The Contrast between the Public and the Private Good: The Robbing of Feminine Identity and Dignity in Alice Walker’s “The Abortion”

Abstract

The African American feminist author, Alice Walker has been very vocal in demanding equality and rights for women. Her short story “The Abortion” presents a contrast between the public good of the African American community, that is, their general welfare, and the private miseries of the protagonist, Imani who is a member of that community. This paper is inspired by the influential French feminist, Simone de Beauvoir’s statement in her book The Second Sex that the true public good is what ensures the private good, and seeks to show how the public advancement of the African American community shown in the short story stands in stark contrast to Imani’s private indignity and identity crisis as a woman.