Alice Walker in these stories wrote about black people’s lives in the South

during the Civil Rights Movement. In “Elethia”, she wants to show us young black
people’s resistance at that time. In “Petunias” we see the resistance of black families,
who know what it is to be a slave. In both stories, we see racism. In “The Flowers”
Walker wants to show us, how someone’s life can change after discovering racism.
Walker wants us to feel sympathy and respect for black people. She wants us to
realise how tough life was for black people at that time.
Walker wants her readers to feel shocked and sickened by the abuses suffered by
black people in the American South. As the same time she tries to make her readers
see beauty in situations and events that on the surface seem ugly or appalling. She
does this in “Elethia” through her use of the stuffed body of Uncle Albert in the
restaurant window. Walker underlines the fact that he is not a dummy “He was not a
dummy; he was stuffed. Like a bird, like a moose’s head, like a giant bass. He was
stuffed”. Walker compares his stuffed body with animals and uses repetitions of
words “He was stuffed”, to show Elethias shock, how disgusted she felt about Uncles
Albert treat when she discovered it. The dummy is a symbol of the abuse of black
people even after they are dead. The stuffed Uncle Albert in the window of the
restaurant, he was not a slave during his life, but after death he is not able to make his
choice, to protect himself and his rights. Elethia think that she could help him, make
him free. “One night after the restaurant closed someone broke in and stole nothing
but Uncle Albert.”, “..and each of them kept bottle of his ashes.” These things seem
wrong and appalling, they seems unreal. I think that Walker wanted to show us how it
was important for Elethia to resist. As well, it was important to show that it is wrong
to make Uncle Albert as slave after his death and there should not be more slavery in
this world.
At the beginning, when we could think about Uncle Albert only as a dummy, we
could think that he was really nice and polite person, he was like something special
for the black people and people who used to visit that restaurant. “But on Saturday
afternoons a crowd of them would gather to look at “Uncle Albert” and discuss how
near to the real person the dummy looked. But actually he wasn’t as good as walker
wrote about him. Later in story we could see that he wasn’t respectable person, he
wasn’t someone special. He was man with usual life, he didn’t done anything. He
hasn’t got any aim in his life. He liked his life. But actually i think, he hasn’t got any
reasons to change it. To change life, he should give too much power. But he was too
lazy to do it. “ And Albert would never leave home. Too stubborn.” “.. he wasn’t
nobody’s uncle and wouldn’t sit still for nobody to call him that, either.” He has
influenced by the people around him. They treated him as slave. Maybe that’s why he
didn’t saw any reason to change it. “Looks like he hated him more than anything – but
he never would let him get a job anywhere else”.

Alice Walker presents “Petunias” in the form of a diary entry by the mother. The
first person,”when I started...” voice makes the story more personal and realistic. In
the story, she is trying to show us result of racism in that time. Even in first story,
Albert did not resist and became a slave after death. But in “Petunias” they are trying
to fight for their rights, for freedom, for family. In the story, Walker shows difference
between young and older people resistance. She did not write that someone is right or
not, she let us decide who are right and who not. She shows that sometimes-different
opinions make conflicts. She wrote about 2 different personalities –mother and son.
They are relatives, but have different opinions about life and resistance. They are
trying to resist. Mum went to government to agitate. “.. I started agitate in the
Movement.” But son used to fight in war. “As soon as my son got off the bus from
Vietnam..” Their views and differences show us, their different view on the world and
things that happen there. Mother tried to protect her family and herself. She thinks
that agitating and scandals are the best way to resist government. Whenever son
thinks that it is better to do something real, not just agitate. This entire situation was
like entertainment for him. “Let’s make a big noise in Tranquil, Mississippi, he said.”
It shows that actually, he didn’t care about resistance, it was good chance to show his
knowledge that he learns in Vietnam. At the result of their resistance, there happen
things that they could regret. “ ..they found after her death in the explosion.” ”They
dug up her grave when I started agitating…” And fact that someone could dug up
grave is disgusted. “One morning I found her dust dumped over my verbena bed, a
splintery leg bone had fell among my petunias.” She uses as detailed view to describe
what white people done after she started agitating in the Movement. She let us
imagine that view over her garden, to realise that white people had too much power.
Understand that imbalance of power made and allow black people fight for their
freedom.
In “The Flowers” Walker did not write about slavery or resistance. She wrote
about how could change life, after you discover these things. She wrote about how
could change life, after you discover these things. At the beginning of “Flowers”
Walker emphasises Myops childish delight in her surrounding. “The stick clutched in
her dark brown hand.” “Ta-da-ta-ta-ta..” “The air held keenness.” “Pretty ferns and
leaves.” “Bubbles disrupt.” These things show us how happy and childish was Myop.
She did not care about any problems and danger. She was happy child. She hasn’t got
a lot of money or education. She was happy with life that she had. “She felt light and
good in the warm sun.” She had everything to be happy. She liked to walk around and
do things, which could seem boring for us. She didn’t think about racism and
resistance. These things were in her life, but only as words. She didn’t care about
danger or problems. “.. vaguely keeping an eye out for snakes.” But then came time to
grove up. She uses detailed and strong word to describe view of a corpse and things
that there happen. “Her heel became lodged between brow and nose”. Myop was not
scared, she continued to look for flowers, but in the same time, she tried to check out
what exactly it is. “He had been a tall man. His head lay beside him. He had large
white teeth, all of them cracked or broker, long fingers, and very big bones.” This
view seems disgusted, it shock readers and let the reader imagine this view. It should
be hard to do not be scared or shocked of this view, but Myop seems calm. I think that
Myop was ready for this situation; she knew that there are racism and murder. She
realised that it is time to grow up. I think that Walker wants to let us think, that in the
future she is going to be like Elethia.
With these stories Alice Walker tried to show, how tough life was in that time. It
is important to realised that resistance is very good thing, and if we have chance to
resist, we do not need to stop or let it go. Black people always tried to protect their
rights and lives. Now we can compare past and nowadays. Black people have the
same right as white people. They proved that resistance is good thing, and that they
are not worse or better than white people.