In the coming-of-age story “The Flowers,” Alice Walker effectively portrays a tender, innocent African-American girl whose transition to adulthood comes suddenly and without warning. It begins with a rosy, lighthearted illustration of Myop's life and ends with a gruesome, sobering event that changes her forever: she comes across the body of an African-American man who, she quickly realizes, was lynched because of his skin color. With superb imagery, Walker shows how this discovery transforms Myop and forces her to enter adulthood early. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the first paragraphs of the story Walker presents Myop and the scene as happy and peaceful. "[Myop] jumped lightly... the days had never been so beautiful as these... she worked out the rhythm of a song... she felt light and good in the hot sun." Then, in the third paragraph, Walker begins to drop in very subtle hints about what is to follow. For example, “Myop watched the tiny white bubbles interrupt the thin black flake of the ground and the water silently rise and slide away down the stream” is actually an allusion to the relationship between whites and blacks. Myop, however, is obviously unaware of any greater symbolic importance; she is simply enjoying a day outdoors, observing the soil and water and picking flowers that also represent her purity and innocence. The fifth paragraph is really the beginning of Myop's transition into adulthood. Walker indicates this “beginning” by indicating the time: “At midnight, his arms laden with twigs…he was a mile or more away from home.” Citing this specific moment is Walker's subtle way of indicating the transition: from morning to evening, from light to darkness. Not wanting to leave, Myop "goes home, to the quiet of the morning" - but that's when he comes in by "banging into his eyes", indicating that sudden transition of understanding, which comes in an instant, whether you don't want it that way and you changes your life forever. This key image of the story reaches its climax when Myop, plucking a pink rose for his bundle of flowers, notices the noose with which the dead man has been hanged. He later realizes how this grotesque and brutal death is connected to his own heritage and "out of respect" continues to lay down the flowers he had picked. Initially representing her childhood innocence, the flowers – once placed – represent her transition from childhood to adulthood. Leaving them, Myop seems to have realized that the world is not as happy and flowery as it seemed just moments before. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay “The Flowers,” though short and seemingly simple, is a powerful depiction of how events far beyond a little girl's control can confront her out of nowhere and change her completely. Facing not just murder but lynching, a crime that Myop knew targeted “people like her,” forced Myop to immediately grow up in a way that people living without fear of racism could not Walker’s coming of age story is all the more effective – and important – for its social and historical relevance. Works cited: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021). 'open in rural India: claims and denials. World Development, 115, 88-99. Pitkänen, T., & Lepistö, R. (2021)../