Martin Luther King and Alice Walker - Essay Example

Martin Luther King and Alice Walker. Turning points in people's lives are sometimes not remembered, but at other times they areso vividly life-changing that they are forever imprinted in our memories. These memories either change the way we think about ourselves or the way we think about others. Sometimes these transitions are even about the world in general. We look specifically at two transitions of thought that changed the way two very influential people thought. Alice Walker's turning point is very different to Martin Luther King's but nonetheless offers interesting insights into the female psyche. Martin Luther King's epiphanies however, were such that they changed the face of a nation. When the Other Dancer is the Self by Alice Walker takes a beautiful and pertinent look at what drives women and particularly little girls. Beauty is something we all strive for, especially in today's media conscious world. It is really a connection between self confidence and self esteem that Alice Walker talks about. In the beginning of her memoir she speaks about being beautiful or 'cute' and having attention poured upon her. She remembers everything she is wearing and even what the day was like until the change occurs. In some instances where a tragic event changes a person's life they forget the good times, when everything seemed to be alright and focus rather on the event that changed their lives. Alice Walker has a vivid memory of the times when her confidence was high. There are essentially two paragraphs that describe these times and then one line that explains the change. That one line has its purpose in that effectively closes a chapter. Walker writes: "It was great fun being cute. But then, one day, it ended."(Walker 55). Alice Walker remembers then the tiniest detail of what changed her life and that scar that seemed to rip a gaping hole through her existence. There are actually two turning points within this story that both deal with the 'self' and the coming of age into a world where ones physical appearance no longer matters as much. When Alice Walker was shot, she had been known as a certain person and she feels thereafter that she was no longer that person. She remembers being changed and asking those around her whether or not she had changed. "Years later, in the throes of a mid-life crisis, I ask my mother and sister whether I changed after the 'accident.' 'No,' they say, puzzled. 'What do you mean'" (Walker 56). In this journey Walker begins to ask herself whether the change was part of her imagination. She wonders if that change was something so small yet significant that others could not see it. There are two ways of looking at this change or turning point. The first transition is when she was shot and when she imagined this change as being all-encompassing. The second change is when she realizes that it really made no difference and the way she sees herself is not necessarily the way the world sees you. Take for instance an acne sufferer: their condition has cleared up but they are so fixated on the one blemish that does not clear up that they believe this all other people see. They are often shocked when those around them honestly never noticed it. Alice Walker's perception of herself changed when her child likened her blind-eye to the way the world looks from a distance. This is a remarkable definition of the 'self', and once a new way of defining the 'self' is recognized, it puts everything else into perspective. Women are eternally concerned about their appearance perhaps still due to the old way of thinking in biological terms. Hundreds of years ago, a woman's future relied on finding a man and being able to keep him. He was her security, which meant that keeping him from straying was important and therefore preservation of appearance was also imperative. This mind-set has not yet been abolished. The way others view our appearance is very much dependent on how we view ourselves and what we are aware of within that self. Alice Walker was more confident after the surgery that removed the scar, but her self esteem was not necessarily changed. To explain this better we can take the example of modern film stars: Pamela Anderson is confident enough to wear nothing in public whereas Natalie Portman can if she wants to, but knows she does not have to. Self-respect and self esteem are the differences between true self-love and the highly acclaimed 'self-confidence'. What Alice Walker is also saying is that self-confidence can be faked, self-esteem cannot. We need only look at Princess Diana and Princess Grace of Monaco to see the difference between the two. Pilgrimage to Non-violence by Martin Luther King raises many questions on a very different level. In this piece, the focus is on the relationship between the personal and the collective. Luther King not only looks at the development of the self, but also at the purpose of the self as a collective medium for transformation. He is constantly aware of the need to change the world one person at a time. His journey is from the theistic to the philosophical to the humanistic and back again. The first turning point is a small mental transition and comes when Luther King questions 'liberal theology'. However, this did not last for very long, because King took from liberalism what he believed to be pertinent to his beliefs and the bettering of humanity. Part of King's disagreement with liberalism came in what he called their 'superficial optimism' with humanity (King 347). In this, King sees that liberalism has almost justified the sinning nature of mankind rather than helping to abolish it. King then became interested in existentialism, a small but significant change. The 'why' in all questions was determinable by the existence of man. So King's transition occurred as a series of enlightenments about humanity, brought on by the study of our strange species. The first major turning point he mentions in his writing is about his stance on racialism: "The first time that I was seated behind a curtain in a dining car I felt as though the curtain had been dropped on my selfhood."(King 348). Here the idea of 'self' is defined by others rather by the inherent 'self'. This borders a little on social theory whereby we are split into the 'self' that we are to ourselves and the 'self' we portray to others. Two more 'theorists' become apart in King's transition: Rauschenbusch and Ghandi. From Rauschenbusch King learnt about social responsibility and from Ghandi he learnt about love-force. Both were to become essential to the way in which King made his struggle. The next great turning point King writes about is his trip to India: "My privilege of traveling to India had a great impact on me personally, for it was invigorating to see firsthand the amazing results of a non-violent struggle to achieve independence." (King 350). This is where King sees the differences between violent protest and non-violent protest that culminated in the passive boycotting of transport services in the United States. King defines himself and his people in a new manner: the collective soul. This aspect means that quantity is far more effective than brute force. The collective of all black participants was so enormous that it could not be ignored. Compare this to the Irish Republican Army protest that killed so many innocent and not so innocent people. The effect was devastating. Yet the effects of the bombings being destructive, defeated the object and destroyed the dignity of those involved. King did not see this as a possible way out, in fact he saw it as being degrading instead of liberating. For King too, the purpose of resistance and the means for change depend on the reasons for that change. The merciless invasion of Britain by the Romans in 6 BC (approximately) is not the same as fighting for the freedom of an oppressed minority. A number of turning points occur in King's writing that all contribute to the effects of his power and show the mental changes that occurred in his life. They are punctuated by two defined moments in his life that were both personal and collective. The differences between Alice Walkers writing and Martin Luther Kings are evident. Alice Walker was writing from a personal point of view which she clearly felt was important to the rest of the world and to a minority. On the other hand, Martin Luther King's turning point was far more collective. Essentially the difference between the two could be determined in the following manner: Alice Walker explored the effect of ones own perception of self on the way others viewed you; Martin Luther ling explored the opposite reaction by explaining the effect of others perceptions having a bearing on the way you view yourself. King determined that the way you were labeled or the way the world saw you, could have an effect on the way you viewed yourself. Walker determined that the way you viewed yourself has an effect on the way others view you. Both are acceptable explanations for 'self' and this leads us to the conclusion that the idea of 'self' is interdependent between the collective view and the personal view. Alice Walker writes about one single event that precipitated two round-about turns, while King explains a series of events that culminate in one event that changes his perspective. The internal workings of the 'self' are definitely dependent on the two types of 'self': the 'I' and the 'me' making it extremely difficult to consolidate the two. The 'I' can be defined as the personal self, the one you present to yourself, the true self. The 'me' can be defined as the self that we project to others and in Kings situation, this collective knowledge is one that joins forces and can be manipulated to change. In Walkers terms, the personal self is the one that cannot be changed, the one that bleeds into the daily life to make us individual. This self cannot be changed by events and perceptions and is always evident in our personality. Even though she was scarred, she still fell upon the memory of the confident extrovert she truly was. The public perception of her is what questioned whether she was still worthy of the attention she sought. Walkers memoir reads as a story would, littered with elaborate description and intricate details. Kings description was more objective and factual, somewhat analytical in a sense. In conclusion, both writings express something of the 'self' that is determined by both internal actions and external ones. For the better part, Kings personal changes precipitated the collective change necessary for global change while Walkers change dealt specifically with the female response to beauty and our perception thereof. In the end, we owe a lot more to ourselves than we generally give. We need to be determined to make changes for the better rather than changes that affect 'self' to the point where we are rendered ineffective. To King, the change for the better must take into account the years of suffering in order to make that change. Recognizing and accepting this change and the suffering for it is the difference. Sources: King, Martin Luther. "Pilgrimage to Nonviolence". Walker, Alice. "When the Other Dancer is the Self". Read More