To Forget Where You Came From”, using Psychoanalytic Theory to analyze “Dee” in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”

Alice Walker’s piece depicts a nontraditional family who struggles to exist in their own image. In this piece, the mother gives her readers an account of their struggle to survive as a family. When analyzing the story so as to gain a better understanding of the characters it was obvious that these characters are all dealing with issues identified by psychoanalytic theory. In this piece however, Dee’s character issues will be analyzed and we will establish how she indirectly affect her family members.

Dee appears to be struggling with an insecure sense of self a core issue described in Tyson's piece. We see her as a very confused person who does not know her true self and is somewhat in search of it. In the story Dee is described as the privileged one as opposed to her sister, Maggie, who neither had equal opportunities like her sister did nor was as nearly as beautiful. Dee’s mother as we were told was poor but like every other mother she found a way to ensure Dee’s success. Living away from her family, Dee eventually changes her name to "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo”, claiming that Dee is “dead” (Walker, 278). She continues, “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me” (Walker, 278). It is quite evident that she hates or heritage or is ashamed of it. Therefore when visiting her family who is responsible for her path to success, she presents herself in a completely new image, one that is distant from her true and real heritage.

Dee can also be described as having a fear if intimacy. This is due to the mere fact that she stays away from her family. We also see this when she arrives at home, her fiancé openly and warmly attempts to greet her family while Dee coldly brushes them off and insults them with her new, foreign name. She does not hug them, shake their hands or simple kiss them. Indeed, Dee fears something deep within herself, one that she is afraid to let out.

Despite all that is happening, Dee deals with her issues by building up her own defenses. She tend to be in denial, for she wants to believe that she was not once poor and that her mother had not bend her back backwards so as to give her the life she now proudly shows off. Hence, Dee avoids visiting her family because of those memories left behind, including the house fire. In an attempt to displace her own experiences, Dee, is negative towards her heritage, her mother and her sister.

Dee’s issues obviously affect others around her. Her sister Maggie, who also has a sense of insecurity and Dee, is somewhat responsible for this. This is traced back to the house fire that occurred decades ago which is responsible for the bodily burns she now wears. Due to this, Maggie is jealous of her sister, as her mother states, “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes” (Walker, 274).  Maggie’s feelings stem deeper from just her appearance, it is believed that she is insecure about who she is because of the way her sister treats her less than a person. Dee constantly shuns her sister and talks down to both her sister and mother even if she is aware that they do not understand what she speaks of.

Dee’s character also impacts her mother causing her to develop a fear of abandonment. Although her daughter is supposed to be getting married, Mama still hopes for long term attachment to her daughter. It is as though she fears that Maggie cannot survive beyond their enclosed world. But can we blame her, when the only daughter she has helped to become who she is today has completely turned her backs on them. There is also the tendency that mama is avoiding the readers by failing to express her true feelings. She is hereby telling us about her children’s issues but yet she does not let us in to her soul, so that we can sympathize with her. It is as though she too is ashamed of who her daughter has now become and it appears as though she may have regretted how she unfairly raised her daughters.

               

Psychoanalytic Theory in "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Ernest hemingway

In “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” by Ernest Hemingway, we are greeted by characters who encounter several core issues according to the Psychoanalytic theory. As a result, these characters put up defenses when faced with these issues. The two main characters to be analyzed are Francis Macomber and wife Margaret Macomber.

            Mr. Macomber is dealing with the issue of insecure sense of self. This is evident in his lack of confidence and the way he allows others to take control of him especially his wife. We also see the way Mr. Macomber gains instant gratification after shooting the buffalo; this is to show that he is finally becoming the person he aspires to be. Mr. Macomber is also dealing with a fear of abandonment for it is indicated in the story that he thinks that his wife will never leave him because of his wealth. Likewise, he claims that he can never leave her because of her beauty. We see how insecure he became after waking up during the night and not finding his wife next to him, only to find out that she was having an affair. It is also indicated that his wife has cheated several times prior to the trip which was supposed to rekindle their relationship The fact that he never leaved her proves that he has a fear of abandonment

All these issues contribute to his apparent low self-esteem and state of denial. His low self-esteem is especially evident throughout the hunt where he habitually runs away from the lion as though he was running away from his self. This also symbolizes his wife’s dominancy over him. His denial state is established by the fact that he hoped that the trip will fix his marital issues. It is as though he is trying to forget his wife’s past affairs yet here he is, reliving yet another one.

Mrs. Macomber as we see also deals with a fear of abandonment. She too fears her husband leaving her despite the very things she do to somewhat trigger it. Since her husband’s wealth is the only attachment she has to this marriage, she constantly reminds us that this is what she fears to lose most.

Mrs. Macomber avoids dealing with her marital issues through her infidelities. It is as though she seeks satisfaction outside her marriage because these men somewhat represent the husband she wants to have but does not. This is evident towards the beginning of the story where she removes herself from the table because she was embarrassed for her husband’s lack of bravery. She also displaces some of her own negative feelings onto her husband by being extremely condescending and demanding. She deals with his incompetency by kissing another man in front of him and slipping out of their bed during the middle of the night.

Using Concepts from Psychoanalytic Theory to interpret literature

When applying Psychoanalytic Theory to “Everyday Use”, it is quite evident that most of the characters display some form of dysfunctional behavior. According to the author, everyone experience events that alter our emotions. Most times, we tend to deal with these experiences by repressing them so that we avoid dealing with these problems.

 In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”, we see two sisters possessing some of the core issues as described by the Psychoanalytic Theory. Dee, who changes her name to “Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo”, can be described as having an insecure or unstable sense of self.  It is evident that Dee or Wangero hates her heritage or maybe is ashamed of it. Therefore, when visiting her family, who is responsible for her path to success; she presents herself with a completely new image, one that is distant from her real and true heritage. She is dressed in loud colors with earrings dangling down to her chest, an image not even her mother could have recognized. The fact that she also changes her name shows that she has a problem finding her true self. Dee asks her mother for her churn and quilt but yet this is the same Dee, who before told her mother that she changed her name because she didn’t want to be associated with the people who oppressed her, the same people who made these items.

Maggie, on the other hand, possesses a very low self-esteem. This is traced back to the house fire that occurred decades ago which is responsible for the bodily burns she now wears. Maggie is obviously jealous of her sister as described by her mother who says that Maggie will continue to be nervous until her sister leaves. She hides in corners hopelessly for she is ashamed of her scars. But can we really blame her for being this way when her sister shuns them and shows off a knowledge they didn’t comprehend?

Dee deals with these issues by building up her own defenses. She tend to be in denial, for she wants to believe that she was not once poor and that her mother did not bend her back backwards to give her the life she now has. Hence, Dee avoids visiting her family because of those memories left behind, including the house fire. In an attempt to displace her own experiences, Dee, is negative towards her heritage, her mother and her sister. She believes that her sister is incapable of appreciating the quilt claiming that they know nothing about it.