Alice Walkers Roselily - Two Stories in One :: Walker Roselily Essays

Alice Walkers Roselily - Two Stories in mavin In the short level Roselily, Alice Walker tells two stories in one. The just nearly obvious point is the one about the Black American char Roselily, who stands before the alter, just about to marry a muslim, while she thinks about her past, wonders about the future and is questioning wheter she is making the right choice. The other, hidden story is the story about Black American women in general, their history and their ongoing search for something break-dance. The way I understand the short story, Roselilys story is, as it is presented to the reader through Roselilys thoughts as she is in the middle of her wedding, a reflection of Black Americans (and womens in particular) situation around the 1960s. At this time, Blacks are free Americans with the equal rights as other Americans, in theory. Roselily is an individual woman of her time, but being a single mother of quad children, working long hours for to the highest degree w ish wellly lousy wages in a secure plant, she is far from free. The Blacks are no longer slaves in the cotton fields, they are now paid slaves in the refinement industry. Roselily is most aware of her situation, and she is willing to leave her past and start a smart life with a new man. She has probably been searching for a better life for quite some time, by being with different men, who altogether could give her a child, but not a new life. I am sensing an urge in Roselily, to move on, symbolized by both the cars described in the short story They are constantly touching from one place to another, they give you mobility, prevent you from being stuck somewhere you do not want to be. Roselily knows that she does not want to stay in the sewing plant, she knows that she wants to move on to something better, but she does not know what better is, and she for sure doubts if what she has chosen will be better than what she had. Her divided personality is like the different groups o f Blacks in the civil rights movements. Some Blacks cherished segregation, some cherished their own nation, some wanted to be more African, some wanted to live like the White Americans, some were Muslims and some were Christians. They all hold that their current situation was not acceptable, but they did not know how to correct it.