Madison Fitzpatrick Mrs. Krasny AP Lit & Comp 15 February 2017 Flowers Close Read Alice Walker’s Flowers is powerful. Given that she wrote The Color Purple, it’s most likely a comment on racial elements in society, and through using a historic/cultural lens, one can see that. Mypop, the young, dark skinned girl the story focuses on, is the daughter of a sharecropper: “Turning her back on the rusty boards of her family’s sharecropper cabin”. This would date the story to the Antebellum, possibly early 20th century period. Sharecropping was developed during Reconstruction America as a way for the newly freed slaves to have land of their own (“own” really, the land was rented from, usually, a white person) while still surviving and creating a semi-profit. …show more content…
Reconstruction as a whole was a failure, and many of the racial conditions were exacerbated. So, Mypop was 10, and was surrounded by all of this. However, she probably didn’t know what sharecropping and racial tension meant. The end of the story is up to interpretation, but looking through a historical lens, the man was most likely lynched and left for dead. That’s what happened back then. More often than not, the men were innocent, average people, which was how the man was described. Overalls, tall, white teeth, long fingers. He was a regular adult male. The title itself, Flowers, calls attention to the various flowers described throughout the piece, and their possible symbolism. Mypop gathers flowers throughout her journey in the forest, the likes of which (that are highlighted) are blue, brown, and pink. Mypop also places them down upon finding the noose next to the dead man, much like placing flowers upon a grave. A sign of respect, or maybe another sign of her losing her innocence (since there ARE PLENTY): “deflowering” meaning losing virginity, which used loosely could be a signal of lost innocence. Her eyes are no longer virgin, her soul is no longer virgin to these violent, racist …show more content…
She’s skipping around her property, and banging a song onto the fence with a stick. She’s extremely childlike. Walker makes a callback to her mother in paragraph 4 to show that she’s growing, since in the summer she’s alone, but to also highlight that not that long ago, she had to be with her mother when she went on these excursions. She’s only 10. She’s unafraid, just before noticing that it was a man’s face that she stepped on, exposing that she truly is unaware of the dangers that lie in store for her. Even the season - summer - gives the sense of a carefree attitude. Children play in the summer, that’s when they’re the most active. And the abrupt end to that summer with the discovery of the noose next to the dead man signifies the end to that childlike period. No more carefree days. No more picking wildflowers. Now she is aware of the horror that her people experienced and continually experience. In paragraph 3, another indicator of race struggle is made evident. Toward the end, Maypop notices “the tiny white bubbles disrupt the thin black scale of soil” which is a big color contrast. Notably, between black and
The stories that the author told were very insightful to what life was like for an African American living in the south during this time period. First the author pointed out how differently blacks and whites lived. She stated “They owned the whole damn town. The majority of whites had it made in the shade. Living on easy street, they inhabited grand houses ranging from turn-of-the-century clapboards to historics”(pg 35). The blacks in the town didn’t live in these grand homes, they worked in them. Even in today’s time I can drive around, and look at the differences between the living conditions in the areas that are dominated by whites, and the areas that are dominated by blacks. Racial inequalities are still very prevalent In today’s society.
Shortly after arriving in Mississippi, the youth was put to work in picking cotton with the rest of his cousins. On one particularly hot day and after picking cotton, Emmett and a few other black boys went to a local store in Money, Mississippi. The store, which was owned and ran by a young white couple named Carolyn and Roy Bryant, catered mainly to the black field workers in the small to...
Alice Walker grew up in rural Georgia in the mid 1900s as the daughter of two poor sharecroppers. Throughout her life, she has been forced to face and overcome arduous lessons of life. Once she managed to transfer the struggles of her life into a book, she instantaneously became a world-renowned author and Pulitzer Prize winner. The Color Purple is a riveting novel about the struggle between redemption and revenge according to Dinitia Smith. The novel takes place rural Georgia, starting in the early 1900s over a period of 30 years. Albert, also known as Mr._____, and his son Harpo must prevail over their evil acts towards other people, especially women. Albert and Harpo wrong many people throughout their lives. To be redeemed, they must first learn to love others, then reflect upon their mistakes, and finally become courageous enough to take responsibility for their actions. In The Color Purple, Alice Walker effectively develops Albert and Harpo through redemption using love, reflection, and responsibility.
the black man in the South in the early 1900's. This story deals partly with racial
Bloom, Harold. Modern Critical Interpretations: Alice Walker's The Color Purple. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publisher, 2000. Print.
Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple, wrote "Everyday Use," which tells a story of a rugged, independent mother of two girls who celebrate their African-American heritage in completely different ways. One daughter, Maggie, celebrates her heritage by enjoying and appreciating the use of family heirlooms whereas the other daughter, Dee, feels it is more honorable to display these heirlooms for artistic show. Walker's use of imagery illuminates the story's theme of family heritage and, quite possibly the most respectful way of celebrating such heritage.
Abner Snopes sharecrops for a living. His sharecropping results in his resentment of the wealthy. As you know, sharecroppers are tenant farmers who pay as rent a share of their crop for wealthy people. Sharecropping was common during this era; McCullough notes that “when the sharecroppers receive their portion of the money from the crops they plant, the debts they have developed comes out of their half of the money. This often leaves the sharecropper with nothing. Between the debt and the hard working conditions, a second form of slavery is created. It was not slavery with a p...
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Harcourt Bruce Jovanovich, Publishers. New York, San Diego, London, 1992
Alice Walker’s writings were greatly influenced by the political and societal happenings around her during the 1960s and 1970s. She not only wrote about events that were taking place, she participated in them as well. Her devoted time and energy into society is very evident in her works. The Color Purple, one of Walker’s most prized novels, sends out a social message that concerns women’s struggle for freedom in a society where they are viewed as inferior to men. The events that happened during and previous to her writing of The Color Purple had a tremendous impact on the standpoint of the novel.
Although imagery and symbolism does little to help prepare an expected ending in “The Flowers” by Alice Walker, setting is the singular element that clearly reasons out an ending that correlates with the predominant theme of how innocence disappears as a result of facing a grim realism from the cruel world. Despite the joyous atmosphere of an apparently beautiful world of abundant corn and cotton, death and hatred lies on in the woods just beyond the sharecropper cabin. Myop’s flowers are laid down as she blooms into maturity in the face of her fallen kinsman, and the life of summer dies along with her innocence. Grim realism has never been so cruel to the innocent children.
Alice Walker, "The Color Purple." ENGL 3060 Modern and Contemporary Literature, a book of 2003. Web. The Web. The Web.
Sedgewick observes, one’s social position is affected by various axis of classification such as gender, sexuality, race, class and the interplay of these social identities. In The Color Purple by Alice walker, Sedgewick’s observations ring true. Celie, the main character in Walker’s novel, is a perfect example of these observations put forth by Sedgewick. Celie’s social position is indicative of her gender, sexuality, race, and class; as a Black woman living in Georgia in 1910 to 1940, one can expect to witness the general ‘acceptable’ racism present within the novel towards people of color. Despite the ‘acceptable’ racism, the novel accentuates the hardships and struggles the women of color in this novel have to go through. The social positions of the characters, more so Celie and Sofia, in Walker’s The Color Purple are based on the social identities of their gender, race, class, sexuality, and ethnicity.
Throughout The Color Purple, Alice Walker conveys the importance and the power of female friendship in all forms. It shapes and forms the strong bond of female companionship as means of refuge from oppression, male dominance and a world full of violence perpetrated against women which the female protagonists wish to break free from. Walker constantly reminds the reader of the gruelling pursuit of identity that all are in search for, both in Africa and America. For females to gain equal recognition as individuals who deserve fair and just treatment in a patriarchal society where, as Albert states “Men suppose to wear the pants” in society. In conclusion, not only leading Celies personal growth as an independent woman but also to the extraordinary establishment of a female solidarity network within the novel.
The progression of civil rights for black women that existed throughout the twentieth century mirrors the development Celie makes from a verbally debilitated girl to an adamant young woman. The expression of racism and sexism that evidenced itself during the postmodern era presented Walker with an opportunity to compose a novel that reveals her strong animosity toward discrimination. Without these outlets, Walker would not have had the ability to create a novel with such in-depth insights into the lifestyle of an immensely oppressed woman. The novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker is the story of a poor, young black girl, growing up in rural Georgia in the early twentieth century.
One of the most popular works by Walker was, The Color Purple. In this Alice Walker story, the reader meets a girl named Celie. In this novel, Walker takes the reader on a journey through much of Celie’s life. While taking the reader through this tale, Walker draws attention to a number of social aspects during this time period. Through Cilie’s life, Walker brings to light the abuse and mistreatment of African American women from 1910 through the 1940’s. “Women were also regarded as less important than men-both Black and white Black women doubly disadvantage. Black women of the era were often treated as slaves or as property” (Tavormina page 2...