The Short Story by Alice Walker
The short story by Alice Walker describes a narration in which a mother lives with two of her daughters. It is apparent, however, that the persona likes the younger of her children more. She thinks that Maggie deserves some of her goods as opposed to the elder Dee. A huge commotion thus results in the household which causes Dee to leave disappointed. Through her proud, insulting and egocentric nature, Dee becomes the primary character of the story and sets the staging of the story to conform to the author's perspective.
Dee's Behavior and Pride
The primary aspect of Lee's behavior from the depiction of her conduct is that she is full of pride and she likes her ethnicity. It is evident from the beginning that the characters are of black descent, but it appears that even though this feature is common, Dee is unique and proud of her skin. It is stated that "Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure" (Walker 1011). The implication is that despite the fact that both of them are of black descent, Dee is lighter and she is proud of the fact that she is more of a woman than her sisters. It appears that being light-skinned even though one is an African American brings with it some pride as the reader notes from the manner in which Dee behaves uncontrollably and sets the pace in most of the scenes.
Dee's Insulting Nature
The other critical aspect of Dee's character is the consideration that she is insulting in nature and could thus be assumed to be ill-mannered. The way the author presents Dee makes her assume a freaking nature once she saw the quilts that their mother had intended for Maggie. The author narrates the way Dee was showing hatred when she learned that her mother was adamant to comply with her requests. The author writes "I looked at her hard. She had filled her bottom lip with checkerberry snuff, and it gave her face a kind of dopey, hangdog look" (Walker 1014). The impression from the statement is that Dee was furious and her face said it all because she felt she had been offended.
Dee's Egocentric Nature
The last aspect of analysis in the explication of Lee's behavior is that it can be concluded that she is egocentric and selfish and only mindful of her interests. It is unfortunate that Dee is not considerate of others because does not appreciate Maggie for being the younger daughter. Instead, it appears she wants everything in her favor. Her selfish nature becomes evident when she mentioned, "Maggie would put them on the bed an in five years they'd be in ragged. Less than that" (Walker 1014). It thus implies that Maggie egocentric nature was so profound that she thought she would make better use of the quilts than her sister.
Conclusion
In summary, out of the two daughters, Dee is evidently more selfish, insulting, and proud character who disagrees with her family members because of her extreme standards. She is not mindful of her sister's interests and does not approve her mother's wishes and shouts at her and thus appears to be disrespectful. Nevertheless, she is proud of her sin even though it seems she takes advantage of the fact that she is lighter than her sister to exploit her. The overall impression that the reader gets from the author's description of the various character is that Dee's unique personality makes her distinctive. The character thus sets the pace of most of the scenes in the short story.
Work Cited
Walker, Alice. Everyday Use. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1994. Print.
