Diving into literature essay

Many literary works discuss the theme of race and ethnicity in terms of discrimination, oppression and exploitation. As a rule, these pieces of literature demonstrate its “processes and repercussions on the individual and on the interpersonal/intergroup relationships” (Meyer, 1997, p. 138). The theme of ethnicity modifies readers’ views on the issues associated with racial politics. Many literary works point out to the fact that ethnicity and ethnic awareness can be actively promoted in literature to serve immediate purposes aimed at fighting exploitation and discrimination in human society. Alice Walker, Nadine Gordimer, Patricia Smith, Aurora Morales and many other writers and poets develop the theme of race and ethnicity in their works. Undoubtedly, “the literary strategies these writers have adopted in interrogating racial discrimination” deserve readers’ attention (Meyer, 1997, p. 138). Alice Walker’s short story “The Welcome Table” is focused on the issues of race. The author places emphasis on racism and its effects on individuals. In Patricia Smith’s poem “What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl,” the main character explores the issue of race in the changing social context. Thesis statement: Although Walker’s short story “The Welcome Table” and Smith’s poem “What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl” share the same theme, the theme of race and ethnicity, there are certain differences between these literary works in terms of style, form and content.

The major goal of this paper is to compare and contrast two literary works from this course that share the same theme, the theme of race and ethnicity, paying special attention to the similarities and differences in the form, style and content.

Similarities between two literary works
“The Welcome Table” by Walker
and “What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl” by Smith

There are certain similarities between the literary works in relation to the themes developed by the authors.

First of all, “The Welcome Table” by Alice Walker and “What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl” by Patricia Smith are two literary works that both deal with the theme of race and ethnicity. Moreover, both literary worked were written by black female authors. Alice Walker and Patricia Smith are two outstanding African-American authors who critically discuss issues of public concern in their literary works. This fact means that both Alice Walker and Patricia Smith know about the problems, black women face in their social environment. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the theme of race and ethnicity developed by these authors is supported by evidence and personal life experience of the women-authors.

Secondly, both literary works point out the hypocrisy and racial injustice. In the short story “The Welcome Table”, the author tells a story of a black woman who came up to a white church, but was stopped by the preacher. The preacher said, “Auntie, you know this is not your church” (Clangston, 2010).” This fact means that Christian teaching and forgiveness are ignored in human society described by Alice Walker. As a black old woman is expelled from the church for white people, she faces racism. However, the main character of the short story manages to find her own path to Jesus. In the short story, Alice Walker refers to ideological criticism, when she explores the theme of race and ethnicity. The same goal is pursued by Patricia Smith in many of her works. In the poem “What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl”, Patricia Smith provides an opportunity to better understand a young black girl’s transition into womanhood, placing emphasis on racial inequality and discrimination she faces in the social context. The first line in the poem, “first of all…” tell about the author’s mood and her desire to criticize hypocrisy and injustice of racism. She explains that being a black girl in the modern-day society is rather tough. She tries to do the food coloring and the blond hair in order to feel like white girls do. Actually, Patricia Smith is focused on the psychological state of a young black woman who feels negative perceptions of white people, which lead to prejudices and stereotyping. The main character tries to accept her changing body, because she wants to be accepted by the society she lives in: “It’s being 9 years old and feeling like you’re not finished” (Smith, 1991). The girl sees how the society sees her. Actually, she feels uncomfortable in her body, because of the society which is not willing to accept her blackness.

Thirdly, in both literary works, the actions that involve the ethical dilemma are represented by a black female character. The female characters described by the authors in their literary works, face racial discrimination from society. In other words, in both pieces, skin color affects the solution of the dilemma of being a black female. In addition, in these pieces of literature, a black woman can be seen to stand for all black women. That is why the authors do not mention the names of their characters. According to David Wheeler (2011), “Walker uses no names and this gives her story a timeless, universal feeling to it which almost serves to elevate the old lady to the status of Everywoman or, at least, every African American woman” (p. 128). Both literary works are written in the third person.

Fourthly, there is a similarity in the irony that can be found in the titles of the literary works. In Alice Walker’s short story “The Welcome Table”, the title is ironic, as the old black women who comes absent mindedly into a white church is not welcomed there. Instead, she experiences embarrassed shock, because she realizes that there is no “the welcome table” for her in the church she has visited, although it is God’s house (Walker, 1970). In the social context, described by the author, the churches for white and black people are separated. Actually, the image of the “welcome table” is an interesting one as it refers to the symbol of Christianity – “the Table of the Last Supper”. In Smith’s poem, the title is also ironic: “What It’s Like to Be a Black Girl (For Those of You Who Aren’t)”. The poem’s title deals with human experience of being black. Patricia Smith uses irony to criticize the society, in which people of different skin colors are segregated.

Fifthly, in both literary works, the main characters face economic oppression. In the short story “The Welcome Table”, the members of the white community “do not see a vulnerable old woman, but they see “cooks, chauffeurs, maids, mistresses” – all the stereotypical, unimportant jobs that were performed by African-Americans” (Wheeler, 2011, p. 126). The author depicts an old woman as a poor person who lacks social protection. Alice Walker describes her character’s clothing: “the missing buttons down the front of her mildewed black dress” (Walker, 1970). In Smith’s poem, the young black woman also faces economic oppression as she lives in the society fueled with racism and discrimination.

Differences between two literary works
“The Welcome Table” by Walker
and “What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl” by Smith

There are many differences between two literary works “The Welcome Table” by Walker” by Alice Walker and “What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl” by Patricia Smith.

First of all, these literary pieces refer to different time periods. Smith’s poem was written in 1991, while Walker’s short story was written in 1970. Therefore, there are different characters and different psychological problems faced by these characters. Patricia Smith explores the experiences of a young black woman, while Alice Walker explores the personality and feelings of an old black woman. Actually, both authors are talented writers. Patricia Smith is a well-known African American poet and performance artist, who “won the National Poetry Slam four times” (Clugston, 2010). Smith’s poem “What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl” has a psychological context, as the poetess explores the feelings of a young black woman, including “the feeling that you are not finished” (Smith, 1991). The poetess uses a variety of “imaginative” details in the poem to help readers to better understand what it’s like to be a black girl. Alice Walker is an African American author and poet, who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize (Covington, 2006). Her short story “The Welcome Table” also reflects psychological context, in which an old black woman has a great desire to escape and be free. In general, the stretch of time in more than 20 years points out to the fact that the theme of race has changed its interpretation in literature.

Secondly, there are certain differences in the forms of these literary works. The “Welcome Table” by Walker is a short story, while Smith’s “What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl” is a poem. The difference between a short story and a poem is that a poem is concerned with some rhythmical syllabic structure. As a rule, in a short story, it is required to use the same type of language used by any person in the author’s social/ cultural environment; while in a poem, it is required to use specific techniques (rhythm, rhyme, etc.). In addition, a short story is often longer than a poem and requires standard rules of writing. Alice Walker’s short story, composed of separate sentences, is much longer than Patricia Smith’s poem, composed of lines. Besides, Walker’s short story represents a chain of connected events which identify some short experience, while Smith’s poem involves artistic arrangement of words.

Thirdly, one can find different features in the styles chosen by the authors of two literary works. Alice Walker and Patricia Smith have chosen different styles. It is known that an author’s style in literature is of great importance as it stands for the way in which an author chooses words and puts them together. Actually, the style of an author affects the readers’ experience or feeling of the literary work. Alice Walker and Patricia Smith demonstrate different manners of expression in their literary works. According to Heather Covington (2006), Alice Walker’s style is close to the “quintessential symbolism of the best modern writing of our time in African-American literature” (p. 4). In general, Alice Walker’s writing style is focused on setting the standards for modern-day literary works. Patricia Smith’s style can be characterized as “razor-aged performance style”, and her exacting verses are “the very prototype of Slam poetry” (Kaufman, 1999, p. 670). The poetess uses an unusual “jagged” sentence structure and the words which refer to strong language to make her readers pay more attention on the issues discussed in the work.

Fourthly, there are some differences in the content of these literary works. The old black woman from the short story “The Welcome Table” was not welcomed by the church members, and the young black girl from the poem “What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl” did not welcome herself as she was blossoming into a women. In the short story, the old black woman tells about God and what she will do when she gets on heaven:

I’m going to sit at the
Welcome Table
Shout my troubles over
Walk and talk with Jesus
Tell God how you treat me
One of these days! (Walker, 1970)

In the short story, Alice Walker tells about the old black woman’s last day on earth, while in the poem, Patricia Smith tells about a young black woman who is planning how to live in a segregated society being black. Smith writes about her character’s experience:

…It’s popping a bleached
white mophead over the kinks of your hair and
primping in front of mirrors that deny your
reflection. It’s finding a space between your
legs, a disturbance at your chest, and not knowing
what to do with the whistles, it’s jumping
double dutch until your legs pop, it’s sweat
and Vaseline and bullets, it’s growing tall and
wearing a lot of white (Smith, 1991).

The content of the short story differs from the poem as “The Welcome Table” has elements which remind of Biblical parables” that are specially developed by the author to teach readers. Walker’s short story teaches a lesson of the significance of compassion to the oppressed, placing emphasis on the Christian values. Patricia Smith’s poem is more trivial in its nature as the author does not draw a parallel between Christianity and human life.

Conclusion

Thus, it is necessary to conclude that two literary works discussed in this paper, “The Welcome Table” by Alice Walker and “What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl” by Patricia Smith share the same theme – the theme of race and ethnicity, but they are adversely different in many other characteristics. This paper has addressed similarities and differences between these literary works in terms of the content, form, and style. Both “The Welcome Table” and “What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl” engage the readers into the issues of racism from sociological and moral perspectives. The authors use colorful words that allow the readers to better understand the feelings of the main characters. However, these pieces of literature are different in terms of the form, content, and style. “The Welcome Table” teaches a lesson about the important role of Christianity and Christian values in human life, while “What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl” provides a memoir of a young black woman’s experiences.