“Respectable, reclaimed, renewed. Free!” Alice Walker was a poet and author like no other. Not only does she write from personal experience and her very own emotions, but she also incorporates plenty of detail, which provides the reader with a common theme throughout each of her pieces. Walker is an African-American woman who lived a rough life through poverty and unhappiness. She grew up having unexpected pregnancies, unwanted marriages, and overall, an unhappy life, which is why she encompasses these topics into her stories. Who knew that through all of these dreadful experiences, an amazing writer would evolve. Each story she has written connects with the overall theme of coming of age. Two of these wonderfully written pieces…show more content… Walker has a very unique style of writing, which eventually makes the dispute more dramatic. In fact, in “Roselily”, distinctive syntax is depicted like no other writing piece has ever been. Since it takes place at a wedding, the author broke up each paragraph with the priest giving his introductory speech. Walker wrote, “Dearly Beloved,… we are gathered here… in the sight of God… to join this man and woman… in holy matrimony…” It can be believed that the author wrote this due to the overall conflict, which was Roselily getting married to the man. Each time her mind would trail off and think about her past life instead of the actual wedding, the words that the priest spoke always placed her back into reality. Alice Walker also wrote, “She loves his sobriety. His refusal to sing just because he knows the tune. She loves his pride. His blackness and his gray car. She loves his understanding of…” By using short sentences that include repetition, it causes the writing to have more of a dramatic effect. Also, it adds to the reader’s understanding of the conflict since it mentions what the character, Roselily, loves about the man she is marrying. She is very conflicted, and the syntax also proves that as well. Comparably, in “The Flowers”, Walker uses great syntax again to display the conflict better. However, she does it a little differently than she did in “Roselily”. It…show more content… For instance, in “Roselily”, Walker’s use of figurative language and strong diction emphasize the theme throughout the story. Walker states, “She thinks of the something as a rat trapped, cornered, scurrying to and fro in her head, peering through the windows of her eyes.” Roselily was talking about her tears when making this comparison, but it seemed as if they were tears of joy. However, before this happened, the author had stated, “A lifetime of black and white.” This meant that Roselily would be living a life that did not consist of anything special, and she wouldn’t be able to change it. At first, Roselily was pessimistic due to the marriage and all of the negatives that came along with it. However, she eventually changed, and starts crying tears of joy. This depicts the theme of coming of age since the character, Roselily, changed from being a despairing young girl, to a courageous woman. Additionally, in the story “The Flowers”, Walker chooses to use symbolism to represent the theme rather than figurative language. She states, “She found, in addition to various common but pretty ferns and leaves, an armful of strange blue flowers with velvety ridges and a sweet suds bush full of the brown, fragrant buds.” These flowers are a representation of the innocence Myop has, as well as her ignorance and youth. As for the diction used, Walker
