Alice Walker

1175 Words3 Pages

An author known for her womanist writing, Alice Walker writes stories on relationships between women and the rights of African Americans. Born in Georgia in 1944, Alice Walker knew of the economic oppression and domination of her race at an early age but despite these struggles, Alice was a witty and pretty child. However at the age of eight, a mishap with a BB gun left her scarred, blind in one eye, and emotional unstabled. According to Alice, this accident traumatically affected the way she saw and thought of herself bringing her to have thoughts of suicide. Walker was able to remove the scar tissue six years after the accident, and her partial blindness allowed her a scholarship to Spelman College (1+2). After two years of Spelman College and many hours of civil rights activism, she left to Sarah Lawrence College and graduated in 1965 (1). She continued to be an activist for civil rights, while working, writing, and having a family of her own. In 1983, Alice won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Color Purple, and used her success to help writers, schools, and woman around the world. “The survival, the survival whole of my people. (LEAD IN) But beyond hat I am committed to exploring the oppressions, the insanities, the loyalties, and the triumphs of black women” (1).
Walker’s stories of survival, redemption, love, violence, and family are not only tales of Walker’s life, but also the lives of real people around the world. In “Everyday Use”, mother must choose between which two daughters will receive the family quilts. “Flowers” is a short story based on the loss of innocence of a young girl named Myop as she ventures into the forest. Undoubtedly one of of Walker’s most famous works, “The Color Purple” tells the story of a vic...

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... this man the remains of wrong done to her race forever ago? Placing a flower on the corpse, whether out of naivety or respect, the rose is “a symbol of conciliation and a delicate contrast to the brutality murdered man, the rose takes its nurturance from the dead body a….it is possible for something beautiful and frail to germinate from such an appalling crime” (Loeb). The theme of loss of innocence is apparent in all many of her pieces, however it’s very obvious in “The Flowers”. There’s also a connection between generations, the latter generation and the new one. Myop represents the newer generation and the corpse the past generation.
With the struggles, comes a loss of innocence, both possible to overcome as long as there is an understanding of history and where a person may come from. The culture and the heritage are the roots which help to surpass struggles.

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