Like Gordimer, Walker lets the reader fill in the blanks of feeling and thought.Īs both stories are direct and plain in their styles, the pacing and lengths are very much alike. There are few glimpses into what the black woman is actually thinking, as there is nothing but external reaction from the white people who throw her out. She describes the fact that the one is alone and what it all comes out to be Most of her descriptive writing, however, goes to the above example, in that it is in regard to action. Her style of writing is not quite as spare as Gordimer’s, and Walker adds touches of powerful description here and there: “Under the old woman’s arms they raised their fists, flexed their muscular shoulders, and out she flew through the door, back under the cold blue sky” (Walker, 1970). On the surface, Alice Walker merely documents an episode in a Southern town. From the songs of the church to the tonal melodies in the old woman’s head, the reader is filled with rich tones and undertones. Gordimer leaves it to the reader to understand the emotions running through her characters, from start to finish, and this is an effective way of actually emphasizing the emotional power. Later, even when Paulus is confused and frightened by both the child she bears and his own conformity to the world order, only the bare facts are presented. The white boy and the black girl who fall in love have a fairy-tale quality, as they meet in secret in outdoor places away from the world. It is, in fact, nearly presented as a modern fable. Her statements are that lacking in description and it seems as though she is determined to let the power of the story come through as plainly as it can. In reading “Country Lovers”, there is almost the sense of reading a lengthy newspaper account. Gordimer’s style of writing is unemotional and detached: “The narrative voice that takes over these outwardly neutral presentations of fact…often takes the form of a presumed biographer or researcher” (Davis, 1994, p. Nadine Gordimer and Alice Walker utilize very similar approaches to writing, one deliberately not after flourishes or large expression. The major element linking “The Welcome Table” and “Country Lovers” is how racism affects all life, but also how human beings find ways to move through and past it, even if doing so ultimately creates destruction. Nonetheless, within these confines, there is both great sadness and the possibility of joy that comes from independent action. Conformity is the great law of the land, be it Alice Walker’s rural Georgia or the South Africa of Nadine Gordimer. The white farmer’s son essentially has to apologize for the affair to be redeemed by the courts, for the order of the hierarchy, the haves and have-nots, to be restored. Laws are social constructs which define what is allowed social norms are informally punished just as heavily. In these two stories, oppression rules life as it is lived, and for white people as well as black. However, it is what occurs before this that defines the characters and the essences of the fiction. Neither story has what could be called a “happy ending” both end, in fact, in death. Both women, and to an extent one white man, still somehow move in their own directions.īecause of this factor, both stories present hopelessness and hope- the yin and yang of race relations and the potential where the lines meet. In each story, an individual soul makes something of a stand. In each story, personal choice is still made, in spite of the extreme conditions in place by racial views and traditions. Then, the young girl of “Country Lovers”, as well as the elderly black woman of Walker’s tale, act in an independent way and defy what might be expected of her. ![]() At least one white person is a victim of racism as well, in Gordimer’s story, and it can be argued that Walker’s white people also suffer from the blindness they themselves embrace. There is also in each story, however, something beyond simple, racist victimizing going on. Thus, Gordimer’s account does not advocate for a particular racial group but suggests that the many components of this system are responsible for its perpetuation. Gordimer’s children think nothing of calling their former playmates “missus”, and Paulus Eysendyck is victimized for upsetting the status quo. In both stories, black women are the victims of blatant racism, which is deeply embedded within the cultures they inhabit. Relation of Global Warming and Extreme Weather ConditionĪlice Walker’s “The Welcome Table” and Nadine Gordimer’s “Country Lovers” share the theme of social expectations and norms dictate- but do not wholly define- life with racial stratification.
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