Loss Of Innocence In Alice Walker's The Flowers

All children must face the loss of innocence at one point in their lives. Alice Walker’s character Myop from her short story “The Flowers” is no exception. Myop, like most children, passes the threshold from innocence to knowledge when she chooses to embark on her own path and comes across the skeleton of a black sharecropper who had been beaten and hung because of the color of his skin. Through this discovery, she realizes the harsh truth of society. Walker portrays Myop’s loss of innocence through historical context, the juxtaposition of light and dark diction, and symbolism in order to depict a coming of age story by gaining knowledge. Walker applies historical context and even her own past into the story to provide background information …show more content…
Flowers traditionally symbolize innocence and youth, much like Myop is in the story. As she explores her new found path she collects flowers, grasping onto them like she does her innocence and pushes aside the dark negativity of society and the new path. The flower that grows through the skeleton is unknowing of the violence people face in society every day, just as Myop is oblivious of the many murders and prejudice of her people. She is ignorant of the harsh cruelties of the world around her until she notices the noose around the skeleton’s neck and its broken teeth. When she lays down the flowers she turns her back on ignorance and childhood and her eyes are opened to the violence that society inflicts.
Alice Walker’s “The Flowers” is a short story of a young girl leaving behind innocence and facing society and all of its cruelty. Myop reaches this threshold once she discovers the skeleton of a fellow black man who had been beaten and hung. Walker conveys Myop’s loss of innocence through knowledge by using historical context, juxtaposition of light and dark diction, and the symbolism of