A Raisin in the Sun and Everyday Use have similar plots and characters. Beneatha, a persistent young woman who is determined to become a doctor regardless of society's beliefs, is very similar to Dee, a young woman who is trying to make something out of her self while also growing closer to her cultural history and ethnic traditions. A symbol, according to Merriam Webster Dictionary, is "something used for or regarded as representing something else". In Everyday Use, Dee's stylistic and identifying attributes symbolize her outgoing personality as well as the strong understanding she has of her cultural background and ethnicity. When Dee first arrives at the house, the narrator immediately notices her curly, natural hair, which "...stands straight up like the wool on a …show more content…
Dee has an extensive understanding of her culture, which she portrays through her appearance. By styling her hair in its natural state, it is clear that she takes pride in her heritage and embraces all parts of her ethnicity, which is further represented when she chooses to change her name to "Wangero", a traditional African name. However, in her attempt to achieve this cultural ideal, she neglects her family heritage, which appears to be less relevant to her than the overarching, broader concept of the traditional African lifestyle. The name Dee, which is carried through generations, is influenced by white society and has no significance in African culture. Dee decides to change her name because, as a woman of color, she believes that she must reflect the part of her culture unaffected by white society. Dee understands more about her family history than most, which is why she feels the need to prove her knowledge to the world through changing her identity to look the part. Dee is portrayed as a very outgoing character in this short story, which her clothing helps to symbolize. Her dress, as the narrator describes, is "...so loud it hurt my eyes. There are yellows and oranges enough to throw
Dee thinks highly of herself because she is academically educated while her mother and sister are not. She flaunts her fortune at her own mother who, along with the church, saves enough money to send Dee to school. She does not even appreciate the sacrifices her mother makes for her on a daily basis. Dee, through a letter, commits to visit Mama and Maggie no matter the rickety accommodations they decide to dwell in (Walker 72). One day when Dee visits her family, Mama and Maggie are shocked to see a stranger exit the vehicle; she is wearing a dress long down to her feet, extravagant gold earrings, and bracelets that makes noise when her arm moves. Her hair is done in an afro with two pigtails wrapped behind her ears (Walker 72). The person they know to be Dee changes her appearance significantly; she even speaks and interacts differently.
In the beginning of the story, Dee (Wangero) is introduced as someone that needs to be impressed. The narrator has a fantasy about being reunited with Dee (Wangero) (393). She is described as being beautiful and a wonderful daughter with many good qualities. Besides being beautiful, she is confident. Instead of feeling suppressed because of the color of her skin, she is able to look people in the eye (394). Dee (Wangero) is also educated and the way she talks shows it. She is also opinionated and her family is intimidated by it. Dee’s (Wangero’s) qualities are overall good qualities to have, but I feel like she uses them to act better than her family. The fact that she had changed her name to Wangero (397) and demanded the quilts while she was visiting made me feel that she was superficial. She did not even want the quilts when they were first offered to her before she went to college (400). I do not think it is right to change your family name and then come home and request family heirlooms. Dee (Wangero) always seems to get wha...
Dee was coming home to visit her mother and sister for the first time since she left for school, but when she arrived the differences was noticeable. When she first arrived she has on “A dress so loud that it hurts my eyes, there are yellow and oranges enough to through back the light of the sun” (Walker). Dee also brought along one of her friends name Hakim-a-barber, while visiting Dee seen some different items from the past that she would like to take back home with her. She wanted to take with her a churn top that her Uncle Buddy whittled out of a tree and a dasher also but wanted to use them as decoration at her place and not for use so she
From a young age, Dee felt a detachment from her heritage. After her old house, and her sister Maggie, who she stoically watched burn from a fire. Mama even suspects that Dee burned their house and Maggie too, “She had hated the house that much” (Walker 25). Dee agrees when Mama sent her to Augusta to school. She wants to be a college student because she considers herself superior to those around her—she deserved a higher level of life, “She was determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts. Her eyelids would not flicker for minutes at a time” (Walker 25-26). Upon Dee’s return to visit Mama and Maggie, Mama
A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry is realistic fictional drama in which the play 's title and the character represent the play 's theme. The play focused on Black America 's Struggle to reach the American Dream of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness during the 1950s and the 1960s. The idea of everyone having the chance to achieve a better life should exist for all. Hansberry conceives her title using a line from Langston Hughes poem “A dream deferred”. The original poem was written in 1951 about Harlem. Hughes’ line from the poem state that when dreams are deferred “Does it dry up like a Raisin in the Sun”. This meant that they describe them as being small and already pretty withered. Hughes poem further suggested that when
While reading this there were some animosity toward Dee because of what type of character she was. The animosity was caused by the numerous comments and actions that occurred in the story. She was very selfish, uneducated, and very unappreciative of where she came from. Dee carried herself in a very ridiculous way. Among Dee’s family she is the object of jealousy, awe, and agitation, meanwhile she searches for her purpose and sense of self. Dee and her judgmental nature has an effect on Mama and Maggie, her younger sister. Although she across as being arrogant and insensitive, Mama sees he strive to know more and do more. Dee also portray as being a condensing type person because no matter where Mama and Maggie lived she still kept her commitment to come and visit. When Dee comes to visit she tells Maggie and Mama that she has changed her because Dee had died when she left for college. Dee changed her name to Wangoero, which come across as being an attention seeking ploy who still keeps the selfishness of Dee. With Dee changing her name to Wangoero she wants to reclaim her heritage and honor
So much so, that she had gone home from college to try to get some old family belongings to put on “display” to try to keep the history alive. Unlike Maggie, Dee didn’t care much of the future, she just cared about the past and taking all sentimental family heirlooms. Dee being so caught up in the past, even changes her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo. When Dee first mentions the name change Mama is caught off guard. Mama was confused by this statement and asked, "What happened to ‘Dee’ "(Walker 5). Dee was trying to be polite but she came off extremely blunt by saying "She's dead, I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me" (Walker 5). Dee’s Name had been passed down from generation to generation, if that doesn’t scream family heritage I don’t know what would. Maggie wasn’t the smartest but she sure knew what she had to do to keep the family tradition going. Maggie was in love and had her whole life ahead of her. Therefore, thinking about the future, she knew having kids one day, would keep the tradition alive. After Mama figured out which child really did value the family heritage, everything started to change for the
A Raisin in the Sun is a set in 1950s after the Second World War which was an age of great racism and materialistic in America. It is about a black family living in south side of Chicago and struggling through family and economic hardships, facing the issues of racism, discrimination, and prejudice. The family consists of Lena Younger known as Mama; Walter Lee Younger who is an intense man, Ruth Younger who is wife of Walter Lee, Travis Younger who is son of Ruth and Walter, and Beneatha Younger who is Walter’s younger sister. The whole family lives in a two bed room apartment and don’t have money to live a better life. youngers are tired from their struggle to ...
Poverty doesn't have to effect the people's personalities that I consumes like most of the Youngers. Mama, Ruth, and Beneatha did not let being poor make them envy any one who had money. Walter on the other hand was sick of the way he and his family had to live. He was fed-up and was desperate to make money any way he could think of for his family.
After all, she was never told no, so in her mind her options for success were endless. Dee grew up being taught the there was no real issue with society, but once she moved away to college, her perspective on the situation changed dramatically. Dee States “I couldn’t bear it any longer being named after the people who oppress me” (Walker, 318). This indicates a sense of remorse towards her family’s heritage and the way she was raised. Furthermore, linking the reason why she changed her name. This action is a rebellion towards her heritage and her family’s morals, as it is taking the very essence of their history and rewriting it to claim ignorance on the fact that this poverty induced lifestyle never happened. Although agreeing with Dee on certain situations, I’ve come to the conclusion that you should not step out of your heritage. This could cause you to lose your path and ultimately isolate you from your family’s history. Agreeing on the aspect of higher education, this puts Dee in a strange position in the story. She is not liked because of her ignorance towards her heritage, yet she has a way about her that is compelling to the audience. In “My Dungeon Shook” it states that “The details and symbols of your life have been deliberately constructed to make you believe what white people say about you” (Baldwin, 2). This statement supports the idea that Dee/Wangero changed her name because of what white people said about blacks and their lifestyle. Though afflicted by change, Dee wants to keep something to remember her heritage; she wants to be a part of the history without participating in the actions and lifestyle of her
Dee is shallow and manipulative. Not only does her education separate her from her family identity and heritage, it prevents her from bonding with her mother and sister. If Dee could only push her arrogance aside, she would be able to develop a deep connection with her family. While connecting with her family, Dee would also develop a deeper understanding of her heritage. Maggie and Mama did not give in to the “whim of an outside world that doesn’t really have much to do with them” (Farrell par.1). In the attempt to “fit” in, Dee has become self-centered, and demanding with her very own family; to the extent of intimidation, and
Differences in generations can cause people to have different viewpoints in life. A Raisin In The Sun is a play set in the 1950s written by Lorraine Hansberry. The Youngers are a black family who lives in a cramped apartment in the South Side of Chicago. When Mama receives a check of insurance money, members of the family are divided in their own hopes of what it will be used for. Mama, Ruth, and Beneatha are the three women of the Younger household and their generational differences clearly show through their actions. The difference between generations is why Mama is the most devout, Ruth is an agreeable person, and Beneatha is outspoken and has modern views.
A Raisin in the Sun is a play telling the story of an African-American tragedy. The play is about the Younger family near the end of the 1950s. The Younger family lives in the ghetto and is at a crossroads after the father’s death. Mother Lena Younger and her grown up children Walter Lee and Beneatha share a cramped apartment in a poor district of Chicago, where she and Walter Lee's wife Ruth and son Travis barely fit together inside. Lena's husband, the family's father, died and his life insurance brings the family $10,000.
Even Dee's sense of fashion displayed this materialistic attitude when Mama (1982) says that Dee would wear dresses "So loud it would hurt my eyes" (p. 317). This way of expressing herself through the use of loud colors was an expression of her rejection of the status quo. Her studies opened her eyes to a different world and now the world she grew up in was too small for her ambitions. Furthermore, Dee's materialistic attitude not only made her reject her family and home, but it made her feel embarrassed of her mother's humble living. This is evident when Mama (1982) says, "She told me once that no matter where we “choose” to live, she will manage to come see us.
Dee's physical beauty can be defined as one of her biggest assets. The fact that Maggie sees Dee "with a mixture of envy and awe" (409) cues the reader to Dee's favorable appearance. The simplistic way in which Walker states that "Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure" (410) gives the reader the idea that Dee's beauty has made it easier for her to be accepted outside her family in society. We are left with the impression that Dee's appearance is above average. Walker plays on Dee's physical beauty to contrast the homeliness of Maggie and her mother. Walker goes so far as to describe her feet as "always neat-looking, as if God himself had shaped them with a certain style" (411). In describing Dee's feet, Walker is giving the impression of perfection from head to toe. Dee's outward beauty has "made her transition from poor farm girl to that of an educated, middle-class black woman possible" (Allen-Polley 11). Needless to say, Dee doesn't seem comfortable with her past and therefore has a difficult time accepting her future. It is as though she is not really connected with her family anymore. She simply needs them to fulfill their positions in her recreated past.