'The Flowers' is a short story written by Alice Walker. Walker is a black American writer, who is renown around the world, especially because of the 'book, turned movie'
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Introduction
Alice Walker- The Flowers 'The Flowers' is a short story written by Alice Walker. Walker is a black American writer, who is renown around the world, especially because of the 'book, turned movie' The Colour purple. Walker is extremely interested in the history of human rights, particularly the history of black women in the United States. Her writings often reflect this interest and they usually have dual meanings. Walker interpretates struggles of black women in her books, and The Flowers is no exception. It is about the end of innocence, of a young black child living in the 1930s. It reflects the unfairness of life, and the circumstances of the black people during that period in time. 'The Flowers' is about a girl named Myop, she is from an agricultural background (as most black Americans were in the 1930s). She is described as carefree and innocent. " It seemed to Myop as she skipped lightly from hen house to pigpen...they days had never been as beautiful as these". ...read more.
Middle
Weather references are also made in the story. There is also a change in mood between the first half and the second half of the story. "The air held a keenness that made her nose twitch". As opposed to "...The air was damp, the silence close and deep". It is clear of the contrast between the two descriptions of the surroundings. This is why I think that the weather references symbolise unexpected change. As weather predictions aren't always correct, and it can change at any given time. There are also examples of alliteration. " ...now blending benignly into the soil". The language used in the short story reflects and represents what is to come. It has dual meaning, and is used to set the atmosphere of the current time. There are running themes throughout the story. Many are highlighted in the background and some are straightforward. One of the first themes are that Black-Americans were at the lower part of the social scale, often earning their money through agriculture. ...read more.
Conclusion
The story itself uses symbolism to show various aspects of what went on at the time. Such as flowers is used to prescribe innocence and purity within Myop. The wild pink flower used towards the end is used as symbolism. " Very near where she'd stepped into the head was a wild pink rose." The flower was a type of metaphor type factor, it symbolized the young and innocent Myop in the midst of a cold world full of brutal truths. Elements of weather is used to foreshadow what is coming. This was an effective tool which set the mood of the coming paragraphs. Walker also uses ongoing themes of racism, culture and struggle throughout the story, which is present in many of her writings. Alice Walker's writing is beautifully written, and urges the reader to read between the lines. There is a theme of duality throughout, which is tactfully used. 'The Flowers' is a thought provoking story which highlights the struggles of black women that lived in the U.S.A during the 30s and onwards. ?? ?? ?? ?? ...read more.
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