Eudora Welty's Why I Live At The P. O.

While being an enticing story, some could define Why I Lived At The P.O. as “a terrifying case of dementia praecox” (DuPriest 45). Why I Live at the P.O. Is a dramatic story based on many main themes that include isolation, lying, repetition, and denial. Eudora Welty does a tremendous job with the backstory and themes throughout the story, however, some critics and readers may tend to think otherwise. DuPriest states, “This—one of Miss Welty's funniest stories—is also one of her most serious and that this story makes a sensitive, prophetic commentary on the human condition in the modern world” (DuPriest 45). This is fact, especially from a modern world standpoint. With the narrator actually playing the character, Sister, you get a personal connection that you won’t necessarily find anywhere else. With the themes stated above, you now begin to feel the connection with

Unfortunately, the story ends up being told strictly from Sister’s point of view and her own perspective of the given situation. You also see that Sister tries to gain sympathy throughout the story as well. A great example of this comes from Uncle Rondo. When Sister was caught going through her uncle’s kimono, you can notice she begins to ask the audience for sympathy and claims that she was sticking up for her uncle. You also begin to realize Sister only truly cared about her own version of the truth instead of seeing the big picture. This caused Sister to never truly see or understand her own jealousness and hatred towards her family. This almost makes her unreliable in a point. The main point being that Sister is still guilty of all the things that she is claiming she is the victim of. One could also say Sister is a coward character from running from her problems. However you decided to place your opinion on Sister, she still ends up being a confusing and overall weird