Possessing the Secret of Joy (Masterplots II: Women’s Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Alice Walker
- First Published: 1992
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The last half of the twentieth century
- Setting: California and a village in Africa
- Principal Characters: Tashi, Adam, Olivia, Lisette, Benny (Bentu Moraga), Pierre, M’Lissa, Mbati, Raye, Mzee (Old Man), Dura
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: African Americans, North America or North Americans, Suffering, United States or Americans, Africa or Africans, Tradition, Sexism, Blacks, Sex or sexuality, Murder or homicide, Twentieth century, Gender roles, California, West, U.S., Pain, Women’s issues, Adultery, Multiculturalism, Women, Revenge, Rites or ceremonies
- Locales: Africa, California
Form and Content
Possissing the Secret of Joy, which Alice Walker dedicates “with tenderness and respect to the blameless Vulva,” is divided into twenty-one parts; each is the reflection of one of the characters. The story is prefaced by a quote from Walker’s novel The Color Purple (1982), and the last section is told by Tashi’s soul after she has been shot by the firing squad. The sections are not in chronological order, and many relate African legends and myths that the characters are learning and that help them to explain genital mutilation and the...
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See Also:
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