59 pages • 1 hour read
Alice WalkerThe Temple of My Familiar
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1989A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Familiar
The familiar is an important recurring motif in the book, appearing in the title as well. A contemporary understanding of the familiar is as a witch’s attendant, a demonic spirit that takes the form of an animal. Walker uses this to trace how Western civilization has misperceived and misrepresented African and Indigenous cultures as mysterious, backward, and superstitious.
Through the stories of Lissie’s many lives, Walker asserts that familiars in ancient times were simply animals who were friends and companions to humans, specifically women. Walker portrays women of these ancient cultures as revered and worshipped, even feared by men. Things begin to change once man begins to dominate; he domesticates the dog, but it becomes a “fake familiar” in that it is not a loyal companion, but a subservient object to man. Man then breaks the connection between women and her true familiars by chasing away all other animals. Later, Western colonizers stamp out all form of goddess worship and turn women’s association and ability to communicate with animals into something evil. This brings to mind ideas of “black” magic, especially in the context of how a witch, who is always a woman, is pictured with a familiar.
Thus, the familiar as a motif highlights all three main themes of the book: The denigration of The Feminine Experience, the broken link with nature in the Spirituality in the Diaspora, and how The Historical Trauma of Colonization persists in how African and Indigenous cultures are perceived in the Western world.
Painting
Painting is an important recurring motif, but it carries out different functions for different characters. For Hal, painting is an essential part of who he is. His father tried to stomp it out when he was young, and Lissie believes this broke his spirit. However, she helps him preserve this skill; painting is what helps Hal keep his vision. When he stops painting after Lissie’s death, he loses his sight; when he encounters Lissie’s paintings again, it slowly begins to return. Painting, thus, is the essential part of Hal’s person that helps him engage with and make sense of the external world.
Lissie also paints, but mostly paints portraits and self-portraits. When she and Hal both paint “self-portraits” of each other, they arrive at the same image. Their twin paintings underline a shared connection that is timeless, eternal, and not limited to their current lifetimes and appearances. This also corresponds with how Lissie appears in photographs and in her final paintings. Just as her many selves appear in photographs, Lissie paints a couple more of her selves in her “self-portraits”—as the white African man and the lion. Painting helps Hal see the world, while it allows Lissie to show all of her selves to the world.
Creative Expression
Different forms of creative expression appear throughout the book, and in all instances, they help the characters in question stay connected to themselves and their culture. Zedé’s mother makes feathered capes for the village priests in her home country; Zedé carries this skill over into America and makes feathered capes for rockstars. This allows Zedé to preserve a traditional skill, as well as provide for her family. Later, the feathered capes—and feathers in general—become Carlotta’s connection to her family. The cape brings Arveyda into Carlotta’s life, and the feathered earrings symbolize her father’s culture, helping her dream again.
Carlotta herself turns to a different form of creative expression to reconnect with herself—music. She joins Arveyda in making music, and, in doing so, she is finally happy. In Arveyda’s case, music consistently helps him connect with people, and it helps connect other people to each other, as his music is universally loved. He also uses it to introduce Carlotta to her mother’s history and culture by singing Zedé’s story to her. Arveyda’s music is what draws Fanny to him, and she feels connected to him long before they ever meet.
Writing is another form of creative expression that appears in the book. Ola rises to prominence in his home country as a playwright; he uses his writing to recount details about his culture, but also to highlight the issues that persist in his country. After Ola’s death, Fanny and Nzingha plan to continue their father’s legacy by writing plays themselves. This will keep the sisters connected to their father, to each other, and to their country’s culture.
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