Dee Johnson
superficially searches for her
African heritage. In by , the author suggests Dees search for
her heritage
is artificial. Despite her education, Dee has no appreciation of her true
inheritance.
Throughout her life, Dee was the pretty and intelligent
Johnson
girl. Her attitude toward her sister and mother was negative. To
Dee, her home and her family
were an embarrassment. When her house burned,
Dee stood and watched rather than show concern for
her sister Maggie who was
severely injured.
While she lived at home, Dee
would read
to her mother and sister, but not for their enjoyment but to make them feel
her
superiority. Mamas church provides the money for Dees education which
she appears not to really
appreciate. During and after her time in college,
Dee never visited her home because she was
ashamed of her family.
The story centers on Dees return visit. Both her
mother and sister
anticipate her coming by sitting out on the lawn awaiting her arrival. The
visit is nothing like what her mother had hoped for in her dreams. Dee has changed her
name to
Wangero, a black muslin name. Everything about her is shiny and yet
unreal. She tells her mother
that Dee is dead, despite the fact that she was
named after her grandmother. Naturally, Dee has
ulterior motives for her
visit.
Oh, Mama, she cried.
I never
knew how lovely these benches are. You can feel the rump prints, she said€¦Then
she
gave a sigh and her hand closed over Grandmas Dee butter dish. Thats it.
I knew there was
something I wanted to ask you if I could have.
Dee has always wanted
something. With no regard for her mother,
Dee wants to take things that have
come from her relatives. Lacking in respect and with no
genuine
understanding of the importance of the things that her mother has saved, Dee places
no
value on her mothers things as a part of her family legacy. Dee wants what
she wants and that is
to decorate her house with the black heritage items so
that it will be
fashionable.
When Dee rummages through
her mothers trunk, her attitude
shines through. When she left for school, her
mother offered her a quilt which Dee refused. Now
she wants to take the
quilts that were handmade by her grandmother and mother.
They are important to Maggie and her mother because they understand that the
cloth came
from clothes of their loved ones all the way back to the civil
war. In addition, the
grandmother who made the quilt was the one for which
Dee was unnamed. Dee just wants to hang
the quilts on the wall.
For the first time, her mother refuses her
something. Mama tells
her that she promised the quilts to Maggie. Shocked, Dee is immediately
antagonistic.
Maggie cant appreciate these quilts!
she
said. Shed probably be backward enough to put them to everyday
use.
Dee is so incensed that her
mother will not give into her that she
decides to leave. Ironically, she
tells her family that they do not understand their heritage.
She tells her
sister that she ought to try to do something with her life.
Then, she gets in the car and leaves. In her selfishness, Dee has shown
herself to
completely lack in respect and consideration for her mother or
sister. Her actions and gestures
indicate that her only reason for coming
home was to take things with no thought of the hurt
that she might
inflict.
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