"Everyday Use" Alice Walker

I think that the mother's refusal to let Dee have the quilts indicates a permanent change in character. She had been dealing with Dee's difficulties since she was young, and finally she just exploded. Dee used to be embarrassed of her heritage and wanted nothing to do with it, but when she found this new man, Asalamalakim, she changed her mind, not only her mind, but her name as well: Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo. When Dee was younger she hated their old house, and I got the feeling that she caused the fire to burn it down when it says that she just stood by the tree and watched, while the mother thought she might as well dance around the ashes. Now she is taking pictures, making sure that the house is in every picture. I don't think that Dee has truly changed, but is putting on a show for Asamalakim so that he will like her. And I think that the mother knows this. When Dee rhetorically asks if she can have the churn top and the dasher, she is just trying to impress her man, and her mother doesn't appreciate it, but she lets her have it, because she really doesn't have a choice. Then "Wangero" asks if she can have the quilts, and her mother snatches them out of her hand and gives them to Maggie, her daughter that has always been down to earth and deserved the quilts in her opinion. I think that this was the break-through point for the mother. She was finally asserting her independence from her daughter's every want and desire.