Literary Analysis

Conflicts in Literature

Breen Boyd

Ashford University

Introduction to Literature

ENG 125

Professor David Moskowitz

February 23, 2015

When we think about stories and how they connect the author to the reader is using different literary techniques and conflicts. When an author uses his or her own unique way to present a story or poem can create the reader to use certain feelings when trying to compare and contrast to what they are reading. “The Welcome Table” by Alice Walker and “Country Lovers” by Nadine Gordimer are two stories which uses race and diversity as a theme. A theme is a common idea that is incorporated and repeated throughout a literary work. Each theme has its own uniqueness to highlight certain settings, symbols, and character actions. Back in the day African Americans faced racism and there was no equal unless your skin was a certain color. Today we have experienced many different cultures that should have changed the way we think about equality. Racism still surrounds us every day, but to our knowledge it is against the law to discriminate against someone because of how they talk, the color of their skin, their sex, or what country they came from?

The first story that deals with conflict is “The Welcome Table” by Alice Walker. The conflict presented here can be perceived as internal and man versus society because she was not welcome to the church because of the color of her skin. The second story in which identifies conflict is “Country Lovers” by Nadine Gordimer. The conflicts presented are both internal and external. The internal conflict is introduced with Thebedi (African American female) and how she is battling with what she wants to be and also who she wants to be with. Point of View, symbolism, and setting are the three literary techniques which will be used to represent the conflicts in these stories.

In “The Welcome Table” the old black woman is a symbol to the white people of fear back in the day. “they gazed nakedly upon...