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Possessing the Secret of Joy: A Novel

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Possessing the Secret of Joy, by Alice Walker, reveals a cultural tradition that is considered taboo by its society; it is left unspoken of, yet it is condoned. To someone of a different culture, this tradition is not only unacceptable but completely appalling. It is a tradition that brutally abuses and destroys its victims, the women of the society. Alice Walker presents us, specifically, with two of these women, Tashi and M'Lissa, of Olinka. Tashi can easily be seen as a victim of this cruel tradition, but M'Lissa initially appears to be the enemy, a traitor who continues to force this "initiation" upon the girls of Olinka. However, M'Lissa's character can be seen to change toward the end of the novel as her own story is revealed, and we can ultimately view M'Lissa, not as the enemy, but as a victim also. While, on the surface, M'Lissa and Tashi can be seen as two entirely different women with different motives and ideals, they actually are a great deal alike. Not only are they both women of this Olinkan society, they are both women who have lost themselves to this Olinkan society. While their ways of coping contrast, they both must live the rest of their lives in an attempt to deal with the harsh consequences of the painful and degrading tradition of female circumcision. At the beginning of the novel, the idea that Tashi could murder M'Lissa seems very appealing. Tashi lives her entire life in grief and agony because of what this woman has done to her. It seems completely justifiable for Tashi to take revenge on M'Lissa. Tashi considers herself to be dead throughout her entire life simply because she has been so completely torn from herself as a result of this massacre of her womanhood. But as the novel progresses, M'Lissa's one-dimensional character of evil begins to change and we begin to sympathize with her as we do Tashi. Walker presents us with M'Lissa's point of view, which was formerly obscure. And instead of coming face to face with a murderous enemy, we acquire the tragic story of a woman who is raised to believe female sexuality is sinful and condemned. In addition, she is told by her mother that to be a tsunga is not only a tradition, it is a great honor. M'Lissa is lead to believe that these practices are normal and admirable; female circumcision is an accepted ritual in this society. It is common knowledge to know that M'Lissa, herself, has been circumcised, but to hear her actual story paints a different picture than the one of the beast we see destroying Tashi. We, instead, see a young girl being subject to an insane and insanitary procedure. We learn that M'Lissa's mother tries to protect part of her, which leads the angry witchdoctor to show no mercy, and M'Lissa's pain is far greater than any other girl. We hear M'Lissa's words, "I could never again see myself, for the child that finally rose from the mat three months later, . . . , was not the child who had been taken there. I was never to see that child again." She also comments on her becoming the tsunga, "Can you imagine the life of the tsunga who feels? I learned not to feel." It is as if M'Lissa has completely void herself of any type of feeling as a result of feeling too much pain. She has completely lost herself. Maybe becoming the tsunga and withdrawing all her feelings is M'Lissa's way of dealing with this pain just as an abused child grows to be a child abuser. So when we rethink about Tashi murdering M'Lissa, we begin to question the murder's legitimacy. Did M'Lissa really deserve to be murdered? Could Tashi be the evildoer after all? Isn't M'Lissa, just like Tashi, dealing with the pain and suffering that results from the cruel ritual? Maybe we can't label the evildoer, but rather, consider the bumper sticker Alice Walker includes in the beginning of this novel, "When the axe came into the forest, the trees said the handle is one of us." M'Lissa and Tashi, both, are victims in this society that mutilates women, they just deal with their pain in different ways. We can imagine both M'Lissa and Tashi stranded amidst the surface of an immense sea of waves. M'Lissa is floating submissively along with the tide, yet she has no arms or legs, so she will sink to the bottom; Tashi is swimming hard in the other direction, an endless attempt to try and fight the current. Do they both lose to this mad society that brought them to hurt each other? It is sad that they can't join together in understanding of each other's pain.

Possessing The Secret of Joy is a semi-sequel to The Color Purple, but you can jump right into "Possessing" without ever having read "Purple".

Here, Alice Walker tells the story of Tashi, a minor character from The Color Purple. Transplanted from her native Africa, she is tormented by supressed memories from her childhood; memories that are starting to wear away her already tenuous sanity.

Tashi is not only plagued by memories of the death of her sister, she is also suffering psychologically from the circumcision she subjected herself to before her departure from Africa. She undergoes some extensive therapy, conducted in part by Jung himself, to try to heal her mental scars.

I was familiar with the concept of ritual female circumcision from various newspaper articles and news programs, but I had no idea of the extent of the mutilation these young girls are subjected to. Walker handles the subject well; she describes the procedure, and the effect, both physical and mental, on the girl, all the while taking great care to present every side of the story. Her presentation of the history of this procedure is gripping, as are her theories about how it may have started. While much of the book is relentlessly grim, it is, nonetheless, a fabulously rewarding read.

I am sixteen years old and I read an interview with Tori Amos (my favorite artist) who said that her song "Cornflake Girl" was inspired by the book "Possessing the Secret of Joy," so I picked up the book and read it. While I initially began reading it to look for lines that Tori might have used in the song, my focus soon turned to the story of Tashi, Andy, Olivia, M'Lissa, and the other characters in the book. The practice done to Tashi was hideous and I think it's good that Alice Walker is bringing the barbaric practice of mutilation to the public and trying to stop it. I let my best friend borrow this book for her school report on how badly females are treated in today's society, which is supposed to be equal, and she used "Possessing the Secret of Joy" as an example. Alice Walker helped me realize how we as women need to stand up for ourselves and speak out against anything we find wrong, whatever it may be, and Tashi's strength is prevalent throughout this excellent novel.

Alice Walker states that the secret of joy is "RESISTANCE", which sums up the book nicely. But there is more to this single word. Resistance to what? Resistance to injustice, in this case specifically the injustice of genital mutilation...but Walker clearly means for this resistance to include other forms of injustice. Such as, you ask? Racism, sexism, bigotry in any form.

Walker's books, including this one, convey the psychological damage of perpetual abuse of a person throughout not only their own life but the life of their ancestors. Therefore, racism and sexism heap psychological damage on their victims for enerations--not to mention the clear sociological problems that germinate from them.

Why does "resistance" bring joy? First, if the injustice is eventually defeated it will bring a new found freedom and autonomy. If nothing else, resistance provides the resister with a moral victory over his or her opponents, which in the end, brings our ill-fated protagonist joy.

The more specific sexual aspect of the book is also embraced by this concept. Resistance to the injustice of genital mutilation, on both the individual and collective level, brings sexual pleasure to the individual and to generations of individuals yet to come. So sexual pleasure also is part of the "secret of joy", only in this case it is a specific instance of what "resistance" can eventually accomplish.

I learned of this book from another novelist's work, Kola Boof, and was moved to check out why "Boof" (who is vaginally circumcised) is so enamoured of Walker's work and especially holds this book in so much esteem.

I had no idea that there would be so many other facets to the story that have nothing to do with the main subject of female genital mutilation or that Walker could reveal so much about African society, culture and the lives and suffering of African women.

I am an African woman, so this work is monumental to me. I was quite moved and I recommend this to anyone who cares about the lives of women and especially the suffering of African women and girls.

This book is certainly an illustrative example of the old adage "you can't judge a book by its cover". It isn't very thick, and it's rather unassuming, but once you get into the meat of it, it's quite a large book. It certainly deals with large ideas and topics. Although the story is about a black woman, the story transends race and even gender. It's not just about a black woman. It's about a human being, what it means to be a human, the idea of submission, both to families and to society as a whole.
It's about abuse and manipulation, and within the story the concept of personal identity is well explored. Not only is the main character subjected to female circumcision (which is nothing like it's benign male counterpart), but the "operation" is performed by a woman. One of the hardest issues for women to explore is the role that women play in the subjugation and abuse of other women.
This is a great read, very heavy at times, but it's made lighter by its rather unique narrative style.

When I first came across this book, it beckoned me. The fact that it was only in hardback didn't even deter me from buying it, despite my limited budget, and I was not disappointed. I read it three times that week, and couldn't put it down. To this day, I read Possessing the Secret of Joy once or twice every year, to recharge the inspiration that it always provides. After some twenty readings over the years, I firmly believe that this is a book of chilling import as a literary masterpiece. Walker's craft is marvelous in this book. From the story of the panther named Lara to the chilling conclusion, this book is impossible to put down.

My only reservation about recommending this book to everyone freely is that some people can't stomach the frightening reality of female genital mutilation. Despite the fact that it is a difficult issue to read about, the presentation of the topic is artfully done.

I am an avid reader and have read a multitude of classics and contemporary works. I have read most of Alice Walker's fiction and nonfiction as a result of my love for Possessing the Secret of Joy, but this remains my all-time favorite work of literature!

In this book, Alice Walker takes an important social issue and shows just what kind of horrific effects it can have on not only an individual, but society as a whole....It does an excellent job in showing the severe psychological effects it can have on a girl who is subjected to this unsanitary and demoralizing practice. Anyone who is unfamiliar with the practice of FGM or African cultural practices would greatly benefit from this work. The style in which Walker writes draws attention away from the simple before and after aspect of the practice, and focuses on the internal struggles that the women who are affected by this must face.

This is the first book that I've read by Alice Walker and I walked away from it very impressed. I've always been fascinated with other cultures and was drawn to the subject of genital mutilation in Africa. I've always found this to be a shocking and controversial topic whenever I've heard it discussed.

This book is the story of Tashi and her husband Adam and some surrounding friends of theirs. Tashi suffers horribly from her past experiences with the mutilation ceremonies. I found Walker's account to be heart wrenching and brutally honest. One can only imagine the emotional and psychological effects of such a traumatic procedure.

The book itself is a gem. The story unfolds a small piece at a time, like a secret being whispered to you. It all fits together wonderfully and forms a thought-provoking tale.

I am a high school student going into the twelth grade and before my junior year I had honestly never heard of Alice Walker until my U.S. literature class when we began reading her novel The Color Purple. I enjoyed the book so much that I wanted to read and learn more books by the Alice Walker. My U.S. literature teacher offered to let me borrow another novel so I decided I would see if I really liked Alice Walker's style of writing the book she offered was Possessing the Secret of Joy. At first I wasn't sure if I would like it but as soon as I sat down to read it I couldn't put it down. The book has a lot of good points to it and it discusses a lot of issues that most people don't think or hear about very often. The book was really interesting because it taught me a lot about the horrors of female circumcision and the way it affects the women it is performed on.