THE STORIES – NOVELS
Question 1
Everyday Use – NOVEL
One of the most outstanding characters in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is Dee. The mother who is the speaker of the novel compares the lifestyle of her two daughters, Dee and Maggy. Though living a poor humble lifestyle she has always dreamt of providing a better life for her children and more especially Dee who has never really fit into the humble family background of the family. She dreams of being a fine young woman being welcomed to TV programs accompanied by her daughter Dee. Dee is motivated to have a better life due to the poor background she had (Walker, 1994).
As Maggie and her mother prepare for Dee’s arrival, they prepare the yard which they also use as their extended living room. Though simple they do their best. Dee wanted to have the nice things in life, unlike her sister Maggie she did not want to remain poor, at age sixteen she already had a style of her own. She made her own friends and hated the house they lived in so much that she was glad when it burnt down. Her determination to have a better life seeds her succeed in life as we see her pull out of the car dressed in a bright yellow and orange dress, gold earrings and bangles. She is also prettier and lighter than her sister Maggie who has always lived a withdrawn lifestyle full of fear of the world. Dee comes home with a boyfriend who Dee’s mother cynically refers to as ‘Asalamalakim’. Due to the change with her life Dee has even chosen to change her and to Wangero, in an attempt to forget the past difficult childhood that she went through (Walker, 1994).
Question 2
Holly house, August Wilson “Come and Gone”
Each of the tenants in the holly house is in search of something physical but also in need of something spiritual. One such character is Bynum Walker; he is portrayed as an African conjurer who is engage in African rituals such as killing and burying of birds which disturbs Seth. Bynum appears comfortable with his identity as a n African and does not see the problem with conducting his spiritual acts which his neighbors call voodoo. With stringent focus on his African roots Bynum is able to find his spiritual identity as he is also in the possession of charms that he says brings him good luck as well as untraditional remedies (Wilson, 2011).
Bynum also plays drums and sings African music. This is clear indication that he is still in touch with this African roots regardless of living in a predominantly while neighborhood. Bynum is also in search of a “shiny man”. According to Bynum the “shiny man” promised to explain to Bynum the secrets of life. Bynum also had a spiritual encounter with the shiny man where he believes he encountered the ghosts of his father who asked him to find the song of his life. Bynum is able to find the song, which he refers to a song that is he uses to bind people together. Bynum is a sixty year old man who is a freed slave from the south. Through Bynum, we are able to see the African-American fight to regain and find their identity as they also attempt to retain their roots. Through Bynum the themes of migration and identity are clearly portrayed (Wilson, 2011).
Questions 3
‘Doc Story’ John Edgar Widerman
Doc’s story embraces a psychological framework; it is a short fictional story that is told on the backdrop of a neighborhood park in Philadelphia. The story revolves around the life of the narrator who recently lost his girlfriend. Having lost the love of his life he spends time around his neighborhood engrossed in the conversation of the African American’s that regularly meet at the neighborhoods basketball court. The narrator passes time by listening to the stories that the African Americans are constantly engaged in (Widerman, 1992).
Question 4
How it feels to be colored me
This is a descriptive essay that seeks to explore and discover her identity and pride as an African American. By using rich diction imagery and in some instances figurative language and a conversational tone, the essay begins with a description of Hurston’s childhood in Florida. The recollection of her childhood is vividly descriptive as the writer describes her encounters with the neighbors, the moment she engaged in song and street dances. She describes her early childhood as comfortable. However with the passing of her mother she was moved to a boarding school where she for the first time became conscious of her color. Throughout the essay Hurston is determined to overcome the rampant racial discrimination in her life (Hurston, 1996).
In the essay it is evident that the narrator who is African American is struggling to overcome racial discrimination as a result of the color of her skin. White supremacy refers to the dominance of the white communities over the rest of the races in the community. For instance the narrator being black suffered with the fact that she was colored a fact that she had not realized until she was thirteen and was sent to a boarding school.
The narrator did not have a problem with individuals of different colors. In fact she states that when she saw white people she just saw them as “people who drove by their town”. The realization that she was different from the rest of her school mates whop were mainly white meant that she had to also realize the rest of the people around her were racially different from her. When she was young she recalls that the white people who passed by her neighborhood like to hear her sing and would occasionally give her “small silver” as a reward. The narrator overcame the white supremacy mentality in her new school by believing that she was ‘not tragically colored” and for that she did no mind being colored. It was however a struggle as always there was someone who reminded her that she is “the granddaughter of slaves” (Hurston, 1996)
Reference
Hurston, Z. (1996).How it feels to be colored. Retrieved from http://www.jjuriaan.com/How_It_Feels_to_be_Colored_Me.pdf on 14th May 2011.
Wilson, A. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.bookrags.com/content/studyguides/?p=guides&u=joeturnerscomegone 14th May 2
Walker, A. (1994). Everyday use. Rutgers University Press
Widerman, J. (1992). The stories of John Edgar Wideman.University of Michigan
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