Independence

In Everyday Use by Alice Walker, Dee is a very independent woman. She removes herself from her family so she can have her own life, a life that is totally different from her mother and sister. She leads a life on her own and it is no problem for her. As a student in college, I now lead a life on my own and am responsible for my actions. I am responsible for waking up every morning for class on time, for doing my homework, for washing my clothes, and for making sure I have time to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All of these things, I was also responsible for before I even became a college student and started living on my own.

Growing up I have always tried to take responsibility for my actions and help my parents out by doing things for myself. The summer after freshman year I started to work. With all the money I saved up that year, I paid for myself to take a trip with my school to Rome, Italy. The next two summers I saved up money and put a down payment for a car. As I have continued to work, I pay for my car and car insurance every month. This is part of me becoming independent from my family.

Growing up Dee was like me. She began taking responsibility for her actions. She came up with her own sense of style at a young age. In the text, Dees’ mother says, “She was determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts” (page 3). I take this quote to mean that if anything was in the path of her goal, she leaped over it and kept going. Dee knew what she wanted and was headstrong on meeting her goal. But when she realized that her family could not help her further her life, so she took it into her own hands and moved out. She received an education and even changed her name.

I believe that I am very different from Dee though. I feel that Dee does not respect her family and their traditions. She changes her name because she is ashamed of her family. When her mother asks her what happened to her original name she says “she’s dead…I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after people who oppress me” (page 5). Dee also tries to take the quilt that her sister was promised when she got married. She feels that she deserves it because she will take better care of it even though her sister is the one who helped to make it. She even says “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts” (page 8). She does not have any care for her sister or her mother’s feelings. She tells Maggie that she “ought to try and make something of (herself)” (page 9).

Even though I am at school, I would never want to change my family name. I am proud of my name and my heritage. I still keep in touch with my family everyday and would never want to hurt them or forget about them. The only similarity I have with Dee is her sense of independence. Otherwise I am very close with my family and respect them, unlike Dee who changes her name and thinks they should change their ways.