Never Forget Where You Came From: Using Psychoanalytic Theory to analyze “Dee” in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”

Every day in our lives, we meet that one person who is now a success but was extremely poor while growing up. Most of these people however share their success stories as an inspiration to others, rarely do you ever hear them put down their upbringings. The few who do put down the way they were raised are usually ashamed of it and avoid revisiting such moments in their lives. Usually they are not aware of the impact it have on others, especially their immediate family members. Little do they realize that where you have been and those who surrounded you have helped to mold you into the person you are today. We see this in Dee’s character in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”. Dee was able to obtain a college education despite their lack of wealth and is now a successful individual; one of the few who have forgotten where she came from. Therefore, in this piece, using psychoanalytic theories and approaches we will establish the reasons for and why Dee avoids her past life and how does her decisions reflect on others.

Dee was born to a single mother of two. Her mother never had the opportunity to be educated beyond the second grade, but was able to help raise enough money to send Dee off to “Augusta to school” (Walker 276). Dee appears to have limited contact with her family. On several occasions, she writes them, as the narrator explained, “she wrote me once that no matter where we “choose” to live, she will manage to come see us. But she will never bring her friends” (Walker 276). This shows that Dee is indeed ashamed of her past life; the life that made her the person she is today. Dee therefore uses the defense of avoidance to help her cope with these issues for according to Tyson, “we are practicing avoidance when we stay away from people, places, or situations that might stir up repressed experiences” (26). In this case, we were told that Dee never liked her living conditions while growing up, according to the narrator, “Dee wanted nice things” (Walker 276). Mama tends to have always given Dee everything she ever wanted. She was always the opportune one and so it is extremely sad for the way she now treats her family who only had her best interests at heart.

As the story developed, we see Dee also developing an insecure sense of self. According to Tyson, this occurs when we are unsure of our true selves or, it occurs when we have difficulty establishing our personal identity. Dee is portrayed to be a very confused person who does not know her true self and is somewhat in search of it. Dee eventually changes her name which had strong family heritage to “Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo”. She claims, “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me” (Walker 278). She continues by reassuring them that Dee is “dead”. Therefore, we can infer that Dee changed her name to break ties to her heritage and to forget where she came from.

Psychoanalytic theory can also be used to establish Dee’s fear of intimacy issues. According to Tyson this it the “unshakeable and over powering feeling that emotional closeness will seriously damage or destroy us and that we must, therefore, protect ourselves by remaining at an emotional distance from others” (27). We see this in Dee due to the fact that she hardly visits her family. Also, when she does visit them, she coldly brushes them off and insults them with her new name and knowledge. She does not greet them either. Indeed, she fears something bigger and deeper within herself; one that she is afraid to let out. Some may ask how can you not love and care for you family especially when they paved your way to success? For Dee, it seems that success far away from her family is the best thing that could ever happen to her. She seems to have built up the defense of denial which she uses to deny her family a relationship with her.

Dee’s issues definitely affect others around her despite her carefree attitude. According to the narrator, “she used to read to us without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks’ habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice”, (Walker 276). We can definitely say that Dee is partly responsible for both her mother and sisters insecurity issues for the way she goes off on them. For example, Dee ask her mother for the quilt made by past on relatives, the same ones who she claimed oppresses her, when mama notes that she wants to give it to her sister, Dee bellows, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!...She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use” (Walker 280). She is hereby insulting her mother’s opinion and her sister’s sense of being by inferring that she somewhat lacks intelligence and common sense. She continues her charade after her visit by addressing her sister saying, “You ought to make something of yourself too, Maggie. It’s really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama live you’d never know it” (Walker 281). Again, she continues to insult them as though the life they live if not good enough so they ought to seek better. It is as though she tries to justify her reasons for wanting to forget where she came from.