The Welcome Table
"The Welcome Table"
Introduction We as humans have learned to be considerate of people and their differences, we have also encouraged the development of all human beings. But many years ago people were not considerate of people of other ethnicities. The possibilities for everyone have become more equal during modern times. I have been intrigued by the racial and ethical dilemmas that most of our ancestors had to endure. The short story that I have chosen to discuss is “The Welcome Table” By Alice Walker. The human race has come so far since we have had such severe racial discrimination, although it has not disappeared completely. " The Welcome Table", along with many other new age stories really have shown the importance of acceptance of many ethnicities.
Point of View The theme of a story is a representation of the idea behind the story. (Clugston 2010). “The Welcome Table” written by Alice Walker, is about an old African American woman who attends a white community church. This story is told in omniscient third person point of view. Third person point of view occurs when the speaker is not the participant in the story. (Clugston 2010). On her way to church, she received looks of horrible disgust. People felt sorry for her, and they feared her. She walked into the church, and she was immediately the center of attention by the congregation. It was made clear to this elderly lady that she was not welcome to worship with this church. She wanted to be in the house of God, she also needed her time with a higher power, and those rights were stripped from her for being from an African American background. She left without a fight; God immediately approached the old lady as she left this church and they walked off together. Walker shows us how important skin color was to people back in this time in history. Not only were they segregated, it was not considered wrong to decline services
Introduction We as humans have learned to be considerate of people and their differences, we have also encouraged the development of all human beings. But many years ago people were not considerate of people of other ethnicities. The possibilities for everyone have become more equal during modern times. I have been intrigued by the racial and ethical dilemmas that most of our ancestors had to endure. The short story that I have chosen to discuss is “The Welcome Table” By Alice Walker. The human race has come so far since we have had such severe racial discrimination, although it has not disappeared completely. " The Welcome Table", along with many other new age stories really have shown the importance of acceptance of many ethnicities.
Point of View The theme of a story is a representation of the idea behind the story. (Clugston 2010). “The Welcome Table” written by Alice Walker, is about an old African American woman who attends a white community church. This story is told in omniscient third person point of view. Third person point of view occurs when the speaker is not the participant in the story. (Clugston 2010). On her way to church, she received looks of horrible disgust. People felt sorry for her, and they feared her. She walked into the church, and she was immediately the center of attention by the congregation. It was made clear to this elderly lady that she was not welcome to worship with this church. She wanted to be in the house of God, she also needed her time with a higher power, and those rights were stripped from her for being from an African American background. She left without a fight; God immediately approached the old lady as she left this church and they walked off together. Walker shows us how important skin color was to people back in this time in history. Not only were they segregated, it was not considered wrong to decline services
References: Clugston, R.W. (2010). Journey Into Literature. Bridgepoint Education, Inc. San Diego, CA Walker, A. (2003). The welcoming table. Literary Cavalcade, 55(5), 32. Bauer, M. D. (1992). Alice Walker: Another Southern Writer. Studies in Short Fiction, 29(2), 143.