Be Nobody's Darling Analysis

 Be Nobody's Darling By Alice Walker Analysis 

Alice Walker in her poem, "Be Nobody's Darling" criticizes the patriarchy and culture of conformity it develops. She also shed lights on the needs of women to break out of their misogynistic, proportionate culture and embrace feminine, sexuality and individuality in order to have a respectful and meaningful life. Alice Walker is a dominant figure in the second wave of feminism. The second wave was defined and steered largely by skilled middle-class white women who built the movement primarily around their own concerns. This resulted in ambiguous, if not controversial, relationships with women of other classes and races. White women were fighting for their rights of not giving full participation in American life whereas Black women were marginalized not only the bases of their gender but also because of their race.

Alice Walker raised these issues in her poems. Walker is herself an African-American woman and goes through the same from which the majority of the Black woman have gone through. In “Be Nobody’s Darling” Walker opens up her poem with the saying that, “be an outcast”. Outcast is a person who is suppress or rejected by the social groups or community. Walker highlights the conditions of the Black woman that they are totally neglected by the society. Being woman means to be beautiful and unluckily Black women are not beautiful so they are not considered as women. This can also be interpreted in a way that Walker is advising women “be an outcast” and live your life alone. She is motivating women that “be nobody’s darling” and be your own darling. She is urging audience to stand up for their rights and fight for their individuality and existence. Moreover, she is telling that now the choice “of your life” is in your own hand. You can be either conformist and agree on how you are living or you can be nonconformist and stand for your rights. As mentioned earlier, in second wave of feminism women were ill treated by the white women as well. They not only have to face the injustice from men but also the harsh behavior of white women as well.

Many black women had difficulty seeing white women as their feminist sisters. After all, in the eyes of many African Americans, white women were just as oppressive as white men were. Alice Walker has captured the stories of all those black women’s and she is using didactic tone to address them. “Be an outcast” is used many times in the poems and it reinforces the main idea of the poem. It says that it is clear that you are different from everyone and nobody’s welcome you, do not take this in negative and accepts this. Be confident in what you are and “be pleased to walk alone”. Walker is giving them choices: enjoy your femininity or “or line the crowded river beds with other impetuous fools”.  The word “impetuous fool” refer to all those who confirm to the society and waste their selves. She is encouraging them to be distinct from all. If they do not accept you, so you too reject them. Be confident in what you are and being an outcast will help them to enjoy their own individuality and self-esteem.

Walker divide her audience into two: conformist and nonconformists. She describe the conditions of both. That how it would like if they were conformists and how it would be if they become nonconformist. She is taking her audience into confidence that being nonconformists will give them more respect. It does not matter if they died in taking their rights they are far more better than those who confirm to society. She made this clear in lines 23 to 25, when she says, "where thousands perished for brave hurts words”. It means that brave people who chooses to die than being conformists are the real heroes and their words hurt them who tries to put them down but failed. Walker made it clear that never let anything wrong happen, to you it is better to die instead. Women who were facing injustice silently, walker is provoking all those women to speak up for their rights. In last lines, she said, “be an outcast qualified to live among your dead” that accept your existence and live yourself. Furthermore, she is saying by accepting your identity will give you more power than others will.

By concluding, we can say that this poem has many instances of feminism. Walker is making all those women confident who struggles because of their gender and race. She is telling them to fight for their rights and don not conform to everything that society says. Break this conformity and live your individuality and uniqueness.