Awoman is not a potted plantAlice Walker

A Woman Is Not A Potted Plant


“A Woman Is Not A Potted Plant” by Alice Walker exemplifies the anger that she has about being a kept woman or homemaker. The very fact that the first two lines are in capital letters signifies that she is shouting out her statement to get the attention of her readers. Having knowledge of some of her history it is easy to see why this headstrong woman chose these words to express her inner feelings. She married a lawyer and became pregnant while attending college. Alice Walker’s husband wanted her to be a homemaker, which could be the influence for this poem. Her roots bound to the confine of her house, assimilates the image of a potted plant and creates a vivid picture of a confined small clay circle being rooted in one place. Women are not like that according to Walker, to be taken care of is something that Ms. Walker does not concede to. The constraint of the size of the pot does to the plant what the house does to the woman. The interpr...