Beginning of Essay
In this fast paced American, society little regard is given to the importance of one’s family heritage. Family traditions and the efforts made to preserve them in generations past are taken for granted by the current heirs. In Alice Walker’s short story, “ ....

Middle of Essay
.... no matter where she (Dee’s mother) “chooses” to live she (Dee) will manage to visit (Walker 73). Although Dee indicates that she will visit, shame prohibits her from revealing what she considers an inferior home life to her friends. Her mother realizes Dee’s embarrassment and knows “she will never bring friends [to the house]” (Walker 73). Unfortunately, the manner in which Dee chooses to alleviate the shame of her heritage, seemingly with no regret, causes her family to suffer. Shame motivates Dee to conceal parts of herself that reveal her heritage. When Dees’s mother addresses her by her birth given name, Dee corrects her a ....