This comparison raises a question: Would the reader be more sympathetic toward Dee if they truly knew her past? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay It is obvious that Dee is the antagonist of Walker's "Everyday Use." Although the term "antagonist" does not necessarily describe the villain of a story, Dee is clearly a villain. In the opening paragraph, the character and narrator, Mama, is afraid of her daughter Dee, as she and her youngest daughter, Maggie, await Dee's arrival. According to Susan Ferrell in her article "Fight Vs. Flight: A Reassessment of Dee in Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," "Dee inspires in Mama a type of awe and fear more appropriate to the advent of a goddess than the love one would expect from a mother for a returning daughter. » (Ferrell). After returning from college, Dee dresses in clothes that are strictly her own style, completely different from the clothes of her sister and mother. Dee says the orchids in the house are “sticky flowers,” and Mom simply imagines a time when Dee would pin an orchid to her shirt (Walker 78). Since leaving home, Dee has even changed her name to Wangero, saying, "'I could no longer bear to bear the name of the people who oppressed me'" (Walker 81). And on her visit home, Dee brought with her a boyfriend who says that farming and raising cattle is not "her style" (Walker 82). Although Dee has changed her appearance and lifestyle to escape her heritage, she also practices manipulation and authority. tactics to get what she wants. “She would always look anyone in the eye. Hesitation was not part of her nature," Mama said, and Maggie thinks that Dee "always held life in the palm of one hand, that 'no' is a word the world never learned to tell him” (Walker 78). . With an overly dramatic level of appreciation for the house, Dee attempts to manipulate her mother into giving her a family heirloom to take with her to town. She arrives with a Polaroid camera and “never takes a picture without making sure the house is included” (Walker 81). As she sits at the table, she exclaims how delicious the food is and that she never knew how "beautiful" the benches were and that she could "smell the rump prints " above. All this before saying, “'I knew there was something I wanted to ask you if I could have it'” (Walker 82). In Catherine's final scene from The Heiress, she shares similar characteristics with Dee. Morris arrived atCatherine, in the house inherited from her deceased father. Catherine is very manipulative in agreeing to marry Morris again and, after his attempt to kiss him, she says, "Not now, Morris, later." If we start kissing, we will never make it to the rectory” (Goetz 87-88). While Morris gathers some of his household belongings before running away, Catherine exercises authority similar to that of Dee by closing the curtains on all the windows and ordering her maid to lock the front door. As she goes up the stairs, Morris knocks on the door, calling for Catherine, but she does not look back. Based solely on the final scene of The Heiress, it would be difficult for the audience to sympathize with Catherine. Instead, the audience applauds Catherine because they experienced her journey. At the start of Act II, Catherine agrees to marry Morris, the first man to court Catherine, a woman who is not described as beautiful. The evening of their escape, Catherine impatiently waits for Morris on the ground floor of her father's house with her packed bags; however, Morris never returns home to look for her, and she never sees him again until the final scene two years later. Catherine's view of love was previously distorted by her relationship with her father. Catherine's mother died giving birth to her. Her father continually spoke of how Catherine's mother had such "grace" and "joyfulness" and how she was "a pleasure to look at and be around." Instead of loving Catherine as his daughter, her father says, “I have focused my whole life on seeing her approach the perfection of her mother” (Goetz 19). After experiencing this painful journey with Catherine, the audience can easily see the reasons for her malicious actions in the final scene. By considering the contextual clues, it is possible to draw reasonable conclusions from Dee's unwritten past that would bring her more sympathy. character. It is important to remember that "Everyday Use" is told through Mom's eyes: "perceptions are filtered through her mind and her opinions about her two daughters are not to be accepted without reservation" (Farrell). The way Mama describes Dee may not be entirely true, since the narrator is also a biased character in the story: "Mama's expectations of Dee tell us more about Mama herself- same as on Dee” (Farrell). It's clear that Dee has always been different from her family. She was intelligent, outgoing, and “at sixteen she had her own style: and knew what style was” (Walker 79). It is reasonable to imagine that Dee felt stifled by her family and was punished for being different. In a family with such strong roots, Dee was probably never encouraged to dream big or pursue anything outside of her small town. These are plausible reasons that would cause Dee to adopt the villainous characteristics that the reader sees in "Everyday Use." At the end of the story, Dee says to her little sister, “'You should try to make something of yourself too, Maggie. It's a new day for us. But the way you and Mom still live, you’ll never know” (Walker 84). What if the story could have been told from Dee's perspective over several years, with "Everyday Use" as the final scene? Would the reader think of her differently? Although the reader may not sympathize with the Dee presented in the short story, he or she may be able to sympathize with her past. Comparison of Dee and Maggie in Everyday Use by Alice WalkerIn Everyday Use by Alice Walker, sisters Dee and Maggie can no longer disagree. Although their slight differences andsimilarities are obvious to the reader, they become clearer when the mother sees them. More features can be seen for him when his mother shows him. The mother is very good at noticing the different qualities of her daughters, especially those she doesn't know about. Dee is a very positive and optimistic girl – about herself. Confident and sure of himself, he has no doubts about himself and his life. He thinks he knows who he is, he knows what he wants, and he is willing to achieve those things by any means possible. Mom said Dee had always clung to life, that "no" was a word the world had never taught her to say. “Maggie, on the other hand, is very insecure. She spends most of her time preparing for Dee's visit and finding out what Dee might think of her. Even though she is young, which her mother always reminds her, her lack of self-confidence made her seem younger. During the conflict. quilting, Mom realizes that Maggie is more than ready to let go of the quilt knowing she will lose the fight with Dee. Although it was clear that Dee and Maggie loved each other, even on a deep level, there was still a lot of tension between the two. The mother is the first to show tension. Dee is disappointed in Maggie when Mom admits that she thought Dee really hated her sister. Even though they lived in the same house during their childhood, the two sisters live in different worlds. Educated and worldly, Dee is always disappointed, childish and mean towards Maggie. Likewise, Maggie is nervous about Dee and for many of the same reasons. Maggie is also bothered by the physical damage she suffered when her house caught fire despite Dee leaving the house on time. Maggie is always compared to her sisters and only gets nervous when Dee is around. Perhaps the only person Dee respects is herself, while Maggie respects others, especially her own family – a trait that surprises Mom towards the end of the novella. Since Dee spends most of the story reclaiming her mother's family heirloom, she becomes stubborn about Mama Maggie's promised cover. Maggie would put them to sleep and in five years they would be in tatters. Less than that! "Dee believes that only she can truly live up to her legacy, even if she only thinks about it. Maggie, on the other hand, has no problem stringing her sister along. She selfishly gives up. This act of kindness, what her mother saw it as a sign that Maggie would be more grateful for her inheritance rather than Dee, changed Mom's perception of her two daughters, eventually realizing that Dee was selfish and Maggie was selfless both Dee and Maggie spendthrifts. most of their stories getting someone's approval Dee tries to get Mom's approval by showing how educated and loving she is towards her heritage, while Maggie tries to be admired. by her sister. Finally, Mama Dee's sympathy was even less than before, and Maggie got approval, but from Mama "When I looked at it, something hit my head and went down into my eyes. stairs." Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Despite the fact that Dee and Maggie grew up together, they ended up growing up as two very different people. Both took their qualities for what they were and didn't think about them. On the contrary, Mom recognized these qualities as if they were the most obvious aspects. Thanks to this, and the incident with the blanket, mom was able to get a complete picture of her daughter and finally see who she really is. Works cited: Bakardjieva, M. (2019). Selfies, image and body redesign. In, 113(1), 1-38.