Alice Walker in "Everyday Use" shows one African American woman trying to "overcome" her past. This story is about two sisters, Maggie and Dee, and their mother. Maggie lives with her mother while Dee has moved out, gone to school, and created another life for herself. However Dee has issues left to resolve before she can become the woman she wants to be. Her conflicts over her heritage have made Dee unable to accept her …showed first 75 words of 602 total…

…showed last 75 words of 602 total…ashamed of (174). Dee, while interacting with her family even goes as to say: You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It’s really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live you’d never know it. (181) She is judging herself to be superior to her family. Dee is afraid that she will end up like her family so she tried to change everything about herself.