28 pages 56 minutes read

Alice Walker

The Flowers

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1973

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Story Analysis

Analysis: “The Flowers”

Thematically, Walker uses The Beauty of the Natural World to build toward the exposure of Lynchings and Racial Violence Against African Americans. Through social commentary on racism, Walker explores Coming of Age: The Loss of Innocence, a byproduct of racial violence. To demonstrate the blossoming of social awareness, “The Flowers” enacts the process in which the protagonist comes of age.

Walker uses whimsical imagery and upbeat diction to characterize Myop’s wide-eyed naivete and set an idyllic mood. Like Myop’s worldview, the imagery and mood darken as Myop’s journey into the unknown woods progresses. The story opens with Myop skipping happily around her family’s cabin and concludes with the child laying down her flowers, which symbolize her innocence and optimism. Myop exchanges her naiveite for a sober-mindedness more characteristic of adulthood.

In the first sentence, the narrative hints at the disconnect between what “the days” are and what Myop understands to be beautiful about them. The word choice “it seemed” suggests that the protagonist’s vision of the world is not complete or actual.

Related Titles

By Alice Walker

Plot Summary

logo

By the Light of My Father's Smile

Alice Walker

By the Light of My Father's Smile

Alice Walker

Study Guide

logo

Everyday Use

Alice Walker

Everyday Use

Alice Walker

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE

logo

In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens

Alice Walker

In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens

Alice Walker

Plot Summary

logo

Possessing the Secret of Joy

Alice Walker

Possessing the Secret of Joy

Alice Walker

Plot Summary

logo

Strong Horse Tea

Alice Walker

Strong Horse Tea

Alice Walker

Study Guide

logo

The Color Purple

Alice Walker

The Color Purple

Alice Walker

Study Guide

logo

The Temple of My Familiar

Alice Walker

The Temple of My Familiar

Alice Walker

Plot Summary

logo

The Third Life of Grange Copeland

Alice Walker

The Third Life of Grange Copeland

Alice Walker

Plot Summary

logo

The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart

Alice Walker

The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart

Alice Walker

Study Guide

logo

To Hell with Dying

Alice Walker

To Hell with Dying

Alice Walker