In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens by Alice Walker - Summary
Black women who were able to create such
as Phillis Wheatley and Zora Hurston had divided loyalties, between black and
white cultures. They were raised in both and their art is not genuinely hers
but confused due to this. Many have criticized Wheatley's poetry for glorifying
white people but Walker understands that art for Phyllis was a soulful practice
and it sustained her.
This is not the end of the story, for the
next generation of black women has survived. There is now the quest for black
female identity. Society is not understanding of this strife.
The question arises of how so many women
were in touch with their spirituality despite of the oppression and abuse.
Walker tells the story of her mother, who
eloped at seventeen in the late 1920s. Walker is the youngest of eight
children. Her mother worked tirelessly in the fields and at home all day. She
found spirituality and creativity in her domestic undertakings, such as the
planting of magnificent gardens, the only medium available to her. These
expressions of creativity were anonymous, but they live on in Walker's stories.
Not only the dry facts live on but their spirit. Walker feels an urgency to
preserve them.
When her mother works in the garden, she
is brilliant and radiant. She makes beauty within the poverty in which they
lived. Such ability is characteristic of black women. Through this exploration
of her mother's heritage she found her expressive creativity. In this way, many
other mothers leave their marks on their children, and inspire them through the
spirit and beauty that they recognized to create themselves.
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