Mother, the protagonist of Alice Walker's short story, Daily Use, is a woman with solid foundations and tenacious roots. The qualities that society would find admirable in Mama are the same qualities that Dee, Mama's eldest daughter, would despise, considering them only the qualities of a homespun, ignorant country bumpkin. Dee, the story's main antagonist, is proof that children are not necessarily products of their environment. From the beginning of the story we see that Mama, who describes herself as "a large, bony woman with rough, working hands" (68) has no illusions about the kind of woman she is; however, he still has enough depth to dream of reuniting with his daughter Dee on television in a fantasy complete with limos, orchids, and Johnny Carson. The mother, who is capable of killing a calf with a club (69), knows she is ignorant, dark and heavy. Mom also knows that the fantasy has more to do with making Dee happy than satisfying her desires. The main character's strength of Mother is her patience towards her children and especially Dee. From the moment Dee gets out of the car and informs her mother and younger sister Maggie that they should no longer call her Dee, mother displays this patience. Mother must feel disappointment that Wangero, as she wants to be called, considers Dee dead (71). For Mother, who named Dee after her sister, Wangero's statement that she could not bear to bear the name of the people who oppressed her (71) must have been like saying that it was Wangero's family who had actually been the oppressors. The mother's patience and willingness to bend to her daughter's wishes showed great inner strength and understanding. Mother continues to…middle of paper…quilts are priceless (73). Mama, on the other hand, almost gives up until Maggie, who knows her place in this world as Mama knows hers, says that Wangero can have the quilts. Maggie's act of resignation pushes her mother to do something she's never done before. He hugs Maggie and stands up to Wangero. The irony of Wangero's statement that Mother does not understand her heritage (74) ties the emotions of conflict together. With this statement, we sense that Mom and Maggie not only understand their heritage, but are living examples of it. Not only does Wangero not understand his heritage, he has spent so much of his life denying it that he will never find it. Work cited Walker, Alice. "Daily use." Literature: An introduction to reading and writing. Fourth edition. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. Prentice Hall, 1995: 68-74.