Eudora Welty Essays (Examples)

e., the "P.O." Of this story's title). Sister has been driven to take up residence here by family discord. From here, we then learn, mostly implicitly, just how deep indeed the domestic discord (i.e., in today's psychological parlance, "dysfunctional" behavior) in Sister's family runs. As Choard points out, of this story: "Sister's move to the P.O. is presented as the result of a disruptive event: the return of the Prodigal Sister, Stella-Rondo, which interferes with the established, allegedly peaceful, order" ("Ties that Bind"). All circumstances and previously-existing character viewpoints are in fact abruptly altered, and much for the worse in this family, by Stella Rondo's and the child's sudden and unexpected appearance.

However, the exact trouble that has driven Sister here to the P.O., as Sister also tells us, began not so much with the mere return home of Stella Rondo, and Shirley T, but instead, with Sister's own comment…

Eudora Welty -- a Memory

There are several relevant themes in this short story. One powerful theme used by Welty in A Memory is very clear from the beginning: a vivid memory is not a list of scenes from the past, but instead memory can become a living, forceful part of the here and now. Her truthful recollections seem as alive as though she could actually be catapulted back to that beach scene. The recounting of the memories captures perfectly her youthful biases and naivete -- and brings out a sense of honesty that is perhaps not possible during adolescence. Another theme is that life is lived in stages and as a young person in possession of a lively imagination, every moment in a person's experience has a heightened significance well beyond its actual impact and reality. She offers those heightened moments in a waterfall of youthful recollections and symbolism…

She has also been forced to accept a job given to her by Papa-Daddy, which might be hampering her self-esteem further. Faced with the prospect of living out her life as a spinster, it is understandable why Sister might feel as angry and jealous as she does. Eudora Welty wrote "Why I Live at the P.O." At a time at which women were not expected to have children out of wedlock. Similarly, women who did not marry were scorned as spinsters. The motif of spinsterhood is symbolized in one scene when Sister describes, "I marched in where they were all playing Old Maid." The card game bears the euphemistic name for a spinster.

Sister and Stella ondo also compete for the attention of one of the story's most ambiguous characters: Uncle ondo. Uncle ondo is a cross-dresser, evident especially in his flamboyant donning of Stella-ondo's pink kimono. The play on…

In conclusion, it has been sufficiently demonstrated that elty's recurring motif in "Death of a Traveling Salesman" and in "A orn Path" is the treating of human relationships, which are inherently founded in human nature and which can be evinced from such human principles of love, devotion, and spirituality. The author has purposefully repeated this theme in many of her works to accurately portray real life, since it was the living, breathing world (through the author's interpretation) which engendered these tales. Readers would benefit from the review of these texts, therefore, in order to gain a degree of sapience into the inner workings of people and of the world around them.

orks Cited

Johnston, Carol Ann. "Eudora elty." The Mississippi riter's Page. 2005. eb. http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/welty_eudora/#T2

Sederberg, Nancy. "elty's Death of a Traveling Salesman." The Explicator. Vol.42 1983. eb. http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=96539565

Seltzer, Catherine. "Pondering Hearts: Studies of Eudora elty and Josephine Pinckney."…

Welty's story is the suaveness of an elderly woman. Often stereotyped as helpless, foolish, or dim-witted, the woman in Welty's tale makes us look beyond stereotypes to see the person underneath. The topic of this essay, therefore, is that externals -- in this case, elderliness -- can be misleading. People should learn to look beyond in order not to fall into the error of stereotyping.

The story starts off by describing the woman's plodding style, reminiscent of a religious pilgrimage (Saunders, 1992). We are brought into our customary ways of feeling impatience for the woman and of viewing her as someone who needs our help rather than as someone who can help herself. Welty, therefore, deliberately prolongs and elaborates on the description using character and setting as aids (Clugston, 2010; Pollack, 1997) to portray the woman.

Use of character for instance includes the following:

She wore a dark striped dress…

Symbol in Frost, Welty

Symbol of Journey in Frost and Welty

Welty's Journey is Transcendental/Social

Frost's Journey is Satirical/Inspirational

Style

Both Frost and Welty Use Satire in a Gentle Way

Welty's Style Moves From Satire Towards Compassion

Frost's Style Moves From Satire Towards Self-Awareness

Thematic Structure

Welty eflects all of life in her Thematic Structure

Frost eflects a simple event, losing one's way

Form and Content

Frost's poetry

Allows for many interpretations

The content can be read in varying ways

Welty's short story

Allows a more intimate connection with characters

The story can be read as allegory, social commentary, or realism

Conclusion

Welty and Frost use the same symbol to reflect different facets of life

B. They initiate a journey for the reader, but the reader's destination is of his own choosing

An Analysis of the Symbol of the Journey in Welty's "Worn Path" and Frost's

"oad Not Taken"

Introduction…

She does not seem to mind the cold, as she considers it to be effective in the thought that it prevents wild animals from leaving their shelter.

Phoenix interacts with several white people in her expedition, and, while most of them treat her with disrespect, others actually understand her problem and help her in solving it. The hunter, the lady on the street and the receptionist express their racism through their behavior and through the fact that they think that they know all about Phoenix and about people like her. The four individuals that interact with Phoenix contribute in shaping her character and in adding more logic to the story.

While people such as the hunter, the lady on the street, and the receptionist believe Phoenix to be a no-good beggar walking the streets with no actual purpose, the nurse is acquainted with the old woman's situation. Moreover, the nurse…

Yet perhaps no American author embraced the grotesque with the same enthusiasm as the Southern Flannery O'Connor. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," O'Connor uses the example of a family annihilated by the side of the road by an outlaw named the Misfit to show the bankruptcy of American life. Instead of an evil serial killer, the Misfit is portrayed as a kind of force of divine justice, who unintentionally allows the grandmother of the family to experience grace. She says that she believes the man is like one of own her children before he kills her. In O'Connor's stories, the characters do not fight for their insight, rather it is given in mysterious, often deadly ways, and it always originates with the divine, not with the human will.

If O'Connor represents the most extreme version of grotesque American literature, Ralph Ellison represents perhaps the most balanced use…

With the help of Salome, she discovers Jamie's dual nature, and when he, offended by her lack of trust, leaves her, Rosamond goes after him. Her journey is the hero's quest, usually a male activity in myths and legends. It takes her through the wilderness where she suffers hardship and trials but emerges transformed, reconciled with Jamie's duality and enlightened (Carson). Rosamond's heroic journey also results not only with her achievement of knowledge, love, and happiness, but in the end she rescues the man Lockhart from his divided self and double life.

Welty's portrayal of the relationship between Salome and Rosamond reverses the typical stepmother-daughter antagonism found in fairy tales. Although Salome is hateful toward Rosamond early on in the story, she changes and becomes the girl's ally in her heroic quest. Salome gives Rosamond a recipe to remove the stain on Jamie's face so she can learn who he…

With a cane, she is able to make a long walk from her home to the hospital, and only needs someone to tie her shoe because she cannot, because she is using a cane.

The tale is set in winter, in the South, after the Civil War. The lack of respect shown towards the poor woman who has walked so far may have a great deal to do with her race as well as her poverty and lack of education. Phoenix says she "never did go to school, I was too old at the Surrender." Notice that Phoenix calls the end of the Civil War 'the surrender' as many proud Southerners might which suggests the Southern point-of-view the 'correct' side surrendered, rather than simply saying that the war ended. The doctor also says: "She makes these trips just as regular as clockwork," reflecting the Southern dialect of the setting and…

Corresponding Works

There is a lot of similarity in the works of obert in his poem "The oad Not Taken" and the short story by Welty "A Worn Path." Frost composed the poem in 1916, whereas Welty wrote the short story in 1941. Both of these written works are for the readers to think outside the box and find the true meanings. These writings have a hidden meaning to them and it is up to the reader to think what message the authors are trying to put across. Both writers use stylistic devices to capture the attention of the readers and enable them to form a mental picture of the theme discussed in the writing. In these two writings, one main theme stands out from the rest. The writings point to us to that we might find ourselves in a solitary journey in life whereby we feel that we are…

Sister Rivalry

The short story "hy I Live at the P.O." By Eudora elty is a family drama structured as an explanation of the circumstances surrounding the main character's alienation from her family. Sister is the story's protagonist, though she is not an entirely reliable narrator as she is entrenched in bitterness about her family situation. Sister's life changes when her sister Stella-Rondo returns to town after a long absence and reignites their long-held rivalry. One by one, Sister's family members take Stella-Rondo's side in the argument. Thus the reader is left as Sister's sole confidante, as we are privy to her point-of-view and she calls upon us to empathize with her struggle. As such, the reader is torn in half: One side seeing Sister as a victim of her sister's manipulations and her family's abuse, and the other half seeing that Sister has created some of the circumstances of…

Another grotesque character in the story is the never-seen Mrs. Pike, an individual who fascinates both women in different ways and who is present in the beauty shop in the form of her son Billy Boy, himself fascinated by beauty shops and also challenge to the two women in different ways. Mrs. Fletcher is pregnant and already wary of having a child, though she begins to warm to the idea even though Billy is the example in front of her. Leota indulges the boy in some degree because of her regard for his mother, though her patience wears thin. For most of the conversation, these two women show their need to dominate men and each other, and the story thus depicts the usual battle of the sexes in a grotesque way, with the image of the petrified man in the carnival standing in both for the threat men pose (he…

Phoenix is however closer to a saint in her dedication to a cause, while Calixta is a human being who abandons herself at some point to the voice of desire and allows a few moments of surrender to the carnal pleasure that takes hold, regardless of her and her accidental companion's marital status.

elty's story is full of imagery, thorny bushes come to life and grab old Phoenix' dress, she dreams of a little boy bringing her a slice of marble cake, at a moment of rest, a scarecrow, in the "dead cornfield" is believed to be a ghost, cabins are compared with "old women under a spell sitting there," the road going down is described as being "dark as a cave" (elty, a orn Path). In Chopin's story, there are a very few things left to imagination; everything is down to earth, real life is pulsating through every scene.…

Uncle Daniel and Lester Ballard

Proper characterization is one of the greatest skills that a writer possesses because often times poor development of characters or their inapt portrayal can completely destroy even the most perfect of stories. It has been noticed that while most writers pay close attention to evolution of their characters, they do tend to go overboard with negative or positive characterization on some occasions. Despite their good intentions, they get carried away with a desire to create unusual characters that cannot be related to easily. A writer's ability to develop realistic characters tend to add to the overall impact and popularity of their works and similarly a poorly developed or unrealistic character can destroy an otherwise good plot. However in some rare cases, even a seemingly unreal character manages to leave a lasting impact because of the sheer creative genius of the authors. This is exactly what…

Flannery O'Connor's story "Good Country People" and Eudora elty's "A orn Path" are both stories about the ways in which people connect to each other and the poor job that they generally make of the process. hile each of these stories seems at first to be about people's attempting to communicate with each other, by the end of both of these stories what we are left with is an impression of the ways in which people are isolated from each other both by their preconceptions of what certain kind of people should be like as well as by the way life's tragedies accumulate over time to create barriers between people that are impermeable even to far more genuine attempts to communicate than we see in these stories.

O'Connor's story is set in a rural Georgia that seems distant to the kind of America that most of us are familiar with…

This occurrence adds symbolism to the ending by providing us with reassurance of the story's theme that despite any precaution taken, death is the one thing that cannot be planned for.

2.)

Symbolism is highly present in Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path." It is this strong symbolism that defines what "A Worn Path" grew to represent. This story may be interpreted in many ways, but in the end, it all comes down to the theme of self-sacrifice despite the hardships presented. Phoenix sacrifices her sanity, her life, and demonstrates utter determination when she is on her path to get medicine for her dying grandson. The items that demonstrate this symbolism go far beyond individual interpretation.

The character's name itself provides great symbolism to relate to the theme of the story. "Phoenix" represents an Egyptian bird that symbolizes resurrection. Throughout the entire story, Phoenix is her grandson's savior. She needs to…

This sentence, although it talks about bowels, is really describing the mother's love of the baby.

This story is written like a detective story. It is very difficult to determine which woman is telling the truth and to determine if King Solomon is actually a bad person or a good person. It does not give the names of the women. They are simple referred to as one woman and the other woman. It does say that they were "harlots," but it does not give any background information about who the women are or how they got involved in this argument. They were simply two women in the same place that had babies at the same time.

Also, it is not clear to the reader rather King Solomon is a bad person or a good person. He does propose to slay the baby and divide it into two half to settle…

Again, this conflict exists between two sisters, but in this story it is the sister that stays home that is treated as essentially unwelcome by her family, and the sister that returns home that is welcomed and praised despite the many issues that are apparent in her life. At its heart, however, this story is one of senseless bickering and the type of frustration that crops up during periods of familial unfairness. Neither sister makes a real effort to try and make the other happy, and the other family members are equally guilty of perpetuating a type of squabbling that has no real merit or purpose -- the arguments are over senseless things such as a beard being cut or not -- yet the rift that this creates in the family seems just as permanent as that which exists in Walker's short story. The narrator of Welty's tale is the…

Parents should help for the vocabulary, which is sometimes difficult and also dated. he themes, such as friendship and especially death should be discussed.

he vocabulary is very technical, with words like "Frigidaire," "phoebe" "interlude," "control," and "salutations," make it slow reading for a young child without help from a parent or teacher. he same is true for the concepts discussed,."..do you realize that if I didn't catch bugs and eat them, bugs would increase and multiply and get so numerous that they'd destroy the earth, wipe out everything..." and."..

It also is important to talk with the children about the sadness they feel when Charlotte dies. She has been a good friend to Wilbur and he, in return, takes care of her eggs who are a type of "rebirth" for Charlotte.

he best approach for younger children is to read the story to them and stop and explain any…

The book also gives us an overall perspective and influence of Tiger on Matt and his character modification and choices in life. It is through the experiences, guidance of Tiger and Mark as well as his own experiences and mistakes that taught Matt the limits and giveaways of a standing relationship.

His self-realization of learning who he was through his own shoes and not by walking around in someone else's shoes was a profound piece of writing. What helped him get to this point and form a closer bond with his uncle was founding out the main reason why the family was resentful towards Tiger. He learned a lot more about himself through analyzing Tiger's relationship with Mark. Tiger taught him the overall challenges one has to face in nurturing and feasting a relationship with certain situations. This further helps him establish an affectionate relationship with his old friend when…

Her society tells her she needs one, and when Milkman enters her life, she invests her entire personality in him. When he leaves her, Hagar lacks the self she needs to survive. Pathetically, she tries to create a self that Milkman will want by buying makeup and clothes, turning her beautiful African hair a horrible orange (Milkman has been dating light-skinned redheads), and generally abasing herself.

Morrison certainly deviates from a sterotypical feminist perspective when she criticizes Hagar's possessiveness as well as Milkman's cruelty. When Hagar and uth argue over Milkman, Pilate points out that a man is not a house to be owned. Finally, when Hagar is trying to kill Milkman (not able to possess him, she does not know what else to do), Guitar tells her how wrong she is to base her value on the possession of a man. How can Milkman love her if she is…

Race in the Short Stories of Flannery O'Connor

hile O'Connor stated that "The Artificial Nigger" communicated everything she had to say about race, it was not the last story of hers that took race as at least an indirect subject. "Everything That Rises Must Converge" was another that used race as a launching point from which O'Connor could deliver a more, as she felt, pertinent message. For O'Connor, race and racism were facts of life, which meant that they were tools for the fiction writer -- aspects of society and reality -- that she could use to deliver to her reader "the indication of Grace, the moment when you know that Grace has been offered and accepted," as she wrote to another writer in 1959 (O'Connor Habit of Being 367). These moments were always the endpoints of O'Connor's fiction, "prepared for" by the clash of wills and the setting up…

" (Amidon). ith this passage, hite helps parents and educators that children can understand even the saddest things in life, even if they cannot understand or tolerate things like injustice.

ilbur is similar to the children that hite targeted as readers. hen ilbur realizes that he cannot save Charlotte's life or even be with her in death, he takes a step to ensure her immortality. He pesters Templeton to help him, and he retrieves Charlotte's egg sac and takes it back to the barn. Once Charlotte's eggs hatch, ilbur is excited to meet her children, hoping to find the type of friendship he had with their mother. However, ilbur is again reminded that friendship is different, and that he saved the eggs for Charlotte, rather than for himself, when almost all of Charlotte's children leave the barn. However, some of them, like ilbur, are runts, and are too weak to…

male/female perspective on the issue of abortion as it appears in Ernest Hemingway's most subtle short story, 'Hills like white elephants'. The author has made use of symbolism to highlight the problems experienced by most married couples due to lack of proper communication. Hemingway chose this topic because he believed in this interesting iceberg theory which has been explained in the concluding part of this paper.

HILLS LIKE WHITE ELEPHANTS: MALE/FEMALE PESPECTIVE ON ABOTION

The theme of abortion is predominant in the story titled, "Hills like white elephants." The author, Ernest Hemingway, however has not mentioned the actual word 'abortion' throughout the entire short story but instead has used symbols and vague dialogues to convey his message to the readers. The reason why Hemingway probably refrained from using the actual term was because he firmly believed in using dialogues and language, which required deeper study. The author wanted the readers…

After she got cleaned up and put down her bag, they went out to eat at a diner. Lexi wanted to order the beef that tasted of home, but Grandma and Pop-Pop said that would be too much for a little girl and ordered her chicken fingers instead. "Every kid likes chicken fingers," they said. Lexi hated chicken, and she also hated the Jell-O that came with her kid's meal. Her grandparents ordered from a menu called 'Early Bird Special.'

Lexi found riding around in the car after the long plane ride from Texas really boring, but she didn't say anything. That was Lexi's usual technique, to say nothing. Her dad called her the strong and silent type.

"What do you do all day in the middle of nowhere?" said her grandmother. Lexi imagined herself on a map labeled 'nowhere.' She knew what her grandmother meant, and kind of felt…