Alice Walkers Roselily - Two Stories in One :: Walker Roselily Essays

Alice baby buggys Roselily - Two Stories in One In the short story Roselily, Alice Walker tells two stories in one. The most obvious story is the one about the Black American char Roselily, who stands before the alter, just about to marry a muslim, while she thinks about her past, wonders about the future and is questioning wheter she is making the right choice. The other, hidden story is the story about Black American women in general, their news report and their ongoing search for something better. The way I understand the short story, Roselilys story is, as it is presented to the reader through Roselilys thoughts as she is in the middle of her wedding, a reflection of Black Americans (and womens in particular) shoes around the 1960s. At this time, Blacks are free Americans with the equal rights as other Americans, in theory. Roselily is an independent woman of her time, but being a single mother of four children, working long hours for most likely lousy wages in a secure pl ant, she is far from free. The Blacks are no longer slaves in the cotton fields, they are now paid slaves in the refinement industry. Roselily is most aware of her situation, and she is willing to commit her past and start a new life with a new man. She has probably been searching for a better life for quite some time, by being with different men, who all could give her a child, but not a new life. I am sensing an urge in Roselily, to scat on, symbolized by all the cars described in the short story They are constantly moving from one place to another, they give you mobility, prevent you from being stuck someplace you do not want to be. Roselily knows that she does not want to stay in the sewing plant, she knows that she wants to move on to something better, but she does not know what better is, and she for certain doubts if what she has chosen will be better than what she had. Her divided personality is like the different groups of Blacks in the civil rights movements. Some Bl acks wanted segregation, some wanted their own nation, some wanted to be more African, some wanted to live like the White Americans, some were Muslims and some were Christians. They all agreed that their current situation was not acceptable, but they did not know how to improve it.