Roselily's Life In Mississippi Before Marriage example essay topic

Alice Walkers Roselily is a short story about women who is about to be married, but is having second thoughts about the marriage. She is also looking into the past and the future trying to make sense of what is happening. Roselily is being torn between choosing between her current or possible future Economic status, Societies view of her, her religion and her freedom. All these thoughts go through her mind as the wedding ceremony takes place, and she begins to wonder if she has made the right choice is marrying this man.

Changing religion is one of the first things that is discussed. After the initial set up of the story Roselily thinks of "ropes, chains, handcuffs, his religion". She is a Christian and he is Muslim. After they are married she will convert into a Muslim because that is what her husband wants her to be. She knows that things will be very different as a Muslim; there will be very strict rules that she will have to follow.

She gives an example of this when she says "His place of worship. Where will she be required to sit apart with covered head". This seems scary to her because she begins to feel the pressure of the marriage building; she begins to think if she wants a life like that. If she does choose to marry him and that life one of the advantages for Roselily, is that she will move up from poverty to not having to worry about money on a day to day basis. She worked in a sewing plant in Mississippi, but in Chicago she is not expected to work, but rather to be a housewife. We see this when she thinks "Promising her the rest she had prayed for".

She was thinking that she was finally getting the rest from work she deserved. This was a relief to her, but as she thought more about it she realized that her new husband would want his own children, and she would have to raise them. this thought once again made her uneasy. She already had four children with different men, three of which stayed with her and once who lived with his father in New England. She felt that marrying this man and moving to Chicago could let her gain some respect back that she had lost here. She will finally be married and her children will have a father to care for them. She will no longer be a single woman with children working to make it by; she will be a married woman with a supporting husband and a regular life.

She feels that moving will also give her children a chance to succeed in life, we see this when she thinks "Her children at last from underneath the detrimental wheel. A chance to be on top". She will be in a new place so her mistakes from Mississippi will be hidden from the new people she meets and this is a relief to Roselily. Although Roselily's life in Mississippi before marriage may not have been the greatest but, she is comfortable with it, and is scared of the change that is about to occur. As the preacher is finishing the ceremony she thinks" She wants to live for free for once. But she doesn't know quite what that means".

She knows that once she gets married, between being a housewife and his restrictive religion she will not be able to experience some things she has the opportunity to as a single women. She now realizes that either way she goes she is not going to have the freedom she wants, but now she has made the choice to marry this man. Roselily is torn between all these things while the ceremony is taking place. She seems to be forcing herself to marry this man, for the benefit of her and her children. She does love things about him, such as his pride, but she does not love him. For Roselily the positives of marrying this man and leaving overcome the negatives, and she almost feels a duty to marry and go with this man, to better her and her children's life.