This section contains 667 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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Possessing the Secret of Joy Summary & Study Guide Description
Possessing the Secret of Joy Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections:
This detailed literature summary also contains Related Titles on Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker.
Preview of Possessing the Secret of Joy Summary:
The central themes in Possessing the Secret of Joy fit together like a reasoned argument. Established first is a concern central to all of Walker's work: the subjugation of women. In this novel the focus is specifically on how ritualized female circumcision denigrates women's bodies, minds, and spirits.
The cataloguing of circumcision's horrific effects begins with the moving opening scene of Tashi as a young girl crying soundlessly among adults for her dead sister, the victim of a botched mutilation. Because of the powerful taboo against acknowledging the practice, no one shows any emotion or offers to comfort the little girl.
Later, Tashi herself undergoes the ritual to identify with the Olinka people, whose freedom fighters, in throwing off the yoke of imperialism, seek social cohesiveness by encouraging tribal traditions. Tashi finds the ritual serves to strengthen patriarchal power at her heavy expense. Urination takes her three quarters...
This section contains 667 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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