Question

in the short story "everyday use" by Alice walker, how is the name Dee symbolic for the narrator?

Answer 1

Dee, ironically, is completely defined by the past she is trying to reject. ... Dee's name change is a great example of irony in this story. The reason that Dee gives for changing her name is that she doesn't want to go by her "slave name." She chooses an African name to better represents her family heritage

Answer 2

In the short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, the name Dee is symbolic for the narrator as it means the rejection of the past which the character Dee is trying to in the story.

In the story “Everyday Use” there are three main characters, a mother and her two daughters Maggie and Dee. Maggie has been raised in the surrounding of their culture and Dee, on the other hand, has grown up under the atmosphere of Western culture. The story begins with the scene in which the mother is waiting for the arrival of her daughter Dee. She feels terrified thinking about her elder daughter Maggie who would feel nervousness and self-consciousness during Dee's stay. She recalls the day when their house caught fire and how she had rescued Maggie. Maggie was badly burned in the fire. She feels terrified thinking about her elder daughter Maggie who would feel nervousness and self-consciousness during Dee's stay. Dee's education and exposure towards the English have made her distinct from her mother and sister. Only Dee spoke in standard English and not Maggie.