Racism And Sexism In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

Alice Walker's rough life growing up, gives us a clear image of how her background impacted the delicate themes she writes about in her novels. For example, at a young age, Walker was insecure about her appearance, which led her to a new mental state of mind. In an interview of Alice by O'Brien, she describes, "I daydreamed of falling swords, putting guns to my heart or head, and of slashing my wrists." (O'Brien). Alice Walker's insecurities led her to be depressed, which then introduced her passion for writing. Alice Walker's history of depression may pinpoint the reason she started writing but moreover, what she started writing. Alice Walker writes about sensitive topics including racism, sexism religious views, and homosexuality. Many

Alice Malsenior Walker, an African American born into poverty, came into this world on February 9, 1944 in Eatonon, Georgia. She was the youngest child of eight children born to Willie Lee and Minnie Tallulah Walkers. Both of her parents were sharecroppers as well as expert story tellers. Things were not easy for the Walkers and Alice often witnessed her mother’s frustration of having the burden to take care of eight children with little means. Even though children of share croppers were usually made to work the fields, Alice’s mother made sure that her kids received an education. Alice was brilliant at writing poetry.

In “In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens”, Alice Walker looks to educate us on the hardships that almost all black women face when trying to express themselves through things such as art. She delves into many sociological and psychological concepts that have affected black women throughout human history. These concepts and ideologies created a realm for mass exclusion, discrimination, and oppression of many African American women, including Alice Walker’s Mother, who Alice utilizes as one of her particular examples. The writing thematically aims to show how these concepts of sexism, racism, and even classism have contributed to black women’s lack of individuality, optimism, and fulfillment for generations. The author does a tremendous job of defending and expanding upon her arguments. She has a credible background, being a black woman that produces the art of literature herself. As well as being raised by one, Walker’s first-hand experience warrants high regard. Therefore, her use of abstract and introspective language is presented clearly and convincingly. Also, her use of evidence and support from sources like Jean Toomer, Virginia Woolf, and Phillis Wheatley, all produce more validity for her stance through poems, quotes, and even experiences. All these individuals have their own accounts pertaining to the oppression of black women and their individuality. Successfully arguing that the artistry plights of black women described in “In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens” are

Events in history have influenced writers’ style, and the importance in their stories. Alice Walker wrote a novel which was very much subjective by the time period of the 1940’s. There was a great deal of bigotry and tyranny during that time, particularly for Women of color. Women were mentally and physically abused and belittled by man purely because of their race and femininity. Women were considered as ignorant individuals that simply knew how to handle housework and care for the children.

The emotional focus of Alice Walker 's story is rage, red-hot and isolating. As I read this piece, I became livid, not only at the thought of her devastating injury and her family 's apparent disassociation, but also at Ms. Walker herself. It appeared to me that she never let go of it. Instead, she seemed to embrace her anger.

This short story Alice Walker had published it in 1973. During the seventies civil right movement were paving ways for new opportunities for colored people,“this was in the heyday of the Black Power ideologies when “Black was Beautiful,” the “Afro” hairstyle was in fashion and Blacks were seeking their cultural roots in Africa,

During the civil rights movement many women and minorities were suppressed from being able to be true to themselves and what they believe in. Civil rights advocate and “womanist”, Alice Walker, in her poems, “Burial,” “Be Nobody’s Darling,” and “While Love is Unfashionable,” analyzes the importance of breaking away from the stereotypes set by society in efforts to prevent struggle. Walker uses a variety of parallelism, allusions, and metaphors to persuade readers to break free from the crowd and embrace the outcast found within the truest version of oneself.

The essay "In Search of Our Mother's Gardens" by contemporary American novelist Alice Walker is one that, like a flashbulb, burns an afterimage in my mind. It is an essay primarily written to inform the reader about the history of African American women in America and how their vibrant, creative spirit managed to survive in a dismal world filled with many oppressive hardships. This piece can be read, understood, and manage to conjure up many emotions within the hearts and minds of just about any audience that reads it. However, Walker targets African American women in today's society in an effort to make them understand their heritage and appreciate what their mothers and grandmothers endured to

     Alice Walker is an African American essayist, novelist and poet. She is described as a “black feminist.”(Ten on Ten) Alice Walker tries to incorporate the concepts of her heritage that are absent into her essays; such things as how women should be independent and find their special talent or art to make their life better. Throughout Walker’s essay entitled “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens,” I determined there were three factors that aided Walker gain the concepts of her heritage which are through artistic ability, her foremothers and artistic models.

An interesting note which I will bring up later to give proof to my claim, is that when Walker was 8 years old, she was shot in the eye with a BB gun. After the incident, she became very self-conscience and felt like she did not fit in with the world around her. This helped her find her calling in writing.

One of the most inspiring authors in American history is Alice Walker. Walker is the youngest child in a sharecropper family that found her overly ambitious and highly competitive (Walker 609). This gave her a strong fighting attitude, which allowed her to make positive changes in an extremely racist society. Unfortunately, when she was young, Walker was accidentally shot in her right eye with a BB gun while playing “Cowboys and Indians.” This accident caused Walker to lose her self-esteem and her captivating personality. As a result, she secluded herself from the outside world and began to write. During this time-the 1950’s and 1960’s- Alice Walker’s works channeled the hardship and inferiority that she realized as a black person (Whitted).

Alice Walker, author of “Everyday use”, shows how the characteristics and her life behind her childhood and her past life evolved, therefore life changes. The adoption of her Background made her to write this passage, about an African American daughter named Dee and her sister Maggie and her mother. There is always going to be a person in the family that does not accept who they are in, general speaking, Dee learns about her society. In the 60’s, for Dee’s family, there were brutal times for Dee but her character changed with her conflicts Both internally and externally, though for Maggie and her mother symbolize traits that appear to some as inhabitable.

One of the most important aspects about Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is the presence of the African American heritage. Before reading “Everyday Use”, the knowledge of the term Recovery literature is important. Recovery literature is a time that writers used their stories to represent the African American heritage, recalling aspects of slavery and the tight-knit communities of the rural south. Once realizing this, we further understand the true meaning behind “Everyday Use”. “Everyday Use” is about the Johnson family and most importantly Dee or Wangero as she is later called. We find that Dee know wants to represent her African heritage, but it truly is not her true heritage she is representing. She likes the idea of heritage and through her actions, we see that she has no means of continuing the common practices. In this story, the conflict of the butter churn, dasher, and quilts come into play about the Johnson

         Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944 in Georgia. She is a famous black -American writer who is concerned about the identity of black Americans, and especially the black female experience. Until 1960, black American literature was driven by black male writers such as Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Jean Toomer, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes. Because of discrimination, black women writers were not able to express themselves. They were restrained by society. There was a major resistance to conservative culture. Women writers who raised a hare in a society were Toni Morrison, Carolyn, Paule Marshall, Nikki Giovani, Alice Walker. Among them, a writer who was the most focused on the issue of discrimination and women’s right in black society was Alice Walker. Donna Seaman, a senior editor for Booklist, interviewed Alice Walker that “Segregation in Georgia, our apartheid, was a real blow to me. It was a real shock to see that people would actually spend their time making horrible laws and killing people and tearing down our school when, instead, they could be admiring what was all around them”. Even she was not allowed to enter a public library in her town because of racial discrimination. She had described her experiences of racism, human rights abuses, and discrimination since she was very young. Laurie McMillan said, “Walker is very aware of the history of oppression of African Americans, and she recognizes the importance of building a heritage to help African Americans thrive.” (113) Alice Walker went through many experiences influenced her views about herself as well views of everything that surrounded

The women of the late sixties, although some are older than others, in Alice Walker’s fiction that exhibit the qualities of the developing, emergent model are greatly influenced through the era of the Civil Rights Movement. Motherhood is a major theme in modern women’s literature, which examines as a sacred, powerful, and spiritual component of the woman’s life. Alice Walker does not choose Southern black women to be her major protagonists only because she is one, but because she had discovered in the tradition and history they collectively experience an understanding of oppression that has been drawn from them a willingness to reject the principle and to hold what is difficult. Walker’s most developed character, Meridian, is a person