In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens by Alice Walker - Summary
Walker describes Jean Toomer's
exploration of the Reconstruction South. Toomer found women sexually abused and
lost, but who he saw to hold power, spirituality and beauty of which they were
not aware. They were waiting for these unknowns to be made known. In the
meantime they did not appreciate any aspects of life. These black women were
artists whose creative forces were abandoned to the hardships of life.
Black women who were able to
create such as Phillis Wheatley and Zora Hurston had divided loyalties, between
black and white cultures. They were raised in both and their art is not
genuinely hers but confused due to this. Many have criticized Wheatley's poetry
for glorifying white people but Walker understands that art for Phyllis was a
soulful practice and it sustained her.
This is not the end of the story,
for the next generation of black women has survived. There is now the quest for
black female identity. Society is not understanding of this strife.
The question arises of how so
many women were in touch with their spirituality despite of the oppression and
abuse.
Walker tells the story of her
mother, who eloped at seventeen in the late 1920s. Walker is the youngest of
eight children. Her mother worked tirelessly in the fields and at home all day.
She found spirituality and creativity in her domestic undertakings, such as the
planting of magnificent gardens, the only medium available to her. These
expressions of creativity were anonymous, but they live on in Walker's stories.
Not only the dry facts live on but their spirit. Walker feels an urgency to
preserve them.
When her mother works in the
garden, she is brilliant and radiant. She makes beauty within the poverty in
which they lived. Such ability is characteristic of black women. Through this
exploration of her mother's heritage she found her expressive creativity. In
this way, many other mothers leave their marks on their children, and inspire
them through the spirit and beauty that they recognized to create themselves.
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