Some people have the natural ability to sing, and some have the natural flowing movements that produce an exceptional dance. Others have the ability to paint, to transfer pigment into a vibrant representation of life through the painter’s eyes. Alice Walker's mother was a woman who had the ability to make plants thrive and flowers bloom. She could trim a plant in such a way that despite being broken, it grew more. Alice’s mother did not own the palace of Versailles nor was she responsible for the vast gardens around it, yet she always made whatever shabby space her family lived in as flourishing and as bright as any great garden.
Alice’s mother had a passion for plant life. Any spare moment she had would be spent tending to her garden. Alice describes her mother’s habits as such: "Before she left home for the fields she watered her flowers, chopped up the grass and laid out new beds. When she returned from the fields she might divide clumps of bulbs, dig a cold pit, uproot and replant roses, or prune branches from her taller bushes or trees- until night came and it was too dark to see.” (Walker 150). Enchanted by the garden, her mother’s green thumb drew her in, even if it meant going before and after a hard day in the fields. Not only did she love gardening, but she was exceedingly skilled in her ability to grow her plants. Her skill was described by Alice as "magic". Not only did Alice notice this extraordinary skill from her mother- being able to cultivate such a beautiful, bountiful, diverse garden in what little land she was on, caught the attention of many
people that spanned beyond the own city she lived in. Recognizing her mother’s aptitude, Alice stated “…Whatever rocky soil she landed on, she turned into a garden.” (...
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This woman I envision is someone who makes the most out of any situation- be it tough living situations, money troubles, or even a death of a loved one. Re-phrasing the quote "…Whatever rocky soil she landed on, she turned into a garden.” (Walker 150). To reveal what I see within it, I would render it as "Whatever life throws at her, she turns to the good within it." The "rocky soil" is the turbulent happenings of her life, and the "garden" is her delightful outlook, her way to see the positive within the negative. Just as the figurative meaning of the quote relates to Alice’s mothers ability to brighten her surroundings and connects the way the slaves survived their tough lives, my interpretation of the figurative meaning of the quote relates to one’s ability to brighten their surroundings no matter how tough their life or what their situation might be.
Walker, Alice. (1974). “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens.” Ways of Reading. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, pp. 694-701.
This attitude she thinks will obtain anything she desires has finally failed her and she will leave empty handed as a theme that unless you’re nice, you’re not going to get what you want. A symbol most usually gone unnoticed is the correlation between the author, Alice Walker, and the characters she writes about, Maggie and Dee. From the background information on Ms. Walker, we see that she is the youngest of eight children who at one point in her life may have led to her not getting what she wanted.
Most families have some piece of jewelry, furniture, or other symbolic collectible that is passed through many generations. These things often remind a person of a beloved grandparent or great-grandparent and are seen as priceless. In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," the family heirloom, a couple of hand sewn quilts, represents the family members' emotions concerning their heritage.
the modern garden. She interprets how we have the need to control and create what we consider perfect with our sciences and labs. While rules reign, sanitation demands, and socialization take control of the perfect scene for a pleasant environment, the unpleasant side of these malls such as their trash is kept out of the vision of the consumer. Most of these consumer products that are used to entice the population to enter into this heavenly place on earth became waste that is not entirely recycled
• Alice Walker herself has said: “I believe it is from this period – from my solitary, lonely position, the position of an outcast – that I began really to se people and things, really to notice relationships and to learn to be patient enough to care about how they turned out...”
Alice Walker's short fictional story, "Nineteen Fifty-five", revolves around the encounters among Gracie Mae Still, the narrator, and Traynor, the "Emperor of Rock and Roll." Traynor as a young prospective singer purchases a song from Mrs. Still, which becomes his "first hit record" and makes him rich and famous. Yet, he does not "even understand" the song and spends his entire life trying to figure out "what the song means." The song he sings seems as fictional as certain events in this story, but as historical as Traynor's based character, Elvis Presley.
Critical Essays on Alice Walker. Ed. By Ikenna Dieke. Greenwood Press, Westpoint, Connecticut, London, 1999
...ots her memory, the blossoms her dreams, and the branches her vision. After each unsuccessful marriage, she waits for the springtime pollen to be sprinkled over her life once again. Even after Tea Cake's death, she has a garden of her own to sit and revel in.
“I am a large, big boned woman with rough, man-working hands” Mama describes of herself in the short story Everyday Use by Alice Walker. Mama, who additionally takes the role of narrator, is a lady who comes from a wealth of heritage and tough roots. She is never vain, never boastful and most certainly never selfish. She speaks only of her two daughters who she cares deeply for. She analyzes the way she has raised them and how much she has cared too much or too little for them, yet most of all how much they value their family. Mama never speaks of herself, other than one paragraph where she describes what she does. “My fat keeps me hot in zero weather. I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing” (Walker, 60). She does not need to tell readers who she is, for her descriptions of what she does and how her family interacts, denotes all the reader needs to know. Although Mama narrates this story rather bleakly, she gives readers a sense of love and sense of her inner strength to continue heritage through “Everyday Use”.
Aristotle once claimed that, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Artists, such as Louise-Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun and Mary Cassatt, captured not only the way things physically appeared on the outside, but also the emotions that were transpiring on the inside. A part no always visible to the viewer. While both artists, Le Brun and Cassatt, worked within the perimeters of their artistic cultures --the 18th century in which female artists were excluded and the 19th century, in which women were artistically limited-- they were able to capture the loving relationship between mother and child, but in works such as Marie Antoinette and Her Children and Mother Nursing her Child 1898,
So perhaps neither is Walker writing truly about gardening nor Jacobs about her adolescence. They are both speaking to the nature of sainthood-the sainthood of artists. Their work is our evidence that saints needn't be implored or opportuned for guidance-because the spiritual broadcasting of this direction is inherent in what makes them women, artists, and Saints. Their power is our reminder of the power and beauty of art-of creation. The hope that their genius and mastery exude is the flame which keeps ignited the sparks of creation fundamental to humanity.
Point of View in Alice Walker's Everyday Use. Alice Walker is making a statement about the popularization of black culture in "Everyday Use". The story involves characters from both sides of the African American cultural spectrum, conveniently cast as sisters in. the story of the. Dee/Wangero represents the "new black," with her natural.
The Contrast of Virginia Woolf and Alice Walker After reading the four essays assigned to this sequence, it becomes interesting to contrast two author's points of view on the same subject. Reading one professional writer's rewriting of a portion of another professional writer's essay brings out many of each of their characteristics and views. Also, the difference in writing styles could be drastic, or slight. Nevertheless, the writers display how versatile the English language can be.
...that suspends the boundaries of man and nature, the way in which she structures the last image to be one of hostility indicates the unsustainable nature of the garden.
The definition of sociology is the study of society. Social criticism is the practice of analyzing a literary work by examining the cultural, political and economical context in which it was written or received. Alice Walker’s work demonstrates this type criticism very well; from The Color Purple to Everyday Use, or any of her earlier short stories. The majority of her work reveals the struggle of African Americans in society, especially women. Furthermore, her stories mirror a lot of the social characteristic that were taking place in America, from the 1940’s on; thus, making Alice Walker the epitome of sociological criticisms.