The Flowers Questions and Answers
The Flowers
The Flowers By Alice Walker
The main theme of this short story is the fall from innocence. Myop, a child, has lived a sheltered life in the idyllic "garden" of her home. As summer ends and fall comes, every day seems to her...
The Flowers
Myop
Myop's name probably indicates that she is, figuratively, "short-sighted," or myopic. In Alice Walker's short story "The Flowers," Myop does not remain short-sighted but only begins the story that...
The Flowers
What is the plot structure of "The Flowers" by Alice Walker?
Plot refers to the series of events that occur in a story and the order in which they take place, and structure refers to the way these events are organized as well as their relationship to one...
The Flowers
The Flowers By Alice Walker
As the previous answers have noted, The Flowers is a story of childhood innocence, and the loss of that innocence due to the hash realities of the world. However, it is in many ways a story of...
The Flowers
Was Myop affected by her discovery of the dead man in "The Flowers" by Alice Walker?
This is a good question, because the story doesn't really go into detail about her thoughts, feelings or fears. Instead, it only shows what she does. So, we have to infer what she is feeling,...
The Flowers
How does Alice Walker use literary techniques to express the theme of how innocence is lost in "The Flowers"?
Even though "The Flowers" is not a long story, it is filled with amazing descriptions and details, and contains a profound message of lost innocence at the end. One way that Alice Walker...
The Flowers
What might the flowers symbolize?
Alice Walker's story "The Flowers" is about a child's loss of innocence. More particularly, it is about a black child's confrontation with the brutality of racism. Myop is a ten-year-old girl, the...
The Flowers
In the short story "The Flowers," how do we know that the dead man is actually a black man ?
This story is about Myop's loss of innocence, driven by her realization that the world is not kind to black people, like herself. We are explicitly told that Myop has "dark brown" skin. While the...
The Flowers
How does Alice Walker create the mood in "The Flowers?"
Walker uses the details of setting and juxtaposition to create an ominous and eventually bleak mood in "The Flowers." As the story opens, it is autumn. The protagonist, young Myop, skips as she...
The Flowers
What is the significance of the final sentence "and the summer was over" in Alice Walker's short story "The Flowers"?
Ten-year-old Myop is cheerfully gathering flowers on a summer day, feeling happy and carefree. She goes into the woods she has explored many times before to search for more flowers. This time, she...
The Flowers
What does Myop's name add to the other features of her characterization in "The Flowers" by Alice Walker?
"Myop" is an unusual name and perhaps is short for "Myopia," which is the condition of being near-sighted. We're not given any information about Myop's name; perhaps it was chosen because the word...
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What are the symbols and their representations in "The Flowers," by Alice Walker? What is the significance of the...
There are many symbolic references related to nature in this story, so I'll focus my efforts there since the previous educators have given a great explanation of some of the others. Cotton appears...
The Flowers
What is the conflict in "The Flowers"?
The key conflict in this story is between innocence and experience, or the innocence of Myop, the key character, in her childlike wonder and attitude to the world, and then the state of experience...
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What does the last line,"And the summer was over" interpret at the end?
This line represents the theme and the conflict resolution simultaneously. The theme is the loss of innocence, seen in Myop's abrupt realization of the evil that men are capable of. At the same...
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Where does "The Flowers" use figurative language?
Walker uses onomatopoeia early in the story to convey the lighthearted ease with which Myop taps out the beat of a song with her stick: She was ten, and nothing existed for her but song, the stick...
The Flowers
What is the point of view of the story "The Flowers" by Alice Walker?
The point of view for most of Alice Walker's "The Flowers" is that of an omniscient narrator, but it becomes third person objective near the story's end. For most of the story, the narrator knows...
The Flowers
How does Alice Walker establish the setting and atmosphere in the first two paragraphs of "The Flowers"?
Alice Walker's short story "Flowers" is notable for its compactness and brevity. The author wastes no words in establishing the setting and atmosphere in the first two paragraphs, using a series...
The Flowers
Explain the theme of the loss of innocence in "The Flowers" by Alice Walker and what the theme shows. The theme of...
This very short, short story surely packs a punch in the end. The simple title of "The Flowers" starts the reader on a positive note and the majority of the descriptions in the first paragraph...
The Flowers
What is the conflict in "The Flowers"?
The conflict in "The Flowers" is that of a child's life of dreamy beauty and innocent happiness clashing with the cruel reality of racial hatred and its death message. When Myop, (whose name...
The Flowers
In The Flowers by Alice Walker, what does the noose represent?
As with most interpretations of Walker's "The Flowers," the noose represents the harsh reality Myop is now perceiving. The noose creates Myop's loss of innocence, but its symbolic representation...
The Flowers
How does Alice Walker use the symbol of flowers to show Myop’s coming-of-age experience? Use text from The Flowers to...
The flowers in this story work in tandem with many other symbols to indicate Myop's coming-of-age and her loss of innocence. In order to gather the flowers, she must "[turn] her back on the rusty...
The Flowers
In "The Flowers," by Alice Walker, why is it ironic that the protagonist lays down the flowers?
In the story, Myop only lays down her flowers after she discovers the noose. Prior to this, she notices a wild, pink rose she wants to add to her collection of flowers. In the act of lifting up the...
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How does the story "The Flowers" by Alice Walker relate to society?
On its surface, and almost until the very end, "The Flowers" seems to be a sweet little tale about a girl, Myop, who is enjoying a stroll through the forest. She is young, happy, innocent and...
The Flowers
What is the central use of consequence and one writing strategy used in "The Flowers" by Alice Walker, such as...
Tone is used very effectively in the story to help the reader see the little girl’s loss of innocence. Tone is the author’s attitude toward the subject. You can tell the tone from the diction....
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What is the significance of the noose in "The Flowers" by Alice Walker?
It isn't just the discovery of a human skull that changes Myop. She is “unafraid” and only gives “a little yelp of surprise” having stepped on the skull. It’s the noose that finally establishes the...
The Flowers
What lesson is Walker trying to get the reader to learn in "The Flowers"?
Walker's brief and haunting story suggests that appearances are deceiving. Myop is a happy young child enjoying a summer's day. She is skipping through the woods, carrying flowers, and enjoying...
The Flowers
Although Myop is surprised, she does not change as a character immediately. What specifically forces her to change?...
Myop’s unexpected introduction to the brutal and grisly aspect of the world brings about a change in her. Until now, her world began and ended with the woods, the stream, flowers, pigs and chickens...
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What effect does the title of the story have on the reader? Is the title fitting?
Think about the images or feelings you associate with flowers. Usually, flowers are a thing of beauty. People give flowers to their loved ones or use them to decorate their own homes. For most...
The Flowers
In "The Flowers" by Alice Walker, what is the location of the crime scene that the dead man in the woods is found?...
"The Flowers" by Alice Walker is a very short story, and because of its length, there is not a terrible amount of explicit detail about setting. But thanks to Walker's prowess as a short story...
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What do paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 of "The Flowers" reveal about Myop's life?
Paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 reveal that Myop lives the simple life of a sharecropper's daughter. As sharecroppers, her family is presumably poor; so, Myop's play consists of her exploration of the...
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How does Alice Walker use literary techniques and elements to create a complex character in “The Flowers”?
In her story “The Flowers,” Alice Walker creates a complex character in Myop by using a variety of literary techniques and elements. The narrative remains focused on the little girl and offers her...
The Flowers
What inspired Myop to change?
Myop’s confrontation with the grim and dark reality of the world surrounding her induced the change in her. So far cocooned in parental love and care, Myop had been living in her own innocent and...
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What create tension in the story "The Flowers"?
In "The Flowers" by Alice Walker, the author uses several phrases and suggestions to build tension until the short story reaches its unexpected and tragic ending. The story begins with a...
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What surprised you most about reading "The Flowers"? Why was this a surprise?
This is obviously a subjective question that could only be answered in earnest by the person asked. However, there is one very obvious moment that is incredibly shocking in Alice Walker's "The...
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How is the theme of death present in the short story "The Flowers" by Alice Walker?
The most obvious way that death is present as a theme is through the fact that Myop discoveres an actual dead person in the forest, and has to come to the harsh reality that people die, and...
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What might be the intention of the story "The Flowers"?
Walker's intention was to remind readers of racism in this country, and that the racism has a base in history. If we forget the history, we are doomed to repeat it. The history comes in the...
The Flowers
How does Myop's poverty compare to other kinds of poverty (e.g., that of someone who is poor and lives in the city)?
Alice Walker’s “The Flowers” is about an afternoon in the life of Myop, the daughter of sharecroppers in post-Civil War America. Although the story is quite brief, Walker paints a vivid picture of...
The Flowers
What is a movie or a story that compares to the story "The Flowers " by Alice Walker
One of the themes of "The Flowers" is that a young child is not shocked or frightened or even sickened at coming across a dead body. The girl even steps on the body without much of a reaction. A...
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Using examples, compare the story "The Flowers" by Alice Walker to the movie "Crash" by Paul Haggis.
Alice Walker's story "The Flowers" is similar to Paul Haggis' Crash in the sense that both works explore the theme of racism and its effects on society. In "The Flowers," a little girl's innocence...
The Flowers
How does Walker characterize Myop in "The Flowers"?
As the story opens, Myop is characterized as a naive and innocent young girl who thinks of the world as a beautiful place. At ten years old, she feels "light" and "good" and is enjoying the summer...
The Flowers
In "The Flowers" by Alice Walker, why was that an important day for Myop to "make her own path?"
In this story, Myop is 10 years old, which is an age right on the cusp of adulthood, but still firmly standing in the world of childhood. She is carefree, life is good, she feels safe, protected...
The Flowers
How does Myop understand death in "The Flowers"?
The short story "The Flowers" by Alice Walker tells of an ten-year-old African American girl named Myop who lives in a sharecropper cabin with her family. She is innocent and carefree as she...
The Flowers
How is the theme of discovery conveyed throughout the text?
Walker uses carefully-chosen language and symbolism to convey the theme of discovery in this short story. Her protagonist, Myop, has a name which connotes short-sightedness or myopia and,...
The Flowers
in "The Flowers," is Myop a slave?
As it is more implied that "The Flowers" takes place during the Reconstruction era and that Myop is the daughter of sharecroppers, it is safe to say that she herself is not a slave. The most...
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Why does "The Flowers" end with the line "And the summer was over"?
"The Flowers" by Alice Walker is a powerful short story about a young girl's discovery of death in the beauty of nature. I believe the answer to your question lies in the setting itself. At the...
The Flowers
Where does Alice Walker's story "The Flowers" take place?
In her story "The Flowers," Alice Walker does not specify the overall geographic location. Because Walker generally writes about the United States, the reader can infer that this story also has a...
The Flowers
Is ignorance bliss in Alice Walker’s short story “The Flowers”?
One may be happier in certain situations when one’s oblivious to the truth, but calling ignorance bliss wouldn't, perhaps, be right. In the story “The Flowers,” Myop’s existence, until she...
The Flowers
What is the significant difference of events in the lives of the two young characters of "The Flower" by Alice Walker...
The main difference between what occurs in the two young lives of the protagonists of Walker's and Updike's stories is that the loss of a romantic notion of life is forced upon Myop while Sammy...
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How does imagery develop the setting in the opening paragraphs of the story "The Flowers"?
The opening paragraphs of "The Flowers" portray a pastoral scene of rustic and natural beauty and peace. Walking outside at a sharecropper's farm, Myop delights in nature: The air held a keenness...
The Flowers
Why was the narrator's attention drawn to the English girl?
In Alice Walker's "The Flowers," the narrator shows the aftermath of a lynching through the eyes of an innocent young girl named Myop, who happens to be collecting flowers when she finds the body....
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