A Sudden Trip Home in the Spring by Alice Walker
"A Sudden Trip Home in the Spring" by Alice Walker follows Sarah Davis, a college student navigating the complexities of her identity as one of the few Black students at a prestigious women's college in New York. Despite her academic success in art, Sarah grapples with the lack of representation in her work, particularly in capturing Black male figures, which stirs feelings of defeat and conflict. A sudden telegram about her father's death forces her to return to Georgia for the funeral, where she confronts her complicated feelings about her family, particularly her parents—whom she has held responsible for her challenges.
During her visit, Sarah reflects on her childhood and the burdens she feels toward her deceased parents. The interactions with her grandmother, grandfather, and older brother provide her with perspectives that start to resolve her internal struggles. Her grandfather’s dignified strength inspires her to reconsider her artistic direction and the importance of her cultural heritage. By the end of her trip, Sarah gains clarity about her artistic aspirations and her role within her family, returning to college with a renewed sense of purpose and commitment to her craft. The narrative explores themes of identity, familial duty, and the complexities of cultural representation, making it a poignant reflection on the African American experience.
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A Sudden Trip Home in the Spring by Alice Walker
First published: 1971
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: The late twentieth century
Locale: New York and Georgia
Principal Character:
Sarah Davis , one of two African American students attending a prestigious women's college in New York
The Story
An external narrator presents a few days in the life of Sarah Davis, a popular college student, one of the only two black students at a prestigious women's college in New York. Sarah faces many conflicts, both external and internal. Her environment is perfect for her in some ways, but also troubling. She is studying art at a college with the best teachers, yet she has difficulty with her art because there are few models for the black faces she wants to draw. She particularly feels unable to draw black males, because she cannot bear to trace defeat on her blank pages. Although she is popular with the other students, they do not understand her or her culture and unknowingly patronize her. One day, Sarah receives a telegram telling of her father's death and has to make a sudden trip home to Georgia to attend her father's funeral. Her father's death precipitates another conflict: Sarah begins to wonder about a child's duty to her parents after they have died. As she packs for her trip home, she talks to a suitemate about the difficulties that the black novelist Richard Wright had with his father.
Sarah's old bedroom at home now houses her father's body. As she looks at her father lying in his casket, Sarah reflects on her feelings about him and her mother. She blames him for her mother's death; her mother died in her sleep, seemingly from exhaustion from the difficult life that she led. Sarah views her father as the weak parent, the one not able to care properly for the family. However, as she looks into her father's face and tries to find there the answer to her question of what a child owes to her dead parents, she begins to realize that perhaps her views are faulty. She begins to doubt if she is taking the correct route in her life by attending a college in the north.
While home, Sarah spends time with her grandmother, grandfather, and older brother. Her genuine interest in art and education becomes clear as she gently deflects her grandmother from looking too soon for a great-grandchild. Her interaction with her grandfather begins the resolution of Sarah's conflicts. Watching the strength in her grandfather's dignified face as he stands at his son's grave, Sarah wonders why it never occurred to her to paint his face. She promises her grandfather to make such a portrait, but he asks instead to be done "up in stone." Talking with her older brother furthers the resolution of Sarah's conflicts. He assures her that her interest in art is a worthy pursuit, and that once she learns to draw his face and sculpt her grandfather's, she can return to the South or go anywhere she wants. With the knowledge that her grandmother is looking to her to continue the generations and that her grandfather and brother have faith in her ability to fulfill her artistic dreams, Sarah returns to college. When a student who does not know the reason for Sarah's trip south asks her how her trip home was, Sarah responds that it was fine.
Bibliography
Banks, Erma Davis, and Keith Byerman. Alice Walker: An Annotated Bibliography, 1968-1986. New York: Garland, 1989.
Christian, Barbara. "Novel for Everyday Use: The Novels of Alice Walker." In Black Women Novelists: The Development of a Tradition, 1892-1976. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1980.
Lauret, Maria. Alice Walker. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999.
McMillan, Laurie: "Telling a Critical Story: Alice Walker's In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens." Journal of Modern Literature 23, no. 1 (Fall, 2004): 103-107.
Noe, Marcia. "Teaching Alice Walker's 'Everyday Use': Employing Race, Class, and Gender, with an Annotated Bibliography." Eureka Studies in Teaching Short Fiction 5, no. 1 (Fall, 2004): 123-136.
Parker-Smith, Bettye J. "Alice Walker's Women: In Search of Some Peace of Mind." In Black Women Writers (1950-1980): A Critical Evaluation, edited by Mari Evans. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor, 1984.
Tate, Claudia. Black Women Writers at Work. New York: Continuum, 1983.
Willis, Susan. "Black Woman Writers: Taking a Critical Perspective." In Making a Difference: Feminist Literary Criticism, edited by Gayle Greene and Coppelia Kahn. London: Methuen, 1985.