Roselily

Roselily Summary | Detailed Summary

This short story by Alice Walker is written in a stream-of-consciousness style. It is set in Mississippi, at the wedding ceremony of the main character, Roselily. The story has been broken into segments with each segment beginning with a line from the wedding ceremony.

The wedding is being held on the front porch of Roselily's house. There is traffic passing by on the nearby highway, interfering with the tranquility of the ceremony. Roselily thinks that the white people in the cars are on their way to some place more exciting than this wedding; in contrast, the groom feels as though they are usurping the wedding. Roselily feels as though she is in a dream, moving through quicksand. She feels like a little girl dressed up in her mother's wedding dress.

The groom does not come from the same community as Roselily, and he thinks that Roselily and the people at the ceremony believe in the "wrong God." Roselily knows that she holds a different religious belief than her husband, but she thinks that her religious beliefs are also different from those of her friends and family. As the preacher performs the ceremony, Roselily finds that she has to pretend that the preacher is a man of God because she believes that God is actually a timid black boy.

Roselily has three children living with her, but she finds herself wishing she did not. While she is thinking about her children, she squeezes the flowers in her hand and imagines choking the life from them. When she realizes what she is doing, she stops and is ashamed of her thoughts. She does love her children and knows that the stress of her difficult life makes her think she does not want them.

Roselily thinks about the fact that she will be moving to Chicago with her new husband. She envisions her new home and sees it as a chance to build a proper life and earn respect. She believes it is an opportunity for her children as well.

Roselily thinks about her fourth child, a son, who lives in New England with his father. Roselily believes that his father was a good, but weak man, as he was not able to live with the poverty and lack of opportunity in Roselily's life. Roselily wonders if her son will ever return to see Mississippi, or if he will forget where he came from.

When the preacher reaches the part of the ceremony: "If there's anybody here that knows a reason why," Roselily considers the meaning of these words. She does not believe anyone would ever admit to knowing a reason. The people at her wedding understand that marriage often occurs for reasons other than love.

Roselily thinks of her children again and believes that they will have a better life once she is married. She realizes that her memories are interfering with her thoughts of the future. As it is her wedding day, she wants to think only of her future, but she does not know how to suppress her memories.

Roselily thinks about her dead mother. Her father and sisters are present at the wedding, though she thinks that her father looks like a man who wants to run away. Her giggling sisters make Roselily feel old. She thinks that perhaps her husband would be happier marrying one of her sisters because they are still young and ready to try new things. She thinks about death and ghosts.

Roselily knows that once she is married, she will no longer have to work because her husband has said that her place will be in the home. Because she has led a hard, laboring life, part of Roselily thinks of this as a rest; however, another part of her wonders what she will do once she is rested. She knows that she will have more children and raising these children will be her new job. However, she does not find this to be reassuring.

As the wedding ceremony ends, Roselily admits that she might have jumped into the marriage too fast. She knows that she agreed to marry because she wanted to escape from the life she led. She was tired of seeing the same people in her community, the same people - including the fathers of her children - driving by. She wanted to be free. She acknowledges that she does not know if she loves her husband. She is marrying him because he loves her and she needs this love. Being married is important to her because she will finally be like other women.

As they head for the car to leave the wedding ceremony, Roselily understands that her husband does not belong in this community in Mississippi. She realizes that she, too, will likely be in the same position of not belonging in his community when they move to Chicago.