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The Welcome Table

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The Welcome Table
Analyzing The Welcome Table by Alice Walker
Cyndi Moore
Eng125 Introduction into Literature
Instructor Renee Gurley
January 13, 2013

“Acceptance. It is the true thing everyone longs for. The one thing everyone craves. To walk in a room and to be greeted by everyone with hugs and smiles. And in that small passing moment, you truly know you 're loved, needed, and accepted” (Harmon, 2003-2004). This paper will discuss a literary piece called The Welcome Table by Alice Walker. This writing is about a journey a poor older black woman faces in light of racism and judgment from Christian churchgoers. Struggles of oneself and of society are brought to light with words and images from the life and mind of Alice Walker. The Welcome Table will be analyzed using a reader-response approach, and a historical approach. I connected with The Welcome Table through its intense story of struggle and hope, as well as very thought provoking because it intertwined the present with the past, reveals raw human impurity in the church, and gave insight to how this woman coped with injustice and how in the end, she prevailed.
Upon reading this short story, I was touched in an impactful way because I have also felt the sting of a misinformed and judgmental world. Alice used tone to fire up my emotions, like the old black woman, I have also felt the sadness of being a shunned hurting outcast judged and removed. And like this black woman, I know the feeling of peace, love, and acceptance in the Lord. In addition, Alice used very descriptive words and image to paint a picture of this woman’s being and of the people and things that surrounded her.
In using a reader-response approach, my feelings were heightened when the story spoke about the tattered old woman being boorishly and publicly removed from the church. I felt immense sadness and anger that people can be so shallow and hurt another human being, especially in a church setting. I longed to feel the excitement and


References: Bradley, D. (1984, January 8). Novelist Alice Walker Telling the Black Woman’s Story. The New York Times Company. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com/books/98/10/04/specials/walker-story.html Clugston, R.W. (2010). Journey into literature. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu. Harmon, R. (2003-2004). Rena Harmon Famous Quotes [Quotemountain.com]. Retrieved from http://www.quotemountain.com/famous_quote_author/rena_harmon_famous_quotations/ Walker, A. (2003). The Welcome Table (published in 1967). Literary Cavalcade, 55, 32-35. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/2104762505?accountid=32521
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    her. The beginning of the story is told from the white people 's perspectives as they see an old black woman come to their church and go inside. Inside the church, the point of view switches to the usher who tells the old black lady to leave. The point of view then switches back to the white women inside the church, who take it as a personal insult and feel the most threatened about the old black lady being at their church. They rouse their husbands to throw the old lady out. The perspective then changes to the old black lady. This constant changing of point of view is useful in that it portrays the fears, thoughts, and feelings of almost everyone in the story. Firsthand, the reader is able to know what the people are thinking and why. In the end, the point of view briefly returns to the white people who were at church that day. The story ends with the perspective of some black families wher. The beginning of the story is told from the white people 's perspectives as they see an old black woman come to their church and go inside. Inside the church, the point of view switches to the usher who tells the old black lady to leave. The point of view then switches back to the white women inside the church, who take it as a personal insult and feel the most threatened about the old black lady being at their church. They rouse their husbands to throw the old lady out. The perspective then changes to the old black lady. This constant changing of point of view is useful in that it portrays the fears, thoughts, and feelings of almost everyone in the story. Firsthand, the reader is able to know what the people are thinking and why. In the end, the point of view briefly returns to the white people who were at church that day. The story ends with the perspective of some black families who witnessed the old lady walking down the highway. ho witnessed the old lady walkiher. The beginning of the story is told from the white people 's perspectives as they see an old black woman come…

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