Alice Walker
Alice WalkerThere are many different types of authors in the world of
literature, authors of horror, romance, suspense, and the type that
Alice Walker writes, through personal experiences. Although most
critics categorize her writings as feminist, Walker describes herself
as a "womanist", she defines this as "a woman who loves other
woman...Appreciates and prefers woman culture, woman's emotional
flexibility... and woman's strength... Loves the spirit... Loves
herself, Regardless". Walker's thoughts and feelings show through in
her writing of poetry and novels. Alice Walker writes through her
feelings and the morals that she has grown with, she writes about the
black woman's struggle for spiritual wholeness and sexual, political,
and racial equality.
Much of Walker's fiction is informed by her Southern background.
She was born in Eatonton, Georgia, a rural town where most blacks
worked as tenant farmers. At the age eight she was blinded in the
right eye when an older brother accidentally shot her with a BB gun,
after which she fell into somewhat of a depression. She secluded
herself from the other children, and as she explained, "I no longer
felt like the little girl I was. I felt old, and because I felt I was
unpleasant to look at, filled with shame. I retreated into solitude,
and read stories and began to write poems." In 1961 Walker won a
scholarship to Spelman College in Atlanta, where she became involved
in the civil rights movement and participated in sit-ins at local
business establishments. She transferred to Sarah Lawrence College in
Bronxville, New York, graduating from there in 1965. She met her
future husband Melvyn Leventhal, a Jewish civil rights attorney, in
Mississippi where she was an activist and teacher. In 1967 Walker and
Leventhal married, becoming the first legally married interracial
couple to reside in Jackson, the state capital, they had one child
together one year after they got married, named Rebecca . They
divorced in 1976. Since then Walker has focused more on her writing
and has taught at various colleges and universities.
Walker is one of the most prolific black women writers in
America. Her work consistently reflects her concern with racial,
sexual, and political issues-particularly with black woman's struggle
for survival. She explained, "The black woman is one of America's
greatest heroes�.Not enough credit has been given to the black woman
who has been oppressed beyond recognition." Walker's insistence on
giving black women their due resulted in one of the most widely read
novels in America today, Alice's third novel, "The Color Purple". The
was the first book I had read by Alice Walker, the novel traces
thirty years in the life of Celie, a poor Southern black woman who is
victimized physically and emotionally by her step-father and husband.
While in her teens, Celie is repeatedly raped by her step-father, who
sells the children. Then she is placed in a loveless marriage to
Albert, who also beats and torments her continuously. She eventually
finds...
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