Preview

The Welcome Table by Alice Walker

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1561 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Welcome Table by Alice Walker
her. The beginning of the story is told from the white people 's perspectives as they see an old black woman come to their church and go inside. Inside the church, the point of view switches to the usher who tells the old black lady to leave. The point of view then switches back to the white women inside the church, who take it as a personal insult and feel the most threatened about the old black lady being at their church. They rouse their husbands to throw the old lady out. The perspective then changes to the old black lady. This constant changing of point of view is useful in that it portrays the fears, thoughts, and feelings of almost everyone in the story. Firsthand, the reader is able to know what the people are thinking and why. In the end, the point of view briefly returns to the white people who were at church that day. The story ends with the perspective of some black families wher. The beginning of the story is told from the white people 's perspectives as they see an old black woman come to their church and go inside. Inside the church, the point of view switches to the usher who tells the old black lady to leave. The point of view then switches back to the white women inside the church, who take it as a personal insult and feel the most threatened about the old black lady being at their church. They rouse their husbands to throw the old lady out. The perspective then changes to the old black lady. This constant changing of point of view is useful in that it portrays the fears, thoughts, and feelings of almost everyone in the story. Firsthand, the reader is able to know what the people are thinking and why. In the end, the point of view briefly returns to the white people who were at church that day. The story ends with the perspective of some black families who witnessed the old lady walking down the highway. ho witnessed the old lady walkiher. The beginning of the story is told from the white people 's perspectives as they see an old black woman come

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Welcome Table

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The plot of this story begins when an elderly woman went into a church where only white people were allowed. Some of the white women provoked their husbands to throw the old woman out of the church. “It was the ladies who finally did what to them had to be done. Daring their burly indecisive husbands to throw the old colored woman out they made their point” (Walker, 1970). After being thrown out of the church the old woman sat bewildered, wondering why they had interrupted her singing in her head praising Jesus. She began singing again, this time a sad song when she noticed coming down the highway the most glorious sight, Jesus. Jesus said nothing more to the old woman then follow me, she followed Jesus down the highway past her house. “She did not know where they were going; someplace wonderful, she suspected” (Walker, 1970). The old woman died on the highway that night, even through the unfortunate events that occurred in the church, she found Jesus.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The grandmother and Mrs. May have many similarities. They consider themselves to be Christians but carry themselves in a different manner. Mrs. May says “she thought the word Jesus, should be kept inside the church building like other words in the bedroom” (O’Connor). To hear others talk about Jesus she felt like a child insulted her. The grandmother says,” It isn’t a soul in this green world of God’s that you can trust” (O’Connor). She loves to discuss God but doesn’t really believe any word God says. Mrs. May and the grandmother are also very negative women. The grandmother complains the whole trip and makes fun of people they see. She sees a negro child and refers to him as a pickaninny. Mrs. May states,…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I found your response very enjoyable. I agree with you in saying that Mary Bibb faced many biases due to her race and sex and support your statement in saying that “one’s identity should not restrict or deny them from any opportunities.” I thought it was important that you addressed the issue of separation and exclusion, as the society was disregarding her accomplishments and making her seem invaluable due to her skin tone, sex and gender. Black children were also excluded/denied access to common schools and Mary Bibb wanted to change this, making sure that children of any skin colour could receive an education. Even though schools now accept students of various cultures/backgrounds/races, I find that within the classroom and schools, judgement,…

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jennie Pascua Professor Michelle Johnson English 1B Summer Online July 31, 2014 Essay # 2 “The Lame Shall Enter First” The Power of Faith Human nature perceives good and evil as two different realms.…

    • 1807 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Moreover, our textbook. Writing to change the world, contains lots of information about the meaning of being educated. The author, Mary Pipher, expressed a lot of about the changing agents and changing writers. In the book, Pipher explains that a successful writer could use their writing to the change others. Also, independent thinking is important for the changing writers, and they should always stand at most clearly side because people need them.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Audi, a car that purrs like a cat when driven and has a unique black shine, which seduces the eyes and brings the viewer a feeling of strength and confidence. In the 2013 Audi Super Bowl commercial, the audience meets an 18-year-old boy attending senior prom alone. The ad targets an audience between ages of eighteen and adulthood because not only does it appeal to teens but also reminds adults of a relatable time in their lives. When the father throws his Audi S6 car keys to his son, the mood changes from depressing to exhilarating. The young man starts the car with a wide grin and the audience watches as his nervousness drifts away as the car comes to life with a loud roar.…

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Welcome Table Analysis

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The old lady in the story was high. She imagined a religious experience with Jesus. Walking and talking with Jesus, a white God who she did not identify with the white people who had mistreated her throughout her life and shortly before she died. This is apparent because she doesn’t have any negative feelings towards Jesus as she did towards the church members. In this way the author made the delusional woman in the story appear to have a love for the white race because she idolized a white Jesus and imagined that he came to save her. This is all implicid and deeply tied to the author and the nature of her writings…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the story Everyday Use Alice Walker illustrates the importance of understanding our present life in relation to traditions of our own people and culture. One’s culture and heritage are taught from one generation to the next. A person who possesses real heritage and culture uses it every day. Maggie’s identity was shaped by learning her culture through her mother while living in their childhood town.…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Guest by Albert Camus

    • 2055 Words
    • 9 Pages

    1) Review the elements of literature (pages) found in the contents page under "Elements of Literature"…

    • 2055 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Colleges and students Patricia Price said, “Humans are spatial animals”. In Price’s article “Place”, she believes that human beings constantly interact with the territory that surrounds them and try to familiarize themselves with it (Price 119). When students find themselves in college for the first time, the college is an unfamiliar and intimidating place for them. But immediately they will start to interact with the place, because human beings don’t feel comfortable in a new place and it’s human instinct to find a sense of belonging in a new place.…

    • 1389 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Controlled Reader

    • 1571 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The reaction of the Little Old Lady impacts the audience. At the beginning of the story, the Little Old Lady is not very concerned about sitting beside the “colored man” and in somewhat annoyed at the colored man's "bad habits”, but she has not been presented as prejudice towards the coloured man. This establishes a context with which to interpret her final reaction, when she is depicted as having tears in her eyes and going silently to her cabin (Du Bois, 94). She is not angry at the colored man, but rather is upset about the story. Perhaps, as a suppressed woman, she is sad about the story and can to some degree identify with the coloured man’s plight. Perhaps she is teary eyed because the others have missed the satirical point of the story. Regardless of the…

    • 1571 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story Everyday Use written by Alice Walker led me to feel disappointed to see that people cannot embrace their heritage and ancestors. The message of the story is to show that one’s heritage helps to define who you are as a person and most importantly, one should not be ashamed of their origin. The protagonist of the story Dee was a very selfish girl who did not care for her family and their situation. Her family does not live in the best lifestyle, but they manage with the few things they do have. This was not good enough for Dee however, “Dee wanted nice things” This shows the lack of respect Dee has for her mother. This reminds me of many people I know that are my age that do not respect or treasure their mothers as much as they should.…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyday Family Blood is never thicker than water, Meaning even though people aren't blood related they can still be a family. Family i believe means sticking together and helping one another when times are rough, People may have great families and others may not. Even though some people don't grow up with a great family doesn't mean that they cant find a family, Everyone has a chance at happiness with a family weither they make their own or they find their own. I picked Alice Walker’s story “Everyday Use” because both Mama, Dee and Maggie share Similarities and Differences with my family when it comes to Relationships in the Family, Sibling relationships and a Shaky family foundation.…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Waiting room is a place where most of story is developed. With Mrs. Turpin's appearance, this room is turned to one small society which has variety of social class, genders, ages, and skin colors. People are classified by the view of rich white woman. Her view of human is very simple; ‘niggers' who are divided into bottom group, ‘white-trash', sometimes even worse than niggers, and home and land owners like herself. All kind of people can be assessed by two criteria – Color and wealth. This was common view to assess people after the civil war, the period when racism still remained and material things began to be important with industrialization. In terms of racism, after the civil war, African-Americans were not slavers and should not be treated as slavers anymore. However, both white people and colored people still thought ‘niggers' are under white people. The conversation between pleasant lady and Mrs. Turpin shows how African-Americans were seen to white people. They are both nice to their black friends and labors, and they are proud of being kind to even niggers. However, their attitude toward black people is nothing but an effort to have a good disposition, and those people are one of the properties which they need to look after. Even the white trash woman directly says, "They ought to send all them niggers back to Africa, that's where they come from in the first place." O'Connor may reflect her thought of equality in women's saying. The women mean ‘the first place' as Africa, however, as O'Connor's Christian view, the first place where human beings from is all same regardless of white, black, the rich or the poor. They are from same place, and of course they will go back to same place after they die. The song flowing in waiting room also connotes this concept.…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I had read A Love For Life by Penny Hancock. It is level 6 book, there are 112 pages. The year of first publishing is 2000. This book is about Fanella why wanted a kid, but she couldn’t have. Her husband left her after long relationship. She left alone with her problems, and challenge of adopting a kid. Soon she meets two wonderful men on her way for happy family. Fanella makes a good choice, and after all problems she is happy with her new and big family.…

    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays