Why does Dee feel her name is oppressive? Does the story seem to
suggest that changing your name changes who you are? Why or why not? Please helpp!!!!

Answer :

Answer and explanation:

Everyday Use is a short story written by Alice Walker.  

The three main characters are Mama, Dee, and Maggie. Mama and Maggie are simple women, uneducated, bonded to tradition, hardworking, and happy with what they have. Dee, unlike them, felt the need to escape her origin. The first sign was when the fire caught the house they were living in, Mama saw in her eyes how much she hate it. When she was just a teenage girl, she paid attention to being stylish. Mama and the church collected money so that she can go to college. College brought an even bigger desire for a change, so she changed her name from Dee to Wangero, as she considered Dee being a slave name, though she got it from her aunt and the name was passed for generations. The story does not suggest that changing your name changes who you are. It suggests that though you can climb up the social ladder through education, good taste for clothes, etc, it is not always the answer in that. Dee always differed, with her lighter skin, self-confidence, beauty, and all, but she did not evolve as a person in a sense of kindness and understanding. She wants the quilts, so she can hang them on the wall and upgrade her new Wangero identity, while Maggie wants them, so she can continue the tradition of embroidery. She did not use the new pieces of knowledge she got to help Mama and Maggie to improve themselves, but to show them how she is above them. So, while Dee runs from her true identity and origin, she runs from her being a good daughter and sister and a kind human, as education does not provide that.

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