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The Welcome Table
Comparison of The Welcome Table & Country Lovers

Eng. Literature 125
Instructor Garcia
January 29, 2013

The Summary of “The Welcome Table & Country Lovers
Through literature we are able to learn about different meanings and other human experiences. “Literature influences each individual differently” (Clugston, 2010). In Alice Walker’s short story “The Welcome Table,” it allowed the readers to read and learn about how, and what life was like for an elderly black lady during the 1960s. During these times blacks were discriminated against and the cruel treatment that they endured as human beings was unnatural and unheard of to us in this day and time. In this short story by Walker, it portrays to the readers how during this time period the African Americans were treated. The reason that this story caught my attention was due to the fact that the elderly lady that is portrayed in the story was so cruelly discriminated against for entering a white church. In the first part of the paper we discuss “The Welcome Table” by Alice Walker and further on in the paper we will compare this short story with Country Lovers written by Nadine Gordimer. In this short story, we will learn about how two people who loved each other were forbidden to be with each other because they were of a different race. We see how huge of issue racism was and still is in modern day times. As we read this story, one cannot help but be intrigued by how the story speaks about the elderly lady and how she has lived her life and had been treated her whole life. Both of these short stories are similar to each other because both women had to deal with racial discrimination and the difference between the two was that in Country Lovers, it was more about two people who loved each other and did not allow the color of their skin keep them from loving each other. These short stories help give the readers a look at how hard it was back in those days for people of color to live and survive

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