Dee's Dilemma
...erson by reading to them. When Dee reads to them it isn’t anything real. Mrs. Johnson explains, “She washed us in a river of make-believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge we didn’t necessarily needed to know.” Dee wanted to remain the only “smart” one in the family. Dee also presented herself as a perfectionist. Jimmy T, her boyfriend, left her because of her desire to find his faults and display them at his expense. It’s ok to love yourself, but when you take a position that everyone else is beneath you, then that is wrong. Family heritage should be right at the heart of a strong person like Dee, but she’s embarrassed by the home her mom lives in. This home is similar to the house Dee grew up in. Dee turned her back on her family’s heritage by changing her name. When Dee came to visit her mom, she acknowledged the name change. When Mrs. Johnson called her Dee, Dee snapped. “No mamma, not Dee, Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!” When Mrs. Johnson asked what happened to Dee, Wangero Scott 3 replies, “she’s dead. I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.” The people that she is referring to are family. Wangero/Dee also refers to herself in third person, as if she is talking about someone else. Dee just needs to realize that she is still Dee Johnson and come to the realization that her values to this new African name will not sustain her as her family name. Dee is very self contradictory. In a letter that Dee wrote to her mother she explains that where ever Mrs. Johnson lived, she would come and visit, but she wouldn’t bring friends with her. Mrs. Johnson recites, “She wrote me once, that no matter where we “choose” to live, she will manage to come and see us. But she will never bring her friends.” However when Dee came to visit her family, she brought along a friend, Hakim-a-barber. Not only did she bring him to the house he stayed for dinner. Dee also contradicted herself when it came to the quilts. She wanted two quilts that her grandmothers made. Dee wanted these quilts not to use them, but...