In Alice Walker's short story "Flowers", the author describes the story of a ten-year-old girl named Myop who grows up in one day. The story begins with Myop's feelings of peace and happiness. Walker's descriptions depict Myop skipping happily exploring the forest behind his family's sharecropper's hut. The sharecropper's hut is a symbol of poverty, subordination and racism. Yet, Myop, at the beginning of the story, is seemingly unaware that she understands the extent of her family's suffering. Therefore, the image also foreshadows and symbolizes the suffering and racism that he will soon understand when he leaves the innocence of his childhood behind. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Her happiness is further depicted in her feat of gathering wildflowers, an endeavor in which she is so absorbed that it takes her 'a mile or more from home.' The further she gets from the peace and safety of home, the more he ventures to discover the harsh reality of the world. As he wanders off into the woods and makes his way, he stumbles upon the body of a dead man, and his life will never be the same as the central theme that the author left in this story is that it is a coming of age story and expresses how easy it is to lose our innocence The author uses symbols to convey her messages throughout the story The first symbol provided in this story is the name of the main character. Myop, the root of the word "myopic" meaning short-sighted. This shows how small her world is and she can only see and be affected by what is close to her, this has kept her innocent and ignorant of the real world outside. of his childhood. Furthermore, the woods symbolize the world around Myop, which can be both violent and beautiful. The forest has compromised her entire world and made her unaware of the harsh realities of the real world, where snakes are the least of her worries. On that very day, Myop decided to “make his own way” and go further into the forest. Myop had “explored the woods behind the house many times” but, for the most part, he did so with his mother who was always nearby. That was the main reason it felt like an adventure. However, on the day she goes alone, she makes the terrifying discovery of the dead man, symbolizing the harsh reality of her own race, from which her mother could not protect her forever. His death represents the many African Americans who died due to racial hatred during the time of this story. Myop has an awakening when he discovers a deceased man. At first he remains innocent, even bending down to pick a wild rose growing near the body. However, her innocent gesture of picking the wild rose reveals to her the truth that the man had been hanged. Myop notices the remains of the noose used to hang him, places flowers on the spot, and the author ends the story with "And the summer was over." The summer season is used to symbolize Myop's childhood. In the spring and summer he was innocent, happy and, due to his inexperience and ignorance of the world. Myop has undergone a huge transformation from an innocent child to a more mature person with a clear understanding of the world and its violence. Like summer, his childhood is over now. Now that he has seen not only death but also racist cruelty, both his innocence and his ignorance vanish. He lost his innocence and childhood, showing us that the main theme is the loss of innocence. By reading this story, readers realize that we all deserve to live in freedom, just like that man who lay lifeless. The times we live in today make me appreciate where we were and how far we have come. Living in.