A Study of Dee’s Identity Awakening in Alice Walker’s Everyday Use

Focusing on the character Dee in Everyday Use, this paper carries out an in-depth analysis of the specific manifestations and causes of her identity awakening. In terms of clothing style, Dee shifted from pursuing a modern style to embracing African traditional styles. She also changed her name to an African one and transformed her attitude towards the house and quilts that carry Afri-can cultural elements from disdain to cherishment. All these changes indicate her identity awakening. A further analysis reveals that three factors contribute to her identity awakening: education enabled her to understand Black history and culture; social movements inspired her sense of rights and cultural aware-ness; and self-reflection prompted her to reconstruct her cultural identity. This study not only reveals the close connection between cultural identity and indi-vidual consciousness but also provides a new perspective for interpreting the cultural connotations of literary works, thus helping us further explore the cul-tural values hidden in it.