Activism is crucial in promoting or hindering social constructs, ultimately resulting in the transformation and redefinition of the nation. It has been present throughout history, playing a major role in ending slavery, fighting racism, defending workers' rights, and many other global concerns (Martin). Literature can be recognized as a highly influential form of activism, as it is fundamental to imagining divergent realities and also serves as a platform for critical thinking. In her novel Meridian, Alice Walker depicts a dichotomous world in which she seamlessly combines personal and political issues through her portrait of the civil rights movement. By emphasizing the concepts of idealism, interdependence between past and present, as well as individual transformation, Walker succeeds in justifying literature as a form of social advocacy. Literary activism is central to the text, as it attempts to rectify ruptures within racial stigma and reconstruct an alternative black perspective, thereby establishing a meaningful defense of African American freedom. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Activist and author Alice Walker is known for expressing her views on racial inequality and often enacts these concerns through his writings. As his text Meridian explicitly points out, Walker focuses on specific themes, each deterring the segregation that for years overshadowed the lives of African Americans. The novel can also, in some ways, stand in for an autobiography, as Walker uses Meridian to reflect certain events in his own life (raised in Georgia, early pregnancy, etc.) and, furthermore, Meridian's family to express his desire to end racial oppression. (Stein). In the text, she correlates the past and the present, strategically exposing the lack of ethics and illegitimacy behind discrimination. Effectively depicted through the beliefs of Meridian's father, it is evident that Walker admires and respects African Americans and, furthermore, recognizes the prejudices they face. She therefore constructs and frames activism throughout her text, enacting an influential defense against oppression. In her text, Fiction as Restriction: Self-binding in New Ethical Theories of the Novel, literary ethicist Dorothy Hale argued that reading evokes a consideration of different perspectives in the reader, thus leading to more informed decision-making. objective in reality (Cosgrove). Not only is reading fundamental to imagining divergent realities, but it can also serve as a platform for critical thinking – an essential element in the foundations of activism. By exposing the reader to the living conditions imposed on African Americans in the 1960s, Walker not only educates her readers about history, but she also shares the known experiences of those suppressed by cultural differences. By focusing on themes such as violence, oppression and stigma, it reveals past concerns that have plagued our nation. The reader, often aware of these facts, comes away with an understanding and feeling of empathy toward African Americans (Cook-Lynn). By successfully eliciting an emotional response from the reader, Walker continues to demonstrate activism throughout his writing. Meridian chronicles the lives of a young generation striving to end racial oppression by questioning theinstitutional stigma that dominated the 1960s. Through protests, sit-ins, and other techniques of revolt, Meridian and other activists sought to bring about a change in attitudes among the segregationist conventions that governed the lives of African Americans. Because many of their goals and values ​​were shared with those of the civil rights movement, they ultimately found it rewarding to support it. Many of these young activists shared the common goal of shaping a more positive world. Their outlook on cultural diversity and are therefore recognized as the protagonists of the novel. Walker emphasizes their desire for equality; further persuading his readers to want the same thing. In the text, activists aimed to challenge idealism and break stigma, ultimately ending racial discrimination. Walker establishes an interconnectedness between the past and the present, often shifting the reader's attention between the two. This is used as an approach to investigating the lives and perspectives of those in the past, as they constructed the present. For example, the mound of serpents is a historical symbol in the novel that also constitutes an integral affiliation between Meridian, her father, and their ancestors. It illustrates the African American experience and serves as a reminder to appreciate and, furthermore, learn from the past: "They were a part of it, we were a part of it, everyone was a part of it for a long time." » (Walker).Walker emphasizes the concept of human experience and opposes the idea of ​​racial diversity, suggesting that society shares a common history, whether of freedom or suffering. The interconnection between the past and the present is crucial in the success of promoting activism in her writing, as she attempts to spark critical thinking in her readers. Walker emphasizes the need for change, suggesting that our current beliefs and values ​​can ultimately affect the lives of future generations: "And so one day, in mid-April 1960, Meridian Hill aware of the past and the present. of the world as a whole” (Walker). The symbolic meaning of the mound changes dramatically when it is taken over by the government and turned into a park that prohibits African Americans from entering. This vital link to the past is quickly severed, as the historical significance of the symbol seemingly loses relevance. Such irony is used to elicit a sense of compassion in the reader, forcing them to re-evaluate traditional stigma and understand the importance of cultural ancestry. Meridian can therefore be read as an effort to repair fractures within racial oppression by recontextualizing the past, in the hope of shaping a new vision of cultural diversity. Meridian Hill longed for a sense of direction and so embarked on a quest for personality. transformation by turning to the civil rights movement. Walker uses this journey of self-discovery as a method to symbolize the political activity of the 1960s, particularly those that mimicked existing power structures: "The novel emphasizes that the civil rights movement often reflected the oppression of patriarchal capitalism . Activists have simply turned political rhetoric to their own ends while continuing to suppress spontaneous individuality. To overcome this destructive character, Walker seeks a new definition of revolution. His hope for a just society inherits not only political change, but also personal transformation” (Stein). Upon joining the revolution, Meridian must take an oath, swearing to die and kill for the cause. Hesitant about such dedication, the group became hostile towards Meridian andfinally rejected. Arguably, Walker here reflects exactly the systems of power these rebels are trying to eliminate and therefore contradicts his goal of ending discrimination (Martin). However, she instead favors a non-violent approach to doing so: "He... wondered if Meridian knew that the sentence of enduring the conflict in her own soul that she had imposed on herself – and that she had experienced – had to now be supported. terrorized by everyone else” (Walker). Working and living among destitute communities, Meridian emerges as a capable and determined young woman. This can largely be attributed to the struggles she was forced to overcome throughout her journey to self-awareness. She finds strength in her courage and realizes that big changes can begin within herself. Throughout Meridian, Walker reconstructs his view on activism and replaces the notion of innovation with the more positive theme of transformation. Readers can appreciate the nonviolent form of advocacy that Walker promotes throughout his text and, furthermore, admire him for it. Despite the principle of eliciting an emotional response from the reader, the text must also be seen as an ethical fabrication created and used strategically. to promote Walker's anti-oppressive beliefs. Writers make conscious decisions about the content of their work and are therefore responsible for the type of realities they depict throughout their writing. In his journal, Teaching James and the Ethics of Fiction: A Conversation on The Spoils of Poynton, literary ethicist James Phelan argues that "the ethics of reading involves a certain dialogical relationship between the values ​​of the reader and those of the text" (Phelan). Most works subject the reader to some degree of moral commitment, but each person has the choice to support or oppose the actions and attitudes in the novel. Discrepancies are not uncommon between a reader's values ​​and those described in a novel. For example, readers may not necessarily agree with the lack of commitment Meridian showed when she was unable to kill for the revolution. However, this can, on the other hand, be recognized as a commendable quality. By alternating between the past and present, Walker extends multiple perspectives regarding concerns of racial segregation. It is ultimately the reader who determines whether or not he will allow himself to become emotionally involved in the text: “…to open a novel is to open himself to a type of decision-making which is his -even intrinsically ethical. For the new ethicists, the novel demands from each reader a decision about their own relationship to the imaginative experience offered by novels: will I submit to the otherness that the novel allows? An affirmative answer launches the reader of the novel into a transactional relationship with another agent, an agent defined by its otherness in relation to the reader” (Hale). If the reader understands and agrees with Walker's activist views, he or she submits to another point of view. than that of theirs, thus confirming his success in the defense and effective promotion of his convictions. By using literature as a form of activism to express the inconsistencies within our society, Walker forms an alternative black perspective. Meridian, one of many works of activist literature, ratifies a critical defense of African American freedom. The text acts as a catalyst for public recognition, introducing them to a wide range of global issues. Walker establishes a strong sense of ambivalence regarding traditional stigma, overwhelming the type of hierarchical system that governed the 1960s. Literary activism is fundamental to the..