Discussion Topic

Alice Walker's use of literary techniques to create mood and complex characters in "The Flowers."

Summary:

Alice Walker uses literary techniques such as vivid imagery, symbolism, and concise, impactful language to create mood and develop complex characters in "The Flowers." The story's detailed descriptions and the use of symbols like the noose contribute to a shift from a peaceful to a grim mood, revealing deeper layers of the protagonist's character and her loss of innocence.

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How does Alice Walker create the mood in "The Flowers?"

Walker skillfully creates one mood and then abruptly alters it in "The Flowers." She achieves this in describing Myop's actions, and sensory details to create vivid imagery. These words create such clear mental pictures that the reader may feel he or she is a part of the scene. Walker does this in a very brief amount of space—and Myop never speaks a word.

Sensory or descriptive details appeal to one of the five senses. It is autumn, and the colors of this day in the harvest season create a vision of nature in all its beauty, and convey Myop's excitement:

The harvesting of the corn and cotton, peanuts and squash, made each day a golden surprise that caused excited little tremors to run up her jaws.

Not only are the colors related to the "golden surprise" of the harvest, but also Myop's excitement becomes contagious. There is humor to...

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be found as we imagine Myop picking atfavored birds:

Myop carried a short, knobby stick. She struck out at random at chickens she liked...

There are possibilities for a stick in a child's hand—a magic wand, a glittering sword, or a drumstick—the details appeal to our sense of hearing:

[She] worked out the beat of a song on the fence around the pigpen...the tat-de-ta-ta-ta of accompaniment.

We can almost hear the clacking sound of the stick on fence, sounding high and then low with each plank of wood the stick passes over—hitting wood, then air, then wood again. There is a sense not only of touch, which the author creates in us, but that of warmth—and safety:

She felt light and good in the warm sun.

Walker then describes the plants Myop collects—this passage appeals to our sense of sight—with "velvety ridges," "blue" flowers, "brown" buds, and fragrance.

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.

At noon, when the sky is high and the sun would be hot, Myop finds herself in part of the countryside she does not visit as often. The shift of the mood is subtle as she finds herself in this "gloomy" cove, and the sensory details responsible for the mood change appeal to our sense of touch and sound:

The air was damp, the silence close and deep.

This signals a change in Myop's day—like stepping into a graveyard. Myop turns toward safer, more familiar land, but steps on the brittle remains of a man long dead. This does not frighten her. Instead, Myop is curious, as she is about all of nature. And in many ways, he has become one with nature. Then that she sees the beautiful flower:

Very near where she'd stepped into the head was a wild pink rose.

Walker sets us up here: roses bring to mind love. 

Usually, pink roses are used to express gentle emotions such as admiration, joy and gratitude.

Myop has felt all of these things today: it would seem the bud is her crowning achievement, added to a large group of plants the child has already amassed. The rose, however, distracts the reader. When we return to Myop's activities, we discover a horror we'd rather not see, and one Myop has ostensibly never seen:

It was the rotted remains of a noose...Around an overhanging...oak clung another piece.

As if on a grave, Myop lays down her flowers. We can infer some sense of her possible reaction:

And the summer was over.

This can also mean that Myop's innocence is gone.

The mood is created with plot development and sensory details.

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How does Alice Walker use literary techniques to express lost innocence 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 emphasizes that messages is through contrast.  Myop and her happy jaunt through the forest is described using very long sentences filled with flowery details of the beautiful day and Myop's happy mood.  For example, take this sentence:

"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."

Here we have a long, descriptive sentence, that describes in detail a type of flower along Myop's path.  The story is filled with such calm, happy descriptions.  Contrast that with the final line of the story:  "And the summer was over."  The stark contrast is startling, noticable and points out the import of the message:  Summer, happiness, and Myop's meandering innocence was over, and very abruptly.

Another tool that Walker uses is symbolism.  Note that Alice Walker doesn't say "And Myop lost her innocence and realized what a horrible place the world can be" at the end.  What she DOES say is that "the summer was over."  Summer, in the story, symbolizes the innocence of childhood.  So do the flowers; right before "the summer was over" comes the line, "Myop laid down her flowers," which symbolizes Myop setting aside her innocence and happiness.  As she walks through the forest earlier, she gathers a lot of flowers; her arms were filled with them.  They were various and beautiful, as described in the line above.  So too was her happiness and innocence.  But at the recognition of evil in the world, that innocence was no longer possible.  Walker symbolizes that through the flowers and the summer.

I hope that those thoughts help to get you started; good luck!

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How does Alice Walker use literary techniques 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 unique, but limited perspective. Her name evokes short-sightedness or myopia, a condition linked with her innocence, which is abruptly ended as the story develops. Although Walker uses an unnamed third-person narrator, this narrator primarily speaks from Myop’s perspective. The child’s carefree attitude is revealed through imagery, such as her attitude toward a summer day when she is free to appreciate the “golden sunshine” that illuminates the farm and surrounding fields.

The imagery and the child’s actions and attitudes are well matched. Walker’s images draw on other senses, not just vision. Myop is not only carefree in appreciating her environment but also creative, as she devotes her energies to making music: “nothing existed for her but her song.” The senses of touch and smell are also evoked, as the girl’s fingers stroke the “velvety ridges” of the blue flowers and detect the aroma of “fragrant buds.”

Walker uses foreshadowing to indicate the story may take a different direction. As Myop walks, she shows some caution, “vaguely keeping an eye out for snakes.” The danger of a possible bite hints of other possible negative events, and the sinuous form of a snake also foreshadows the rope she will later find. The connection to her personal development is indicated by her unique experience of making her own path that day.

A change in tone is marked as Myop loses her way. As she gets farther from home, her solitude is matched by the unpleasant novelty of the “gloomy … little cover,” which is strange and unlike her customary “haunts.” This change signals Myop’s unpleasant discovery. In using Myop’s perspective, Walker makes the reader share her first thought, that a stranger’s eyes are looking at her.

Finally Walker uses a metaphor comparing the seasons to human development. She indicates the profound transformation effected by the child’s discoveries. Never again able to blithely enjoy the warm sunny weather, from learning first-hand about lynching, Myop’s innocence has ended: “And the summer was over.”

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