“Why I Live at the P.O”: Central Idea Analysis “Why I live at the P.O”, by Eudora Wetly, displays a dysfunctional family in which Sister, the narrator, is often used as a scapegoat. Stella-Rondo, the narrator’s younger sister, ranks the highest in betrayal in perspective of Sister. Stella-Rondo creates constant conflict amongst the narrator in which many issues pursue. Stella-Rondo insists on producing lies to have their family turn against Sister at the same time she retaliates back. Shirley-T., the “adopted” daughter of Stella-Rondo, was placed under the limelight in which Sister questioned whether or not if Shirley-T. was truly adopted. Stella-Rondo exposed a distasteful attitude towards Sister. Eventually Stella-Rondo placed words into …show more content…
The entire first person objective throughout the short story deemed appropriate, because it allowed the readers to inherit the mindset of Sister. The first person perspective also manipulated the reader in which the reader somewhat feels sympathy for Sister, for example when Uncle Rondo placed firecrackers into her room at 6:30AM especially since she states “I'm just terribly susceptible to noise of any kind, the doctor has always told me I was the most sensitive person he had ever seen in his whole life, and I was simply prostrated” (Welty 168). Although Sister could’ve easily avoided certain messes by not insulting her sister, potentially dodging the firecracker incident, Sister continued to backfire. First person generates a feeling of sympathy for Sister when in reality; Sister is possible of being as bad of a person, just not explicitly stated due to the limited point of view. The narrator said “I was getting along fine with Mama, Papa-Daddy and Uncle Rondo until my sister…came back home again” (Wetly 164). Within the eyes of the narrator there was no definite way to determine the most magnanimous person, because the narrator’s point of view labeled herself as the …show more content…
The narrator was bombarded with lies thus she had to defend herself. Whenever Stella-Rondo imposed a lie, Sister had to fluff up her justification with respects towards the subject, for example “you know I wouldn't any more want you to cut off your beard than the man in the moon” (Wetly 165). Sister knew that her standing power within the household was not elite. However, if she was considered relevant to Papa-Daddy, then a simple remark would’ve been fine. Throughout the household as well, Sister is the scapegoat. She receives constant hate from everyone thus providing a lowered self-esteem. When Mama told Sister that she would be happy to see her if the same situation happened with her instead of her sister, she would’ve been just as happy, but however Sister did not believe Mama (Wetly 166). Sister has the constant conflict in which she believes she isn’t suited for the family, thus sending Sister off her way to be
Throughout the film, we learn that each woman has setbacks within her household. One sister has a terrible drinking problem and ultimately loses her job due to excessive drinking and tardiness. The second sister has had several pregnancies that each result in miscarriages due to high stress. As a therapist, there are several different elements to review.
The mother and daughter have a very distant relationship because her mother is ill and not capable to be there, the mother wishes she could be but is physically unable. “I only remember my mother walking one time. She walked me to kindergarten." (Fein). The daughter’s point of view of her mother changes by having a child herself. In the short story the son has a mother that is willing to be helpful and there for him, but he does not take the time to care and listen to his mother, and the mother begins to get fed up with how Alfred behaves. "Be quiet don't speak to me, you've disgraced me again and again."(Callaghan). Another difference is the maturity level the son is a teenager that left school and is a trouble maker. The daughter is an adult who is reflecting back on her childhood by the feeling of being cheated in life, but sees in the end her mother was the one who was truly being cheated. “I may never understand why some of us are cheated in life. I only know, from this perspective, that I am not the one who was.” (Fein). The differences in the essay and short story show how the children do not realize how much their mothers care and love
In Why I Live at the P.O. something that I discovered to be very ordinary was the confrontation of Stella-Rondo telling lies about the narrator (sister). There are two instances when this happens, the first lie is Stella-Rondo says “Papa-Daddy, Sister says she fails to understand why you don’t cut off your beard” (438 Welty). The second lie is when Stella-Rondo says, “Sister has been devoting this solid afternoon to sneering out my bedroom window at the way you look” (443 Welty). By Stella-Rondo pinning these lies on her sister it turns the family members against her sister and for the family to favor Stella-Rondo over sister. It all started too with sister assuming that Stella-Rondo’s baby is not adopted “She was the spit-image of Papa-Daddy….
Leslie Carter, Carter’s sister, died in 2012 because of drugs and alcohol. Since Carter had dealt with the same addictions and won he couldn’t “shake the feeling that Leslie would have found some truth, hope and direction” in his book “and that it might have helped save her life” (Carter 4). Carter was blamed for his sister’s death because he was never there for his sister. Instead of helping his sister get over some of the same struggles he suffered with, he was furthering his own career. Carter began to think that he was the cause of his sister’s death and that in some way he could have prevented it.The overwhelming feeling of guilt in Carter’s life intensified when he didn’t attend the funeral of his sister because he was afraid that his family members would blame him for Leslie’s death as well. The last time him and his sister spoke they did not end on good terms, which added to his feeling of shame. To appease his guilt, he wrote his autobiography so that hopefully other people could find guidance through his struggles and past mistakes. Walls’ first memories were those of poverty, but when she grew older she became successful and provided a good life for herself. Walls now lives in an apartment in New York City but she “could never enjoy the room without worrying about [her] Mom and Dad huddled on a sidewalk grate somewhere” (Walls 4). At the same time she “was embarrassed by them, too, and ashamed of [herself] for wearing pearls and living on Park Avenue while [her] parents were busy keeping warm and finding something to eat” (Walls 4). Walls has conflicting feelings: she feels embarrassed at the way her parent’s chosen lifestyle but at the same time she feels guilty for feeling this way. No matter how hard she tries, her parents will not accept her help because they took pride in
Although this story is told in the third person, the reader’s eyes are strictly controlled by the meddling, ever-involved grandmother. She is never given a name; she is just a generic grandmother; she could belong to anyone. O’Connor portrays her as simply annoying, a thorn in her son’s side. As the little girl June Star rudely puts it, “She has to go everywhere we go. She wouldn’t stay at home to be queen for a day” (117-118). As June Star demonstrates, the family treats the grandmother with great reproach. Even as she is driving them all crazy with her constant comments and old-fashioned attitude, the reader is made to feel sorry for her. It is this constant stream of confliction that keeps the story boiling, and eventually overflows into the shocking conclusion. Of course the grandmother meant no harm, but who can help but to blame her? O’Connor puts her readers into a fit of rage as “the horrible thought” comes to the grandmother, “that the house she had remembered so vividly was not in Georgia but in Tennessee” (125).
As this occurs, the story takes on a comedic aspect from the view of the reader, and we lose our sympathy for Sister. Sister lives in China Grove, Mississippi, presumably a very small town with only a few occupants. She lives with her mother, grandfather and uncle in their home, being the center of attention for the duration of the time until her younger sister, Stella-Rondo returns home. The return of Stella-Rondo sparks a conflict with Sister immediately because Sister is obviously envious of her and has been even before she came back to China Grove. The reader gets clear evidence of Sister’s jealousy toward Stella-Rondo when Sister says “She’s always had anything in the world she wanted and then she’d throw it away.
The childhood of Frances Piper consists of inadequate love, loss of innocence and lack of concern, ultimately leading to her disastrous life. As a six year old child, she encounters several traumatic events, explicitly the death of her loved ones and the loss of her innocence. Over the course of one week, there have been three deaths, two funerals and two burials in the Piper family. “Frances was crying so hard now that Mercedes got worried. ‘I want my Mumma to come ba-a-a-a-ack.’”( McDonald 174). As a young child, there is nothing more upsetting than losing a mother. A family is meant to comfort each other to fulfill the loss of a loved one; however, this is not the case in the Piper family. Mercedes, only a year older than Frances, tries to console her even though she herself is worried. The loss of motherly love and affection has a tremendous impact on her future since now her sole guardian, James, expresses no responsibility towards her. Instead, he molests Frances on the night of Kathleen’s funeral to lessen the grief of his lost daughter. As a result “These disturbing experiences plague Frances with overwhelming feelings of low self worth and guilt that haunt h...
June-May receives a letter from her twin sisters shortly after her mother’s death. However, her sisters do not know their mother is dead and have been searching for her for years. June-May takes the letter to Auntie Lindo who writes back pretending to be their mother and says that they are coming to visit. June-May protests saying “They’ll think I’m responsible, that she died because I didn’t appreciate her,” (Tan 149). She believes that her sisters will hate her when she shows up without their mother and has to announce her death. As a result, Auntie Lindo writes back announcing the passing of the mother and announces that instead their sister, June-May, will be coming. It is during this trip that June-May fulfills her mother’s dream, “carrying with me her dreams of coming home. I am going to China,” (Tan 147). By doing this she gains another part of her mother. However, it is when June-May reunites with her sisters that she fully becomes one wi...
Gazing upon my sister, it was as though she had been replaced by her complete opposite. Where once her face had been covered with smiles all of the time, her face was now contorted with grief, and it looked like she would never smile again. Her look could only be described as a small child who has lost a toy in the sand box.
Jealousy between siblings materializes because one of them feels overshadowed by the other. For girls, this results in a lack of confidence. If a girl loses to her sister, younger or older, insecurity builds underneath often causing hostility between them. In Eudora Welty’s “Why I Live at the P.O.,” Sister’s resentfulness towards her sister hinders her ability to become independent.
There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn't tell lies and it is obvious she is not mad we must assume she is telling the truth. (p.50)
She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance (par. 3). Most women shattered and are devastated with the news of their husband’s death. Mrs. Mallard’s reaction was unlikely different than what was expected by her sister Josephine. In most situations, the first stage is denial. Most women after hearing the new of their husband’s death do not believe anything like that even happen. In Mrs. Mallard’s situation, she did not even misbelieve the news or even question her sister. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms (par. 3). The tears
The poem this essay is based on is For my Sister by Jannifer Traig. Not much is known about the author, except for the short bibliography provided in the book From Totems To Hip-Hop. She is an unknown identity. All that is known, is that she attended the University of California Berkley and was a student in a poetry class taught by Ishmael Reed. (Reed, 503). However, her poem does provide some information about her personal life. One thing is that she has had siblings or been close to someone with siblings. This is something that can be taken out of the poem because only someone that has siblings or has been around someone when they are with their siblings can understand all the hatred, jealously and love one can have for them. The author may not have experienced these particular events in this story, but she has to have felt something like this in order to convey these feelings in such a strong and amazing way. Not only has the author greatly expressed these emotions, but she has used various examples display this and really bring the story to life.
The conflict continues in the next passage, “She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away...
Tom realizes how important his sister is to him, and how she affects his life. He knew as the man of the house that he had no other choice but than to pick up the role when his father deserted them. Tom and Laura will always have a strong connection as a brother and sister. Laura means the world to Tom and he would never want any harm to come to her. Even though he left the house, Laura knows in her heart why he left, and that it was not anything against her. While Tom works hard to support his mother and sister, he felt trapped and confused