The Flowers by Alice Walker free essay sample

â€Å"The Flowers† by Alice Walker is a short story written in the 1970’s. The story focuses on Myop, a ten year old African American girl who loves to explore the land in which she lives. Carefree and naive, Myop decides to travel further away from her ‘Sharecropper cabin’ and travels deep inside the woods to unfamiliar land where she discovers the decomposed body of an African American man. It is then Myop quickly grows up and suddenly becomes aware of the world in which she lives. The story relies on setting and symbolism to convey the theme of departing innocence. Firstly the author wants to create an astonishing and radient world in which Myop lives in with beautiful sceery and picturesque skies. To do this her descriptions of the setting is strong and detailed, for example, â€Å"skipped lightly from hen house to pigpen to smokehouse†. This highlights that Myop lives on a fairly big bit of land perhaps a farm which is filled with different kinds of animals, also the quote â€Å"the days had never been as beautiful as these† portrays that this is one of the best days of the year so far and it leaves the reader thinking, could anything go wrong to change that? Walker also tells the reader what time of year it is by describing what Myop does everyday, â€Å"The harvesting of the corn and cotton, peanuts and squash, made everyday a golden surprise†. The word â€Å"harvesting† shows that it is around the end of summer beginning of autumn and the phrase â€Å"golden surprise† reminds us that Myop is still a young girl and gets excited very easily, the world is a magical place for her. In paragraph two, Alice Walker reminds us again how young, naive and carefree Myop is, â€Å"She struck out at random chickens she liked, and worked out the beat of a song on the fence† and the quote â€Å"she was ten, and nothing existed for her but her song†. This conveys that Myop does not have a care in the world, the only thing on her mind right now is â€Å"her song† and it is as if Myop is in her own little dream world. The author then goes back to describing the scenery, â€Å"She felt light and good in the warm sun†. This tells the reader that it is still early in the morning as the sun is still bright and high in the sky. Walker still continues to illustrate the setting throughout paragraph three where she says â€Å"silver ferns and wildflowers grew†. Again this tells the reader that Myop’s surroundings are beautiful, tranquil and peaceful. Alice then goes on to tell us that Myop lives in a â€Å"sharecropper cabin† which gives across a strong sense of safety as it is familiar and family orientated. Added to this, the writer’s use of symbolism strengthens this idea of attractiveness and inexperience, Myop’s name being the main symbol. Myop is short for Myopia. The name given to short-sightedness. This is used as a metaphor as Myop’s naivety, then as the story goes on Myop opens her eyes to see what the real world is like and the author mentions her name less. Another symbol used in paragraph 2 is the â€Å"warm sun†. This symbolises the light and life of the world. It is a time when people are supposed to be awake and no body should be sleeping but this is later contrasted further on in the story. All the setting and scenery described gives an image of the Garden of Eden- paradise – a place everyone wants to be, where nothing bad can happen up until one critical moment when Eve eats the apple and everything forever changes. This gives the reader an insight in to the rest of the story but still leaves them wondering what could happen next. However the atmosphere begins to change halfway through the story. The setting becomes like the Garden of Eden, after the fall- â€Å"an armful of strange blue flowers†. This shows that the atmosphere is starting to change the further away from home she is. It is unfamiliar territory and being far from home means that nobody is around to guide her on her way, â€Å"Today she made her own path, bouncing this way and that way†. This portrays that Myop does not know where she is going, she is starting to make her own way in life and does not need an adult to guide her. It also shows that Myop is again, moving further away from home and the safety of her usual environment and it is leading to a darker and abnormal place in which Myops world, does not exist. Again, Alice Waler describes the setting to build up to a climactic event,† By twelve o’clock†. This mirrors Myop’s progress- at midday the sun is at its warmest yet Myop is walking towards a dark place where no light is shining through. Walker continues to build he climactic event when she says â€Å"she was a mile or more from home†. This leaves the reader asking themselves ‘Is this too far for a ten year old? ’ Also the quote â€Å"The air was damp† illustrates that the surroundings were unpleasant and frightening and to emphisise this, the quote â€Å"the silence was close and deep† creates tention and gives a sense that it is a well hidden environment that is extremely quiet and deserted. Again symbolism is linked with setting in conveying the idea that innocence and beauty are threatened, â€Å"vaguely keeping an eye out for snakes†. This reminds us of the Garden of Eden when the devil disguised himself as a snake. The snake is a representative of evil and it tells you something bad is about to happen and creates a sense of fear and curiousity. Towards the end of the story there is a dramatic twist where Myop’s angelic ways are exposed and are at risk of existing no more, â€Å"she stepped smack into his eyes†. Myop at this point does not know what she has found and reacts naturally as she â€Å"reached down quickly, unafraid, to free herself†. Myop’s innocence is –to a degree- still under threat at this point, â€Å"It was only when she saw his naked grin that she gave a little yelp†. The words â€Å"naked grin† hint at something more sinister and serious. Myop has just found out that her world is not as she had thought it was for all these years and she is more curious than before. In paragraph 7 Alice Walker describes the corpse in detail and Myop’s innocence disappears altogether, â€Å"His head lay beside him† tells the reader that the man’s head is decapitated. Added to this the quote â€Å"all of them cracked or broken† conveys that this man had taken a real beating before his death and that may have been the cause of his death. As the story goes into paragraph 8, Myop then discovers the real cause of death and is aware of how evil the world can be, â€Å"rotted remains of a noose†. This portrays that the man had been hung and gradually Myop understands what has happened and realises the truth about racism. The final part of the story is full of symbolism being a sign of evil and death,she pushed back the leaves and layers of earth and debris†. Myop is brushing away her own innocence, all the layers of lies to expose the truth and finds the body, which is a symbol of injustice and evil. However amongst the symbols of darkness there is a hint of beauty. For example â€Å"wild pink rose†. A rose is a symbol of beauty and love, its attractive therefore it’s prettiness interreges Myop and she goes to investigate. As Myop gets closer to the rose she finds that â€Å"rotted remains of a noose† is wrapped around the rose. This is symbolic for killing beauty. It tells us that no matter what race you are, you are beautiful but sadly not everyone thinks so, which is what the thorns on the rose represent. Another symbolic item is the flowers that Myop has been collection on her journey, â€Å"Myop laid down her flowers†. This is a symbol of remorse, a sign of respect for the man as this is where Myop’s inheritance has come from and as she puts down the flowers and as paragraph nine says, â€Å"And the summer was over† Myop walks away she is leaving her innocence behind. To conclude, setting and symbolism are enormously important techniques in â€Å"The Flowers† and Alice Walker has portrayed these extremely well all throughout the story. The character Myop gives insight into another life that nobody would normally experience so it is a good read and I enjoyed analysing it. â€Å"The Flowers† By Alice Walker Megan McPhail x