“Elethia” And “A Sudden Trip Home in Spring”: Alice Walker’s Womanist Response to the Issues of Black People

OpenAlex · İngilizce

Alice Walker (1944-) has brought a new dimension to black feminism with her theory of womanism, which she explains in In Search of Our Mothers’ Garden (1983). She aims at achieving universality by extending her struggle to all people around the world, regardless of race, gender, and ethnical differences. According to Walker, it requires people to acknowledge their history, matrilineal descent, and black and non-black authors’ works inspiring them to struggle. She represents her womanist understanding in “Elethia” and “A Sudden Trip Home in Spring,” two short stories in You Can’t Keep A Good Woman Down (1981). The title character of “Elethia” and Sarah in “A Sudden Trip Home in Spring” face with their problems and realize how to struggle against them. Thus, analyzing Walker’s selected stories, the study indicates that she presents a womanist way out for black people in the racist and sexist society through Elethia and Sarah.