The Flower Alice Walker

In the story “The Flower”, "...the days had never been as beautiful as these...each day a golden surprise." Surprise is the element Alice Walker presents in her story "The Flowers." It is at the heart of the meaning of this story which is driven forward by imagery, setting, and diction. This story catches you off guard with a sudden twist and changes your emotions a full 180 degrees; as you start to realize the severity of the situation and the times. At the beginning of the story, Walker utilizes diction that creates an atmosphere of childhood innocence. Myop, the main character, "skipped lightly." Walker describes the harvests, which demonstrates "excited little tremors" in Myop as she anticipates the new day. This diction continues into
In line 23, Myop wants to return to her house, to the "peacefulness of the morning." But, while she could turn her back on the reality of her poverty, she will not be able to ignore the next truth that hits her. In line 24, "Stepping smack into his eyes," Myop encounters death, but is unafraid as she "frees herself." She is filled with innocent curiosity and gazes "around the spot with interest." Ironically, as she picks her "wild pink rose," a symbol of beauty, she spots the noose and has her epiphany. This brings the reader full circle into another sense of feeling, this is no longer innocence, it is the time of segregation and lynching’s and killings of African Americans. The transition in image, setting, and diction all propel Walker's theme--the coming of age. In the last paragraph Myop picks up the flowers and places her bouquet in front of the lynched man. It is as if she is at a funeral, as if she has sobered from her carefree state to one of realization. For, in the last line, the images of the beginning are finally crushed. Myop can no longer return to the world of flower-gathering or sun-lit skipping. For Myop, the "summer is over." Basically he innocence is