“The Flowers” by Alice Walker was a very descriptive short story that used words powerfully and constructed a sinister yet elegant scene in the reader’s mind. The emotional meaning behind it’s excellent description only enhanced the details and thoughts the reader had while reading the story, which displayed Walker’s talent in describing a story . In this story, a young girl named Myop is playing near her home on a sharecropper property. She begins picking flowers around her sharecropper property, which eventually leads her to exploring the forest behind the property. As Myop is exploring the forest, she encounters a dead body that had been there for a while. Myop is briefly fazed, then continues looking for more plant life. Eventually, she spots a singular pink rose, and notices that at the base of the rose, there is a mound. She digs up the mound, only to discover a noose that was used to hang the …show more content…
Another example is when Myop discovers the noose. “Very near where she’d stepped into the head was a wild pink rose. As she picked it to add to her bundle she noticed a raised mound, a ring, around the rose’s root. It was the rotted remains of a noose, a bit of shredding plowline, now blending into the soil. Around an overhanging limb of a great spreading oak clung another piece. Frayed, rotted, bleached, and frazzled-barely there-but spinning restlessly in the breeze. Myop laid down her flowers. And the summer was over.” With this excerpt, the reader is transported into Myop’s world, where both are taken aghast by the noose. As Myop loses her innocence, the reader observes the entire process, the dark and gruesome message being engraved into Myop’s head forever. With the ability to construct a horrid yet fascinating picture, Alice Walker displayed marvelous prowess in her descriptive abilities, leaving a grim yet beautiful afterthought in the reader's
The theme of Alice Walker’s “Roselily” is letting go of your past life to start a new one. Letting go of what came before is something that many deal with, and this is a struggle that the main character of the story faces and ponders as she takes her first steps on a new journey. The story “Roselily” is about a middle-aged african american woman who will be taking on a brand new life in marriage. However, she does not know what this future will bring her and she contemplates if her new life will truly be happier than the one she is leaving behind (encyclopedia.com).
In “In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens”, Alice Walker looks to educate us on the hardships that almost all black women face when trying to express themselves through things such as art. She delves into many sociological and psychological concepts that have affected black women throughout human history. These concepts and ideologies created a realm for mass exclusion, discrimination, and oppression of many African American women, including Alice Walker’s Mother, who Alice utilizes as one of her particular examples. The writing thematically aims to show how these concepts of sexism, racism, and even classism have contributed to black women’s lack of individuality, optimism, and fulfillment for generations. The author does a tremendous job of defending and expanding upon her arguments. She has a credible background, being a black woman that produces the art of literature herself. As well as being raised by one, Walker’s first-hand experience warrants high regard. Therefore, her use of abstract and introspective language is presented clearly and convincingly. Also, her use of evidence and support from sources like Jean Toomer, Virginia Woolf, and Phillis Wheatley, all produce more validity for her stance through poems, quotes, and even experiences. All these individuals have their own accounts pertaining to the oppression of black women and their individuality. Successfully arguing that the artistry plights of black women described in “In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens” are
One example of this is when Bradbury talks about how lonely the streets are when the main character is walking, “The streets were silent and long and empty with only his shadow moving like the shadow of the hawk in midcountry” (“Pedestrian 98”). It really lets the reader soak in the setting and let the reader feel what the main character is feeling. Another form of imagery in the text is when Bradbury talks about the houses and how they look. “And on his way he would see the cottages and homes with their dark windows, and it was not unlike walking in a graveyard where only the faint glimmers of firefly light appeared in flickers behind the windows” (“Pedestrian 96”). This quote is letting the reader know about the street being empty and dark with no one to be seen. One more example is when a cop car pulls up to the character, the car asked him to get in and then describes the inside of the car “He put his hand on to the door and peered into the back seat, which was like a little cell, a little black jail with bars. It smelled of riveted steel. It smells of harsh antiseptic, it smelled to clean and hard metallic. There was nothing safe there” (“Pedestrian 100”). This quote describes the unsettling feeling of the police car and the smell of the metal and
The Color Purple by Alice Walker is the story of a poor black woman living in the south between World War 1 and World War 2. This was at a time when, although slavery had ended,many women were still virtually in bondage, and had to put up with many conditions that was reminiscent of the days of slavery. The problem was that they had to endure being treated like an inferior being by their own families sometimes, as well as from the white people that lived there. It was a life that was filled with misery for many black women, and they felt helpless to do anything about their situations.
Symbolism is one of the major elements in "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker. The woman's search for something she has never experienced is the symbolization of the mankind's search for love and happiness. The meaning of names, occupations, power, pants, cloth, words, eyes, frogs, starts, shell, stamps are only few examples of the symbols used by the author and are very important in understanding not only the characters of the story, but also global values such as love, power, mutual understanding, and authority over another person's life.
How can someone pursue a personal desire if they spent their life trying to conform? Alden Nowlan’s short story, “The Glass Roses” explores this through the protagonist, Stephen. Stephen’s personal desire to feel accepted conflicts with his feeling of having to become like the pulp cutters because he is not mentally or physically ready to fit in with grown men. This results in Chris finding a way to become his own person. Stephen’s journey to pursue his personal desire is shown through setting, character development, and symbolism.
“The Flowers” by Alice Walker is a very well written yet short and sweet story that paints a very vivid picture of main problem the times. It expresses the reality of the lynching of the African American community in a way that is very easy to understand. Alice Walker uses vibrant details to bring to light the severity of the problem and what people of that time period went through. The story also showcases a deeper meaning that does not necessarily revolve around lynchings but represents the loss of childhood innocence. “The Flowers” explains the reality of racism and lynchings of the time while also providing an inner lying message about one’s coming of age and loss of innocence.
Alice Walker “The Flowers” is a literary piece in which violence is not presented but suggested , and not experienced, but witnessed. Alice Walker is a contemporary African-American writer who is mainly concerned with racism. She has worked to address problems of poverty and inequality. Originally written in 1970, it is set in the south of America and is about Myop a small 10- year old African-American girl who explores the place where she lives with her black family. Alice Walker succeeded in employing symbolism to highlight childhood innocence and the loss of it.
Alice Walkers "Roselily" is a short story about a woman who is about to be married, but is having second thoughts about the marriage. She is also looking into the past and the future trying to make sense of what is happening. Roselily is being torn between choosing between her current or possible future Economic status, Societies view of her, her religion and her freedom. All these thoughts go through her mind as the wedding ceremony takes place, and she begins to wonder if she has made the right choice is marrying this man.
The most symbolic element in nature that is commonly used in novels is a flower. Flowers have been used in various genres of literature and just like a specific color, authors use a specific flower to convey and to communicate different types of messages. For example, a rose can be used to represent simplicity, beauty, love or even lust, whereas a white daisy can be used to represent innocence and purity. Margaret Atwood also uses flowers repetitively in her novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. Atwood’s motif of flowers, clearly represent the love, and fertility associated with the woman in the Gilead society; Offred’s most important role of bearing children and her desires are demonstrated through the flower’s descriptions.
“The Flowers” by Alice Walker is a short story written in the 1970’s. The story focuses on Myop, a ten year old African American girl who loves to explore the land in which she lives. Carefree and naïve, Myop decides to travel further away from her ‘Sharecropper cabin’ and travels deep inside the woods to unfamiliar land where she discovers the decomposed body of an African American man. It is then Myop quickly grows up and suddenly becomes aware of the world in which she lives. The story relies on setting and symbolism to convey the theme of departing innocence.
The setting of Alice Walkers short story” The Flowers” is important for us, the readers to obtain a perspective of how life was like growing up for a 10 year old African American girl by the name of Myop. The title of the story is “The Flowers.” When you think about flowers, you instantly compare them to being beautiful, pure, and innocent. The title of the “The Flowers” is a symbolism that correlates to Myop who is the protagonist of the story. Myop is just like a flower in the beginning of the story. She’s a pure and innocent child but that pure innocence changes when she discovers something that’ll change her life forever.
The Flowers By Alice Walker Written in the 1970's The Flowers is set in the deep south of America and is about Myop, a small 10-year old African American girl who explores the grounds in which she lives. Walker explores how Myop reacts in different situations. She writes from a third person perspective of Myop's exploration. In the first two paragraph Walker clearly emphasises Myop's purity and young innocence.
How do we lose our childish way of seeing the world? How can we suddenly they see the world as it is, in all its evil? ‘The Flowers’ is a story about a young girl who goes through an experience that forces her into changing her way of seeing life, and it presents themes like growing up and loss of innocence.
“In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens” Alice Walker talks about the hardships that black women had to face. She uses different ways to describe how black creativity has survived throughout the harsh times. She explains through the stories of women to tell the readers that African American women did not have the luxury to use their gifts, talents, and their abilities. She incorporates stories from her own family history and some from other people’s family history.They were not allowed to express who they were as individuals and instead were forced in to hard labor. Nonetheless, the women still managed to pass down their gifts to their children. If these are her theoretical statements about the vision of art “Everyday Use” is a story that fits