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Beloved mother and daughter relationships
Writing- relationship between mother and daughter
Beloved mother and daughter relationships
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To define the relationship between the mother and Dee it is necessary to understand that they had a lot of problems .An example of this is Dee changing her name and telling her mom that Dee was dead .An example of this is when dee said ,“She’s dead” Wangero said. In regard to these problems I believe kids should respect the name that their parents give theme because it could means something really big for the parents .Another way that Dee show discrimination was when she asked her mom for the quilts but her mom said no because she promise she will give theme to Maggie when she married .After talking trying to convince her by saying that maggie will not take care of the quilts .And the end of the conversation she made her mom feel bad when
In the beginning of the story, Dee (Wangero) is introduced as someone that needs to be impressed. The narrator has a fantasy about being reunited with Dee (Wangero) (393). She is described as being beautiful and a wonderful daughter with many good qualities. Besides being beautiful, she is confident. Instead of feeling suppressed because of the color of her skin, she is able to look people in the eye (394). Dee (Wangero) is also educated and the way she talks shows it. She is also opinionated and her family is intimidated by it. Dee’s (Wangero’s) qualities are overall good qualities to have, but I feel like she uses them to act better than her family. The fact that she had changed her name to Wangero (397) and demanded the quilts while she was visiting made me feel that she was superficial. She did not even want the quilts when they were first offered to her before she went to college (400). I do not think it is right to change your family name and then come home and request family heirlooms. Dee (Wangero) always seems to get wha...
She showed favoritism to Dee a lot more than she should have. Dee always had things handed down to her and never did she once show a bit of appreciation; instead, we see what is most important to her, what motivates her that way, and how she changes through it all. Dee did not live with her family that much growing up. When she became of age Mama was able to send her away, so she could get a real education. I believe this gave Dee a push in the direction where she ended up.
In the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, Dee becomes angry with her mother because she won’t allow Dee to take quilts that she had already promised she would give to Maggie. I do not believe this feeling is justified one bit. The mother sent Dee to a school in Augusta for her to be happy since their house burnt to the ground, that must have been expensive; when Dee comes to visit is seems as if she has changed. Dee seems to be very unappreciative. Mama tells Dee that she has already promised Maggie they could be hers then asks “Why don’t you take one or two of the others?”(Walker160). Dee blows up on the narrator. She could have just told Dee that she could not have any quilts at all and also, Dee did not give a good enough reason for her to have the quilts instead of
From a young age, Dee felt a detachment from her heritage. After her old house, and her sister Maggie, who she stoically watched burn from a fire. Mama even suspects that Dee burned their house and Maggie too, “She had hated the house that much” (Walker 25). Dee agrees when Mama sent her to Augusta to school. She wants to be a college student because she considers herself superior to those around her—she deserved a higher level of life, “She was determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts. Her eyelids would not flicker for minutes at a time” (Walker 25-26). Upon Dee’s return to visit Mama and Maggie, Mama
Walker shows that in mother and daughter relationships adaptation to change can be hard in a variety of ways. First, Dee, Mother's oldest daughter, comes home to visit her mother and little sister Maggie. When she shows up, she introduces herself as "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo" (416). Her mother is confused about why she wants to change her name, since it was the one that was passed down. Dee explains that the other name did not suit her. Now even though Mother reluctantly goes along with this new name, it is obvious that she is not used to changing names, especially if it is one of great family importance. Another character that that has a hard time changing along with Mother is Maggie. When Mother sent Dee to a good school where she could get a very good education, Dee used to come back and try to teach her lowly, uneducated family members. Maggie and her Mother were not used to this, and they were happy with the education that they had. Instead, Dee "read to us without pity; forcing words, lies other folks' habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice" (413) and tried t...
A discussion at first, Dee`s recreation of herself when she gets back from school. Her ways have changed dramatically from going from an ordinary girl to a walking billboard for African American appreciation. By doing this Dee had gone overboard; she never understood the story behind things, she just supported anything without any background or education on the specific outlook of her own background and heritage. By deconstructing Dee`s character we find how unreal and fake she is toward her family, all she cares about are others thoughts to her. The transformation Dee goes though is not a respectable one, she becomes disrespectful to her family because everything she wants, she doesn’t understand the rightful meaning of those pieces she wants in her house. Maggie realized that she really is going to be strong and optimistic for the future, she knows that she is treasured by Mama and forms a bond with her after Dee`s visit. Mama opens her eyes to reality with Dee she knows who is the real daughter now because of how much negativity Dee brought to the family Maggie was the pleasant
...ster and then returns after bettering herself. Mama and Maggie are obviously somewhat jealous of Dee's life. Dee is misunderstood as a selfish, bratty, unappreciative daughter. Maggie is misunderstood as being this sweet, shy, perfect child. Both of the sisters are very misunderstood, but Dee is definitely the most understood of the two. Dee deserves a lot more credit than she receives in this story.
Dee is shallow and manipulative. Not only does her education separate her from her family identity and heritage, it prevents her from bonding with her mother and sister. If Dee could only push her arrogance aside, she would be able to develop a deep connection with her family. While connecting with her family, Dee would also develop a deeper understanding of her heritage. Maggie and Mama did not give in to the “whim of an outside world that doesn’t really have much to do with them” (Farrell par.1). In the attempt to “fit” in, Dee has become self-centered, and demanding with her very own family; to the extent of intimidation, and
It is what a true mother-daughter bond is supposed to be like. When Dee and the mom were arguing over the quilts the narrator said “like somebody used to never winning anything, or having reserved for her,” which is something that mama has a favorite daughter and she lets Dee have whatever she wants without letting Maggie have anything. It seems like mama wants Dee to be happy when she comes down so she will want to come home. Mama even was going to call her by her new name instead of not going to she tried to because it comes off as Dee is her favorite daughter which is why their mother-daughter relationship is different from Maggie 's and mama’s relationship. Even when Dee took what she wanted like when she just went through mama’s things without asking her. That 's something that only a favorite daughter or someone with a very good mother-daughter relationship would do.
The main conflict in Walker’s Everyday Use revolves around the mother of the two girls and her need to make a choice in how she treats her daughters. The girls are very different from one another, differing not only in appearance and education, but also in their views of their family, the heirlooms, and the quilts. As we read Everyday Use, we as the reader are encouraged to the side of either Maggie or Dee. Does Dee truly know the meaning and have the capability to appreciate the family heirloom? Or is it Maggie who possesses this appreciation, despite her lack of education? Dee returns home having changed her name to show appreciation of her African roots. She claims ‘Dee’ is a tribute to those who have oppress her and her family. When her mother explains that Dee was named after her aunt, grandmother and great grandmother (the women who have created the quilts and many of the other family heirlooms), Dee fails to
Another reason I had feelings of anger for the character Dee, was that she was uneducated. Not the usual education, such as in college, because she had that, but the education of her heritage, or past. The second statement to her mother was when her mother says "Dee", Dee replied saying her new name Wangero, followed by the statement that Dee is dead and that she could no longer bear the name of the people that oppress her. At no point during the story was Dee oppressed or even mentioned being oppressed in the past. Then she tries to track back where her name came from, to show her mother it was a slave name or something along those lines. Her mother tracked it back as far as she could remember and no such thing was pointed out. To move on to another situation where Dee made herself look foolish and uneducated is, when they are leaving, she tells her mother that she just doesn't understand.
The culture difference is finally revealed. Dee is much more outgoing and modern. It was quite evident that Dee was not the same Dee anymore. Though the readers do not know what Dee was like before, Mama explains it will. She recalls an instance when Dee used to be cultured and conservative. “She used to read to us without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks ' habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice” (424). This quote simply implies that Dee wanted to be the best, even when she spending time with her family. Now returning from college, all she cares is materialistic things. For example, Mama recalls how Dee always wanted nice and different things. “Dee wanted nice things. 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…” (425). Now that she is educated and does not live with her family, she has “grown up.” Even more and wants to be stylish and show off her heritage. She has become more womanly and selfish at the same time. Even her attitude has changed. Mama continues her recall thinking about Dee’s new attributes. “She was determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts. Her eyelids would not flicker for minutes at a time. Often I fought off the temptation to shake her. At sixteen she had a style of her own: and knew what style was” (425). Clearly, Mama was annoyed with Dee’s new
The films The Joy Luck Club (Wang, 1993) and The Story of Mothers and Daughters (Weimberg, 2010) portray various types of the mother daughter relationship. Through these mother and daughter relationships, both films focus on the tension and love in the older years of the daughters lives’ but The Story of Mothers and Daughters focus on the all of the stages of life.
She tries to force "other folkways habits" on Mrs. Johnson and Maggie. In the story, you see how mama narrates that she pressed them in the serious way she reads, only to shove them away at the moment they seemed about to understand(10). Dee acts superior to her mom and Maggie and also treats them like dimwits because of their illiteracy. I think its best that one is intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy because they are different. In the story, Mrs. Johnson and Maggie are not portrayed as ignorant people, but illiterates who do not have the kind or experience Dee has.
One of the main reasons why there is conflict between Mama and Dee is because they see things differently. Mama thinks her way of life living on the farm is a day-to-day life, and is necessary to survive. Dee sees her Mama’s farm life as rural and prehistoric. Because Dee has an education, she thinks she has more of an advantage to succeed in life unlike her mother and sister. “Most critics see Dee 's education and her insistence on reading to Mama and Maggie as further evidence of her separation from and lack of understanding for her family identity and heritage” (Farrell). Mama is somewhat jealous of her daughter because Dee has an education, and has the chance to be successful in life while she has to work hard every day on the farm. Even though Mama is jealous of Dee, she still wants to get along with her daughter. In the beginning of the short story, Mama has a dream about her and Dee appearing on a TV show to talk about how the feel and to resolve their differences. Mamma day dreams “Sometimes I dream a dream in which Dee and I are suddenly brought together on a TV program of this sort” (Walker 1). Another developing conflict between the two is about the churn top. Dee wants to use the churn top as table, but Mama wants to use it to churn food. Dee states “‘This churn top is what I need,’ she said” (Walker 5). Another disagreement that comes up in the story, is