Alice Walker's 'Roselily'

Alice Walker’s short story entitled, “Roselily” tells the story of a hardworking woman who is marrying a man she barely knows in order to escape poverty and to provide a better life for her children. In the short story, the reader gets an insight into the mind of Roselily as the narrator describes the racing thoughts and daydreams as the ceremony takes place. Even though she is escaping from her hometown, where she lives a hard life as a single mom, she wonders if it will get better after she gets married and moves to Chicago.
One of the first things that Walker made clear was that the man that Roselily is marrying is not of the same religion. For Roselily, this means that she will have to cover herself up and practice her future husbands religion. The narrator

states the following, “She thinks of ropes, chains, handcuffs, his religion. His place of worship. Where she will be required to sit apart with covered head” (4). The emphasis on her husband’s religion is important because even though she is escaping her hometown, it doesn’t necessarily mean she will be free. Walker suggests that this change in lifestyle for Roselily will just be another source of entrapment. Even if she escapes poverty, she is going to lose herself in the process as she has to convert to another religion and become what her husband wants her to be. The narrator states, “She thinks she loves the effort he will make to redo her into what he truly wants” (8). In this moment, Roselily tries to persuade herself to love a man she barely even knows. A man who she will have to change entirely to be with. Not only will she relocate, she will change her religion, no longer have a job, and her place will be in the home from now on.
For Roselily, marrying this man means catering to all of his needs. She blames herself for not asking more questions about the proposal and what marriage life would entail. However, she was impatient after being hardworking her entire life and having to support three children. Of course, she seems to quickly learn of what the future will hold during the small amount of time that they have been together. For instance, he doesn’t seem to like her hometown of Panther Burn and even disproves of the location where they get married. In the closing lines of the short story, they immediately leave after getting married and he doesn’t even look back at the crowd who attended the wedding. This suggests that he wants to get of the town as soon as possible in order to get on with his life.
The prospects for the future don’t seem grand, or filled with happiness, or even freedom.

Instead, her life will dictated by her husband. He is already stripping her from her roots and religion. It’s hard to tell how much freedom Roselily will have because she will have to give up so much of what she has known for her entire life. Yes, she will be in a new city where she doesn’t have to work long hours. However, she will have to take care of the home and have more babies. That will be her life from now on. She will be confined in the walls of her home. She will be confined in a black veil. She will be confined by her husband who she must obey. These are the thoughts that occupy Roselily at the time of her wedding ceremony, they also foreshadow a future of confinement. It isn’t a joyful wedding ceremony with a happy ending. Roselily comes to the realization that getting married to this man may not have be the right choice. However, by the end of the story, she is married. Her life is no longer in her control and this made me feel sad for Roselily, her future for herself doesn’t seem promising. The only hopeful aspect of the story is that at least her children will have a better life than they did

before.