the war of the wall literary analysis
Stella Brooks
Mrs. White
English 9 L2
6 January 2015
“The War of the Wall” Literary Analysis The short story “The War of the Wall,” by Toni Cade Bambara takes place someplace during the mid to late 1960’s to the mid 70’s, shortly after America’s integration and in the middle of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War era was a very troubling time and effected almost everyone living in America at the time. The war was to prevent and resist communism in Vietnam. America was losing the battle, and they didn’t have enough volunteers for an effective military. This is why they started drafting men to serve in the war. When someone was drafted, they had no choice but to go to war. This was very troubling and sometimes tragic for the families and loved ones of the men who got drafted, especially when they didn’t return from war. In “The War of the Wall,” the children on Taliaferro Street are troubled by the fact that a woman had come to their neighborhood looking to paint a wall on their street that had been dedicated by the children to a man called Jimmy Lyon who had been killed in the war, and also to the legacy of the children and their families in a time of segregation. The wall was clearly very important to them, and the narrator and his brother Lou planned to stop the woman from painting over it. In the end they fail, and the woman succeeds in painting their wall, and the kids of Taliaferro Street are shocked by what the woman, who turns out to not be a stranger at all, has created. “The War of the Wall” is a beautiful piece of literature that honors the history and struggles of America and also teaches not to make assumptions about people and their intentions. Bambara’s use of irony, suspense, and a powerful theme make the message of her story extremely powerful and shocking to the reader, who will surely remember it long after they’re finished reading. One literary device used by Bambara to give her story meaning is the use of a strong theme. The strongest
Mrs. White
English 9 L2
6 January 2015
“The War of the Wall” Literary Analysis The short story “The War of the Wall,” by Toni Cade Bambara takes place someplace during the mid to late 1960’s to the mid 70’s, shortly after America’s integration and in the middle of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War era was a very troubling time and effected almost everyone living in America at the time. The war was to prevent and resist communism in Vietnam. America was losing the battle, and they didn’t have enough volunteers for an effective military. This is why they started drafting men to serve in the war. When someone was drafted, they had no choice but to go to war. This was very troubling and sometimes tragic for the families and loved ones of the men who got drafted, especially when they didn’t return from war. In “The War of the Wall,” the children on Taliaferro Street are troubled by the fact that a woman had come to their neighborhood looking to paint a wall on their street that had been dedicated by the children to a man called Jimmy Lyon who had been killed in the war, and also to the legacy of the children and their families in a time of segregation. The wall was clearly very important to them, and the narrator and his brother Lou planned to stop the woman from painting over it. In the end they fail, and the woman succeeds in painting their wall, and the kids of Taliaferro Street are shocked by what the woman, who turns out to not be a stranger at all, has created. “The War of the Wall” is a beautiful piece of literature that honors the history and struggles of America and also teaches not to make assumptions about people and their intentions. Bambara’s use of irony, suspense, and a powerful theme make the message of her story extremely powerful and shocking to the reader, who will surely remember it long after they’re finished reading. One literary device used by Bambara to give her story meaning is the use of a strong theme. The strongest