Alice Walker and Her Sister (Special Collections)

In special collections, our class looked at multiple types of works by Alice Walker. Our group got to look at different photos, letters, and poems that were in some way related to Walker. The pictures and letters had been sent by Walker to her sister Mamie. When we read one of the poems called “Word Has Reached Me”, it was soon realized that this piece was in response to Mamie leaving Walker for college. After looking at the pictures, letters, and poem, it is clear that even through Walker’s height of her writing career, she is a family oriented person.

The photos show Alice's family as close and tight knit. In most of her poems she’s constantly talking about her roots and keeping things in tact. I believe this is because she was influenced by how together her family was compared to other families she probably encountered. On the back of one photo there is one little excerpt address to mamie Which reads “ This dress wanted to come to you. I hope you like it.” (Dec.7,1995) This postcard shows how close she was to her family especially her sister. Alice is a strong believer in her roots and her upbringing ties it into many of her works.

When reading the letters that Alice Walker wrote, it is clear that she has a strong connection with her sister, Mamie. In the letters she shares a lot of her experiences. On October 18, 1985 Alice wrote a letter to her sister about a village she visited that was going to be destroyed. This showed no matter where she ended up, she always made sure to keep her sister informed of what was going on regardless of the circumstances. Her consistency with the letters she wrote to her sister shows a strong communication that could reach from anywhere.

Alice Walker's sister had a big influence on her poems, especially “Word Has Reached Me”. This poem is about Walker speaking about how she is devastated about her sister going off

Citations

Postcard to mamie(Dec.7,1995)

“Word Has Reached Me” 2008 Alice Walker