Chelsea Lehman
Professor Peggy Brinkerhoff
Advanced Placement/Dual Credit English 11
7 July 2010
Roselily
By Alice Walker
1. Roselily by Alice Walker is written in third person. The narrator sees into Roselily’s
mind so the reader knows what Roselily is thinking and observing throughout the
wedding ceremony. This helps the reader understand Roselily’s personality, how she
thinks, how she has lived, and how she feels about her past rather than just presenting the
facts. “She dreams she does not already have three children” (Walker 266). This shows
the reader Roselily’s wishes, her dream of how her life would be if she hadn’t had three
kids.
2. In the first paragraph Roselily wants to get married; “She dreams…A small girl in her
mother’s robe and veil” (Walker 266). Immediately following we see that she is not sure
about the marriage as “knee raised waist high through a bowl of quicksand soup” (Walker
266). These two sentences alone show the reader that Roselily dreams of getting married,
but now, during the ceremony she is not certain she wants to go through with it.
3. In the fourth paragraph Roselily is thinking about her fourth child who now lives with his
father, a good man whom Roselily could not live with. It is learned that Roselily is a
strong woman who uses bad language. “…a good man but weak because good language
meant so much to him…” (Walker 267). This man was brought up much stricter and
proper whereas Roselily was brought up and raises her kids loosely, improper. “..TV in
the living room, five beds in three rooms, no Bach…No chess at all” (Walker 267).
Roselily is much different than the father of her fourth child.
4. Roselily has a gloomy, disappointing past. She has had four children, each with a
different father. She wants to be free of the anxiety of having to care for three children
alone. “Her husband would free her” (Walker 268). Once married Roselily will stay at
home with the children, not having to work. She wants someone to help her and marriage
seems like a good solution.
5. The groom loves Roselily. He understands and accepts her for who she is along with her
children. He will provide the relief that Roselily longs for. But “She does not even know
if she loves him” (Walker 268). Once married, Roselily is not likely to live a happy life
with him. She will be forced to go to his place of worship, following his religion and she
does not like this. “She thinks of ropes, chains, handcuffs, his religion” (Walker 266).
She will not be happy.
6. The lines of the wedding ceremony that precede the paragraphs are like titles in that they
foreshadow the following thought. The lines tell what the preacher is saying and the
paragraph is what Roselily thinks as result to hearing what the preacher said. For
example the ninth paragraph’s heading is “let him speak” (Walker 268). The following
paragraph talks about how Roselily was impatient and didn’t allow her soon-to-be
husband explain what he meant. She wishes she had let him speak.
7. The central conflict can’t be described as “the bride had cold feet” because it was so
much more than that. Roselily was not marrying for love, but for the promises, the
benefits marriage brought. “She does not even know if she loves him” (Walker 268).
Roselily is marrying him because her children need a father and she needs to be released
of the burdens of being a single mother. “Her husband would free her” (Walker 268).
Roselily knows she will not be happy. Her thoughts, the story, show the reader how she
knows the marriage is wrong, but that she is doing it for herself and for her children.
8.
“to join this man and this woman”(Walker 266).
The time has come to be joined. He is ever so happy yet there’s something about her. Is
she not certain? He knows he loves her, but her face, there’s something different.
Something is bothering her and this bothers him. He wishes so bad to know the trouble
yet he is scared to know. He wants everything to be alright, to be good.