The welcome table alice walker

Racism in the ‘Welcome Table’ and the ‘Country Lovers’

Laura E. Knight

Eng125: Introduction to Literature

Prairie Markussen

November 3rd, 2014

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Racism refers to the belief that one’s race is superior to another and that one is

more able than the other. This form of discrimination has been in existence since the

early days, in most continents. The prevalence in racism was mostly felt in South Africa

and the United States of America. This is well depicted by the two authors of the

‘Welcome Table’ and the ‘Country Lovers’ who narrate the lives of two, strong, black

women of different ages in different continents, and how they faced a lot of challenges

which were highly associated with racism. These two authors give an in depth analysis of

the state of racism in South Africa and America and the perspectives of the situation by

both the blacks and the whites.

‘The Welcome Table’

This is a story written of an old, black woman who staggers slowly amidst the

freezing cold to attend an all white church. She sits on the front steps of the church and

faces a lot of prejudice from the other members of the congregation. This results into

some people from the congregation hurling insults at her and looking at her with disdain

and contempt written all over their faces.

The clothes she wears make the people in the congregation to have thoughts of the

black people they live with. The author describes her look as,”….she wore high shoes,

polished about the tops and toes, a long rusty dress that missed buttons and adorned with

an old corsage, a remnant of an elegant silk scarf as a head rug that was stained with

grease stains from the many oily pig stains underneath…..” (Bloom, 2007). When she

tries to go into the church, the ushers try to stop her. The pastor also tells her that she is

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1. Solid thesis statement.

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Racism in the ‘Welcome Table’ and the ‘Country Lovers’ 3

not part of that church and finally she is pushed out of the church by the men in the

congregation.

‘The Country Lovers’

This is a story composed to show the racism that was present during the apartheid

regime. The story talks about the forbidden love between a black girl (Thebedi) and a

white boy (Paulus). Thebedi was a slave whose father worked in Paulus’ father farm.

They grew up playing together in the fields, but as years went by, they developed a closer

relationship. They would meet secretly in the river and soon they became lovers. Paulus

would buy her gifts and tell her stories of school and she in turn would make her gifts,

like, bracelets. The author shows racism when he says, “…..Paulus would tell his friends

that the bracelet was made by the natives….’ (Smith, 2002)This is because he did not

want their relationship to be known. As time went by, Paulus went to veterinary school

and left Thebedi pregnant without his knowledge. Thebedi’s parents went ahead to marry

off Thebedi to a black boy named N’jabulo. After a while, Paulus returns only to find that

Thebedi was married and that she had given birth to a white son. He tries to convince her

to get rid of the baby but she refuses. He then goes ahead and kills the baby and charged

for murder. After a while, he is found not guilty and the case is closed.

Contrast Analysis

The two stories contrast in that the ‘Country Lovers’ was composed during the

apartheid regime, in the midst of slavery and oppression. The author uses present tense to

depict the feelings of the two lovers’ so as to show that the era in which the people faced

racism was in the present, while the ‘welcome Table’ was written during the post-civil

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1. ‘welcome Table’

"The Welcome Table"

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Racism in the ‘Welcome Table’ and the ‘Country Lovers’ 4

rights era showing the urge of the black people to be accepted as equal to the white

people due to the presence of the civil rights movement. “….they gazed nakedly upon

their own fears transferred, a fear of the black and old, a terror of the unknown as well as

of the deeply known…”

The story in the ‘Welcome Table’ is conflict driven. This is shown when the

members of the congregation hurled insults at the old woman and even pushed her out of

the church premises. This is illustrated by the author when he states that, “…some of

those who saw her there on the church steps spoke words about her that were hardly fit to

be hard, others held their pious piece’ and some felt vague strings of pity…” (Bloom,

2008). This is in contrast with the story in the ‘Country Lovers’ which was based on

forbidden love between Thebedi and Paulus. This is best described when the author

describes how they would secretly meet in the river and when they would secretly give

each other presents. The fact that Thebedi hid her child also shows that their love was not

prohibited.

The style of the authors also differed in that the author in ‘Country Lovers’

mainly used simile and minor details to define the sub-themes. This is illustrated when

the author says, “…Already at birth, there was on its head a quantity of straight, fine

floss, like that which carries the seeds of certain weeds in the veld…” (Topping Bazin,

1990) The weeds refer to substances that are of not of use and should be gotten rid off.

This serves as a foreshadow of the events to come, in that, in the near future, Paulus

would get rid of his son as he did not want to be associated with a child born of a black

woman. This is different from the author’s use of symbolism in the ‘Welcome Table’.

This is well depicted by the words, “…freezing, cold weather...” to show the presence of

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1. You need to clarify where

the simile is in this sentence.

[Prairie Markussen]

2. (Topping Bazin,

You say that the author,

Gordimer, says these words,

so why is Topping Bazin

listed here? [Prairie

Markussen]

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inactivity and the hopelessness of the blacks during the oppressive state of racism. Also

the use of the blue sky shows the peace that the old woman felt when she met Jesus.

The author of ‘Welcome Table’ writes the story in a straightforward and simple

manner which makes it easy for anyone to understand the story. The story takes place in

one day except for the place that states, “…her body was found….the next day…” Names

in the story are not revealed so as to offer the reader a feel of timelessness as in “…the

old lady...” to refer to any black woman. The author of ‘Country Lovers’ uses setting as a

technique throughout the whole story. Details are given on the story and names are

revealed so as to allow the reader to form a connection with the characters in the story

and to form an aspect of personalization.

Comparative Analysis

The stories in ‘Welcome Table’ and ‘Country Lovers’ have similar aspects in

their writing. This is because both stories talk about the state of racism, slavery and the

struggle to free the black people from their state of oppression and allow them to have

equal rights to the white people. This is shown in ‘Country Lovers’ when the author

states that Paulus would always tell stories about school to Thebedi. This illustrates that

the white children got privileges like getting education while the black children never got

the chance to study or attain higher degrees of education. The author in ‘Walking Table’

shows how the people in the church reacted when they saw the old woman in church.

Some of them started thinking of maids, mistresses and prostitutes and looked at her with

contempt.

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Both authors used strong characterization to illustrate the events in their stories.

This is brought about by the description of the individuals present, what they were doing

and saying at the time, and what others were saying about them. “…auntie you know this

is not your church?” this statement shows that the old woman belonged to a lower social

class than those who were at the church. Also, the description of her dressing clearly

stated the condition in which she was living with. When the author states that Thebedi

refused to get rid of her child, this shows that she was a strong-willed woman and pressed

on regardless of the state in which she was in.

Both stories were told in the third person point of view. This allows the readers to

have in-depth knowledge of the feelings of the characters in each part of the stories. It

also shows how both stories depict the women as submissive natures of protagonists. This

is shown when Thebedi agrees to be seeing Paulus in the river instead of demanding to

see him in the open, for everyone to see. Both stories end tragically, in death, in that the

old woman was found dead the next day and Thebedi’s baby was killed by his father.

Conclusion

Analysis of these stories show the struggles that the women and the people at

large that belonged to the black community struggled with the oppressive state of slavery,

interracial intolerance and the urge of freeing themselves from such a state. Therefore, it

is important to state that these stories create a relevant effect to literature and allow

readers to understand the state in which the people faced oppression in the pre-colonial

era.

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1. church?”

Any quote taken from our

textbook should be in this

format: (Author, Year,

"Section Title," para. #)

Insert Clugston where the

author should be, and 2014

where the year should be.

The section title and

paragraph number will

depend what you're

referencing and where it is in

the textbook. Be sure to

include the commas, the

quotation marks, and the

period as it appears above.

[Prairie Markussen]

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References

Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into Literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint

Education, Inc.

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1. References

You should have six sources,

along with Clugston, to

support your analysis.

For help searching for

articles, select the “Library”

tab on the left side of your

online classroom. Next, go to

Tutorials >> Using the

Ashford Library >> Searching

for Articles. This video

demonstrates how to search

for articles in the Ashford

Library databases. [Prairie

Markussen]

Racism in the ‘Welcome Table’ and the ‘Country Lovers’ 8

Bloom, H. (2007). Alice Walker. New York: Bloom's Literary Criticism

Smith, P. (2002). Thematic guide to popular short stories. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood

Press.

Bloom, H. (2008). The Color Purple. New York: Infobase Pub.

Topping Bazin, N. (1990). Conversationwith Nadine Gordimer. London: University

Press of Mississippi.

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