NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Literature Heritage My first impression after I have started reading the story by Alice Walker was confusion. I could not understand the main issue of the heritage in connection to the story. But with coming closer to the end, the thoughts were brought in order. I now see that the understanding of heritage is absolutely different between people, and sometimes the notion is used by these people only for achieving some of their goals. While reading the story I had several questions in my mind: how can be heritage understood by different people, and how it is difficult at times to trace any kind of heritage between close relatives, like mother and daughter, for example. To my mind, the intention of the author was to create negative impression about Dee, as she is depicted like a character with no positive traits.
She is also shown as the person, who seems to have no heritage, or rather, tries to put herself into position of having no heritage. The fact, that she has changed her name, the name which had been given to her for her grandmother, makes me feel that this young woman does not understand the meaning and the role her family may some time play in her life. "What happened to 'Dee'?" I wanted to know. "She's dead, " Wangero said. "I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me. " The reaction of Dee at her name surprises me, as this name is the sign of her heritage in the family, but this is only another proof for the fact, that she wants to absolutely separate herself from it. There was something in the story, which I wanted to know. As I understood, there has been fire, in which Dees sister had suffered, and this suffering was probably caused by Dees reluctance to help her, but there should be given more information about the case, in order to understand, and probably find another sign of Dees wish to get rid of her heritage, though in this case this striving may have caused too serious consequences. What is noticeable in this story is that Dee is smart enough to use the notion of heritage for her own sake, trying to get the things she wants from her mother. Such people are often found in real life.
They try to see and define the things in the wrong light, and it is hard to say, whether they do it intentionally or they simply dont understand the roots of the problem. To my mind, the core phrase of the story is the last passage: "Your heritage, " she said, - and then she turned to Maggie, kissed her, and said, "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. " This last phrase makes the whole story even more compelling, as it makes the reader think, which of them was right in his attitude towards heritage, and if there is anything that could be done to change Dees understanding of her whole life. Heritage here serves here only as a means of expressing the problematic relations in the family described, but probably this is the brightest and the best issue to show the complexity and the conflict. Walkers story made me think about heritage as of the issue, which accompanies us through our daily life, but we rarely understand its importance.
Dees behavior towards her mother and sister might probably have been performed with her best wishes, but it has certainly shown her most negative sides. Dee has certainly left forever, this is not said by the author directly, but is felt throughout the plot line. This action has finally made Maggie smile her real smile. Despite Dees last words, her real heritage was there, with her mother in their favorite yard
Free research essays on topics related to: heritage, dees, dee, sign, maggie
Research essay sample on Reading The Story Heritage
