Autobiography in the Fiction of Alice Walker

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When reading Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” and “Everyday Use,” it is evident that she writes about her life through her use of allegory. Alice Walker uses the events of her childhood, her observation of the patriarchy in African American culture, and her rebellion against the society she lived in to recount her life through her stories. Alice Walker grew up in a loving household in the years towards the end of the Great Depression. Although her family was poor, they were rich in kindness and perspective and taught Walker a lot about her heritage and life.

Alice Walker recounts the events of her childhood in some of her stories. When she was eight years old, her brother accidentally shot her in the eye with a BB gun while they were playing a game. The physical result was that Walker lost the sight in her right eye, which developed a disfiguring white scar. The psychological result was that she became self conscious and introspective. She modeled the character Maggie, from “Everyday Use,” after this. Alice Walker wrote about Maggie as a direct relation to her early life. The character Maggie was in a house fire that the reader perceives to be set by her sister, Dee. Maggie’s scars and shyness mirror how Walker’s scar made her feel unattractive and unconfident after she received her wound due to her brother’s actions. When she lied for her brothers so they could avoid getting in trouble, she felt guilty and pained for agreeing to lie. “It was very much like a rape (Walker).” Walker refers to this event in her life as a rape and refers to this in her writing of “The Color Purple.” Celie was raped by who she thinks is her father many times and is impregnated by him twice. Although Alice Walker was not physically raped, she writes...

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...e about her own feelings and beliefs through her characters to show women and men that women do not have to rely on men. Walker was a strong advocate of the independence of women and through her works, she is able to portray this message successfully, while writing about her own life at the same time.

Works Cited

Chung, Heun-Kyung . "Conversations." Alice Walker. N.p., 2010. Web. Dec 23 2011. .

"Alice Walker." New Georgia Encyclopedia. N.p., 8/13/2008. Web. 23 Dec 2011. .

Edemariam , Aida. "Free spirit." The Guardian. N.p., 22 June 2007. Web. 23 Dec 2011. .

Danielle, Chris. "Living by Grace." . N.p., 1999. Web. 2 Jan 2012. .

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