Alice Walker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the novel The Color Purple (1982), draws on some of her own personal experiences, such as registering black voters, to create a realistic and heartrending account of the subtle but intense layers of social hierarchies of the American South during the years of the Civil Rights movement. The novel’s gritty scenes and dialogues confront readers with the physical and psychological effects resulting from the intense social changes of the time.

One primary theme of the novel is how the fight for social justice takes its toll on those working toward that end. It becomes clear in the novel that although a character may participate in a struggle for equality, this overarching, idealistic goal does not preclude selfish and chaotic behavior on the part of individuals working in the struggle.

Meridian is a character-driven novel, rather than one driven by plot, highlighting the feelings of fear and failure of its principal characters. The novel is structured into three main parts that roughly follow Meridian’s experiences from college to her independent but isolated self as a caring person who is unattached and free to love without the burdens of sex, abuse, and institutional baggage. Structurally, it is possible to regard Meridian’s development, her movement from naïveté to understanding, as an innovation of the classic bildungsroman.

The novel contains many historical references, realistically conveying the context of the American Civil Rights movement. Walker alludes to figures such as activist Medgar Evers and murdered student activists. A chapter describing the funeral of the assassinated Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., is also prominent.

The novel is more than a factual account of history, however. Walker imagines a tender, big-souled, albeit initially naïve protagonist whose name suggests the bloody division between the Old South and the potential for a new day. Meridian is an uncertain protagonist who grows toward self-confidence. She also symbolizes qualities beyond her individual character. It is possible to see her as a symbolic embodiment of the Civil Rights movement itself, young and growing, uncertain but idealistic. In the face of human failure along the way, she eventually is successful because of her sheer determination.

The cause that demanded equality for African Americans was greater than any individual. Through Walker’s vision of Meridian and the others in the novel, readers gain entrance into the particular, intense, and unpleasant intimacy of the people involved in that greater cause—one whose full fruition was probably beyond what even they could imagine. This novel is marked by the day-to-day working out of love and lust, hope and despair, and purpose and apathy within entangled human relationships.

Another critical theme in the novel is that of opposites working together. The truth of any situation is found not in the extremes but rather in the elastic interchange between polar opposites. To help the reader visualize the nuances of human behavior and motivation, Walker uses pairings in herstory: black/white, male/female, educated/uneducated, southern/northern, idealism/reality, capitalism/socialism, justice/injustice, violence/compassion, sacrifice/self-preservation, arrogance/humility, and aggressiveness/complacency. Walker establishes these opposing forces to engage her readers in the complexities of human behavior, especially as it affects personal motivation.

Perhaps Walker’s most developed pairing concerns gender. In several respects, Meridian is a feminist novel, in which girls and women face abusive, no-win situations with men and boys. In contrast, men and boys, despite their involvement in a just cause, are self-centered and directed by sexual urges, even rape. Walker powerfully leads readers to consider the psychological pain her female characters endure simply by being taken for granted, ignored, or misunderstood. Walker’s female characters, however, also demonstrate a confusing, sometimes ignorant, desperation. The chaos of the personal relationships between women and men cannot simply be blamed on male sexual aggression and sexism. Nevertheless, Walker’s storytelling suggests a simultaneous, complex view of human entanglements that persist despite high ideals.