Nineteen Fifty Five

"Nineteen Fifty Five" is a short story by Alice Walker. It was published in 1981. Alice Walker is a poet and a fiction writer. She was born in Georgia and attended college at Sarah Lawrence. "Nineteen Fifty-five" has two main characters. Traynor and Gracie Mae Still. She is known as "little mama". Walker bases her character on real people, but does not describe the meaning of each character. There are many similarities between Traynor and Elvis …

…man, probably from the south because of his accent. She is a colored woman. Gracie Mae lives in an all colored community because in the first paragraph of the story she says"....they are white, and wonder what in the world they doin in this neighborhood." As the story progresses, Gracie Mae and Traynor develop a relationship that no one would expect. The meaning in this short story is that money cannot buy you happiness.