Alice Walker: Renown Poet

Completely trusting in one’s own personhood is difficult in a world of conformity and expectation. Alice Walker, renown poet and author, writes to express her pride in identity and the need to embrace this component of a person’s life. In an interview, Walker expressed “I'm entirely interested in people. I have a special interest in what they're thinking and who they are and who's hiding behind those eyes and how did he get there, and what's the story” (Smiley). She wants others to show to the world their true self and conveys this by highlighting the need to be a genuine individual in a world trying to make everyone alike. Alice Walker’s poems focus on her advice to depend on personal principles, to address the underlying theme that self-reliance inspires individuality and honorable character.

A particular event in her life, which is of great significance to her literature, was being shot in the eye by her brother; it was as though she “became more observant of human relationships and interactions which helped her develop her voice as a writer” (“Alice Walker.”). This happening in her childhood has been the foundation for many of her works. In her literary pieces, she has been known to reflect the roots of tenant farming, the black vernacular, and the slavery and oppression of the African American community, specifically that of women. She places a strong emphasis on people’s emotions and behaviors, one's human experience, and the issues people encounter in everyday life (“Alice Walker.”). Along with her culture, Walker appreciates the idea of the authenticity of self, specifically celebrating the individual person rather than the crowd. Walker understands the meaning of being an outcast as she was often seen differently due to her visual handicap. Her personal adversity is the basis of her poem, Be Nobody’s Darling. The piece was published in a collection of Walker’s works in 1973 called Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems