Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" explores how, in her eagerness to claim an ancient heritage, Dee denies herself the substantive personal experience of familial traditions in such incidents as the justification of her name change, her comments during the meal with the family, and her requesting Mama for the quilts.

             Upon arriving at her mother"s new house for the first time, Dee surprises her mother and Maggie with her appearance and her apparent name change. Dee quickly informs her mother that she has made her new name "Wangero" to reflect her African heritage. She no longer will be named after the people who oppress her. This reference can be attributed to Dee"s possible experiences as a civil rights activist. Among the black community many people adopt African names to reflect their pre-slavery heritage. While this can be a source of strength and affirmation for some, it may represent a rejection of one's past, as it apparently does for Dee. Even her mother"s response that she was named 'Dee' after her aunt, who was named for the aunt's mother, "though I probably could have carried it back beyond the Civil War through the branches," does not have any true effect on her perception of her given name (32). Dee still feels that being called "Wangero" will give her cultural fulfillment, whereas her real name holds her back from attaining this. She fails to recognize that her mother"s words actually show how the family is proud to pass the name 'Dee" along generations to help preserve their own traditions. Dee does not feel the pride that is associated with her real name because she possesses a certain prejudice against her family that will not allow her to embrace her own private heritage. This prejudice is rooted in her beliefs that her mother and Maggie are incapable of relating her views due to their lack of education and their unwillingness to accept new ideas.