The Welcome Table Essay

535 Words2 Pages

The artistic, social and cultural explosions that took place in Harlem towards the end of World War 1 saw the rise of many poets, writers and scholars. These writers however used different styles to represent their pieces of art and this are what made most of them stand out. This was known as the Harlem Renaissance period (Hale, 1965). Alice Walker and Claude Mckay were both award winning writers during the Renaissance period. They both focus on gender and race in the New Negro and portray the struggle for liberalism. Alice Walker in her book ‘The Welcome table’ concentrates on the theme of change at the time. She revolves around the themes of race and gender and the changes that occur during that time. The title in itself is symbolic of change. Racism had a major impact in the period between the two world wars and it is no wonder Alice Walker focuses on this theme. There are mixed feelings by the members of the white church on how to treat the old black woman. The Welcome table is told in the third person and shifts its point of view from time to time. More symbolism is represented by the black woman who is a symbol to the white church about their fear of the black people. This book is well …show more content…

Claude however gives a more detailed account and a generalized analysis of race in the US. His book gives an extra ordinary analysis in prose and it is intriguing how he looks at the theme of race. Unlike Alice Walker who uses a third party, Claude Mckay uses his own experiences working in the US and he gives his strong opinion on policies and politics. In his book he vividly describes a big black girl who he describes to be of high feature and explains how blacks were barred from high profile business premises. He also refers to whites as aliens and it is clear that there is bad blood between the whites and the African

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