When reading “The Color Purple” and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, it is clear that she writes about her life through the use of allegory. Alice Walker uses the events of her childhood, her observation of patriarchy in African American culture, and her rebellion against the society she lived in to tell her life through her stories. Alice Walker grew up in a loving family in the years toward the end of the Great Depression. Although his family was poor, they were full of kindness and perspective and taught Walker much about his heritage and his life. Alice Walker recounts the events of her childhood in some of her stories. When she was eight years old, her brother accidentally shot her in the eye with a BB gun while they were playing. The physical result was that Walker lost the sight in his right eye, which developed a disfiguring white scar. The psychological result was that she became self-aware and introspective. She modeled the character Maggie, from "Everyday Use", after this. Alice Walker wrote of Maggie as having a direct relationship to her early life. The character Maggie was involved in a house fire that the reader perceives to have been started by her sister Dee. Maggie's scars and shyness mirror how Walker's scar made her feel unattractive and insecure after receiving the wound due to her brother's actions. When she lied for her siblings so they could avoid getting into trouble, she felt guilty and hurt for agreeing to lie. “It was a lot like rape (Walker).” Walker refers to this event in her life as rape and refers to this in her writing of "The Color Purple." Celie has been raped many times by who she thinks is her father and has become pregnant by him twice. Although Alice Walker was not physically raped, she writes...... middle of paper ...... and her feelings and beliefs through her characters to show women and men that women do not have to rely on men. Walker was a strong advocate for women's independence and through her works she is able to portray this message successfully, while at the same time writing about her own life. Works Cited Chung, Heun-Kyung. "Conversations". Alice Walker. Np, 2010. Web. December 23, 2011. “Alice Walker.” New Encyclopedia of Georgia. Np, 08/13/2008. Network. 23 Dec 2011. .Edemariam, Aida. "Free spirit." The Guardian. Np, 22 June 2007. Web. 23 Dec 2011. .Danielle, Chris. "Living by grace." . Np, 1999. Web. 2 January 2012. .