“The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time that she is caught in the tripartite crossfire of masculine prejudice, white illogical hate, and Black lack of power. “
(Angelou)
Maya Angelou states in her quote that being a black female is one of the hardest things anybody could be. Especially in the Civil Rights Movement, where the story, Meridian, takes places. How a black female has lived her life, always knowing that a male, mostly white, has tremendous power over her and that she can do nothing about it because of the lack of black power. Maya Angelou and Alice Walker both talk about how there is a difference between male and females, and no matter what skin color they have, the male always seems to have or feel the need that they have the power. Alice Walker was born in Georgia in 1944, she was the youngest daughter of eight children, growing up in a poor household. Living in the South, Walker had seen how segregated and racially divided things were. But even though going to a public segregated school, Walker graduated high school being the valedictorian. After going to college, Walker became much more involved in the Civil Rights Movement, being an activist and fighting for equality for African Americans (Hendrickson). She deals with many issues that African Americans are concerned with such as racial discrimination and the inhuman abuse that they’ve received. In this novel, Walker narrates the story of a African American woman named Meridian Hill. Meridian is the protagonist in the novel, it follows her life journey, from her to being kicked out of school as a teenager because she was pregnant to her leaving to begin a new life (Walker). She is portrayed as a lovable and humorous person, who is willing to make the lives of African Americans better in any possible way. Throughout Alice Walker’s, Meridian, the constant themes of race, politics, and femininity, follow Meridian’s journey of life, leaving her with the power of individuality in the end.
The effects of racism and the various ways that characters respond to it are explored throughout the novel, as Meridian, Truman, and others attempt to make sense of a world in which brutal racism is the norm. It starts in the beginning, where Truman Held, a long time friend of Meridian, comes to the town of Chicokema, which has a tank due to the white feeling threatened by the “outside agitators” who are also known as the blacks. Truman can’t believe how this could happen as him being an activist for the Civil Rights Movement, he states, “But The Civil Rights Movement changed all that! (Walker, 3)” Talking about the laws and segregation that still happens in that town. Meridian decides to join the movement, after her former husband left her and giving away her one and only child, even though she is not qualified to do any jobs there. Yet she learn and soon started to make posters of protest and helping people see the light into why they should be registering. The struggle with how people should treat each other and the guilt and blame of some whites about slavery were beginning to occur. When Truman was out with his two friends, Tommy Odds and another young man, they were shot at. Tommy ended up getting shot in the arm, leaving him with an amputated arm. He later rapes Truman’s wife, Lynne who is a white woman. She easily could have fought him off but the guilt and blame she felt because of her race made her just take it, she later forgave him of what he done. According to Barnett, guilt is apart of Truman and Lynne’s marriage, and that's why she lets Tommy get away with what he had done (P. 40). That Lynne wants to not be white anymore, she wants to escape being known as the oppressor to the black folks just by the color of her skin.
In this novel, Meridian's father owning a land of sixty acres gifted to him by a Red Indian, Mr. Walker Long Knife. Life goes on without any disturbance until the white men interference. One day the white men enter the land premises and announce that the government will take over the whole place to convert into a public park. Meridian’s father went to the court to fight it out legally but justice was not given or allowed to happen. Mr. Hill was given a note of strict warning not to enter the place as it is meant for the public. Ironically, the whites are the public, and the blacks were suppose to obey and not fight back. Meridian is unable to bear the shock as the land has been whisked away by the government, of course, the white's government. This is an example of how segregated and racially injustice the court system was even though Civil Rights Laws have been passed. Another incident is when a young boy loses his life because of the attitudes brought from the white authorities. In the summer, when the weather was hot, the black children would leave there houses going to streams of water to cool down. The city authorities without warning would flush these streams of water, which would wash away the children leading to one young black boy dying. Meridian stands up to the white surperior by bringing the body to the mayors office to show the damage that they have done.
Through Meridian’s life, she has struggled with trying to find her true self and her culture values. Walker presents the journey of Meridian, a young black woman who has been abused physically and psychologically. Although struggling with her own identity, she acts like a saint and servant for her people. She suffers for them, saying “They’re grateful people, … They appreciate it when someone volunteers to suffer (Walker, 11.” It all began in her young adulthood, when she found out she was pregnant at the age of sixteen. She later than later married the father of her child, Eddie, he was a smart man, who did good in school and kept going to school after they got married. But soon after their marriage and Meridian being pregnant, she became his servant, doing anything that he wished, such as washing and ironing his clothes every week, cooking, and having intercourse whether she wanted to or not. He soon then found other women to have intercourse with, forgetting about Meridian and their child.
“By that time – and it did not surprise her – he had a woman who loved sex, and was able to get it as much of it as he wanted every night. (Walker, P. 61)
She has also been mentally challenged by her mother, Mrs. Hill, to become a Christian woman, when she was a young girl. Her mother eagerly wants Meridian to accept the Lord into her heart because how deeply religious she is. Being a stubborn woman, she turns away from her because she won’t embrace the church unlike she did. When her father sang in church, she herself didn't believe him and that his faith was with God.
‘But for all that her father sang beautifully, heartbreakingly, of God, she sensed he did not believe in Him in quite the same way her mother did. (Walker, 22)”
Alice Walker was inspired to create Meridian’s character after a “crazy quilt” idea. That Meridian was to change her perspective of the story to show the importance of how each chapter was a major part in her life, and how they all connect together. Towards the end of the novel, as Meridian becomes an older women she begins to go back to church. She begins to notice that with the change of the times, changes the traditions, such as the stained glass windows. According to Wingard, Meridian sees how her culture has been adopted unlike before where it was all white-supremacist group (P. 6). She can finally act and speak freely in her community to educate and fight for people’s rights.
Throughout the novel, Meridian shows how she dealt with racial oppression, segregation, and prejudice. Walker has suffered from these things as well in her own life just as Meridian did. From her mother’s push for Christianity to her getting Lymes disease, which left her weak. Meridian left in the end has grown to see her true potential that she has in the world. She sees that being a black woman is one of the hardest things to be in life yet she still fights for those who can’t. Meridian shows her true self at the end, when she leaves Truman to go out into the world and fight as many battles as she can, even with her sickness. This novel shows how easily people can turn to violence and lash out because of how they are being treated. Meridian shows how you can make a change, without any violence just a good strong voice to support you.