Essay on Why I Live at the P.O. Commonly people feel that their family is against them or nobody else watches over them. We even feel there is partiality or inclinations in our family, particularly among different kin. More often than not it is our adolescence or desirously inside ourselves that leads us to these conclusions. Besides, in the event that we disregard others for our own narrow minded reasons, or on the off chance that we see things just from our perspective, we for the most part wind up without anyone else's input, making her an unreliable narrator. In Eudora Welty’s “Why I Live at the P.O.”, the main character Sister, cannot step outside of her own perspective and is unable to understand the reality of the events taking place around her, therefore making her …show more content…
This intimidation is actually jealousy in Sister’s case. She seems to think “Stella-Rondo tried to turn Papa-Daddy against her” and in turn, “Papa-Daddy tried to turn Uncle Rondo against her.” Furthermore, Sister even goes so far as to say “Mama, Papa-Daddy, and the baby are all on Stella-Rondo’s side. By Sister thinking this way, it demonstrates that everything is about her. Sister is so wrapped up in herself that she can't see the issues of others in her family. She doesn't appear to understand that Stella-Rondo has issues of her own. She “just separated from her husband and came back home again”. With her she brought a child that “she never so much as wrote her mother about.” That in itself has to be embarrassing and traumatic for Stella-Rondo. Sister can't see this reality, she can't venture outside of her own domain and understand that life is not about her, that others in her family have issues of their own. In Sister’s mind Stella-Rondo came home and stole her place. At the point when in fact Stella-Rondo has most likely recently separated and got back home to get the support of her
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).
Why I live at the P.O. was written by Eudora Welty in 1941. Sister, the first person narrator, who is a flat character in the story, causes external conflicts within her family as a result of her inner-conflicts. Such as lack of self-confidence and a demanding need to be the center of attention. Due to the conflicts she deals with inside herself, she is driven to move out of her family’s home and into the post office. In the beginning of the story the reader has sympathy for Sister due to the conflicts that are going on, but later on in the story we start to see that these conflicts were perpetuated by Sister herself. As this occurs the story takes on a comedic aspect from the view of the reader, and we lose our sympathy for Sister.
In "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, Walker shows differences in human character, just by the way they act towards family members. The main character in the story, Mother, has two daughters that she treats very differently, and they treat her differently. One daughter looks down on Mother in a condescending manner, and the other is obedient and kind. In "Everyday Use", Walker shows that in relationships between a mother and daughters, adaptation to change can sometimes be very hard, which leads to pride and protecting what one has accomplished, and finally shows how un-appreciation can hinder these relationships.
Everyone wants a perfect family, but nothing is ever perfect. The family in “Why I Live at the P.O.” is most definitely less than perfect. When Stella-Rondo returns to her old home after leaving her husband and bringing her small child who she claims is adopted, much conflict in the family increases. Stella-Rondo turns every family member living in the household against Sister, her older sister, and every family member betrays Sister by believing the lies Stella-Rondo tells about Sister to them. Through much turmoil and distress, Sister becomes so overwhelmed with the unending conflict that she feels she must leave her home and live at the post office. In “Why I Live at the P.O.,” Eudora Welty strongly implies that the function of the family can rapidly decline when family members refuse to do certain things they should and do certain things they should not through her use of point of view, symbolism, and setting.
The theme that has been attached to this story is directly relevant to it as depicted by the anonymous letters which the main character is busy writing secretly based on gossip and distributing them to the different houses. Considering that people have an impression of her being a good woman who is quiet and peaceful, it becomes completely unbecoming that she instead engages in very abnormal behavior. What makes it even more terrible is the fact that she uses gossip as the premise for her to propagate her hate messages not only in a single household but across the many different households in the estate where she stays.
There are many aspects for my mind to conceive while reading the articles why I write by George Orwell and Joan Didion. There are many different factors in triggering an author’s imagination to come up with what they want to write, and why they want to write it. In most writings a purpose is not found before the writer writes, but often found after they decide to start writing.
How does the difference between the way Dee (Wangero) and Maggie would use the quilts represent their two different ways of defining and treating their family’s heritage? Does the narrative give approval to Dee’s way or Maggie ’s?
Many times we feel that our family is against us or no one else cares for us. We even feel there is favoritism or preferences in our family, especially among other siblings. Most of the time it is our immaturity or jealously within ourselves that leads us to these conclusions. Moreover if we neglect others for our own selfish reasons, or if we choose to see things only from our point of view we usually end up by ourselves, longing for the presence of our family. In Eudora Welty’s “Why I Live at the P.O.”, the main character Sister, cannot step outside of her own perspective and is unable to understand the reality of the events taking place around her, therefore making her an unreliable narrator.
The outspoken narrator of Eudora Welty's "Why I Live at the P.O.," known to us only as "Sister," intends to convince us--the world at large--that her family has "turned against" her, led on by her sister, itella-Rondo. To escape her family, she explains, she has left home and now lives at the P.O., where she is postmistress. As she delivers her monologue, the narrator reveals more about herself than she intends. We see her as a self-centered young woman who enjoys picking fights and provoking melodramatic scenes in which she is the center of attention. Not too far into the story, we realize that others in the family behave as melodramatically as Sister does, and we begin to wonder why. The story's setting may provide the answer: In a small town in Mississippi, sometime after World War II and before television, entertainment is scarce. The members of this family cope with isolation and boredom by casting themselves in a continning melodrama, with each person stealing as many scenes as possible.
The reader is forced into the role of a character that already has some developments. Walton’s sister is a character that exists prior to the story; this can be seen by the way Walton treats his subject. Because the reader is the audience with her, the reader is pushed into that role, but not to become a part of the story, only to develop the relationship with Walton.
Sister’s frustration with Stella-Rondo obstructs their relationship, and even though Sister thinks she wants freedom from her family, her self-consciousness will keep her from achieving it. Sister acts hastily about the matter of moving out in order to gain independence. Independence comes from experience, not a split decisions made in a hurry. This quote by Steve Schmidt explains what Sister has quickly found out over the past five days, “the price for independence is often isolation and solitude."
Her family life is depicted with contradictions of order and chaos, love and animosity, conventionality and avant-garde. Although the underlying story of her father’s dark secret was troubling, it lends itself to a better understanding of the family dynamics and what was normal for her family. The author doesn’t seem to suggest that her father’s behavior was acceptable or even tolerable. However, the ending of this excerpt leaves the reader with an undeniable sense that the author felt a connection to her father even if it wasn’t one that was desirable. This is best understood with her reaction to his suicide when she states, “But his absence resonated retroactively, echoing back through all the time I knew him. Maybe it was the converse of the way amputees feel pain in a missing limb.” (pg. 399)
How would one feel and behave if every aspects of his or her life is controlled and never settled. The physical and emotional wrought of slavery has a great deal of lasting effect on peoples judgment, going to immense lengths to avoid enslavement. In the novel, Beloved, Toni Morrison uses the characters adversity to expose the real struggles of slavery and the impact it has on oneself and relationships. Vicariously living through the life of Sethe, a former slave who murdered one of her kids to be liberated from the awful life of slavery.
Eudora Welty, the author of 'The Little Store,' is also the narrator in her story. Upon looking back at her childhood, Eudora realized she was a creative little girl who liked to read and to write. She had the naivety of a child. The town where I was born is only 150 miles from where Eudora was raised in Jackson, Mississippi. Therefore, I really enjoyed this story because I really felt like I could relate to it. West Point, where I was born, resembles Jackson a great deal. We had a little store that was in town and we always felt safe to walk there alone. We also knew everyone on the block, just as Eudora did.
By stating how other people behave or interact, the author offers a great chance for readers to interpret fairly for themselves what the reason for any conflict may be, or the nature of any essential contrast between the narrator and other adults in the story. In the story, there are many self-righteous opinions from people, which seem to be ironic to the readers; For example, her mother’s aggressive attitude of showing off her daughter, her piano teacher’s self-praise claiming him as “Beethoven.” All of the narrations including conversation clearly depict a different characteristic between the narrator and other people. For instance, a conversation occurs between the narrator and her mother when the mother criticizing a girl who seems similar to the author on TV which reveals dissimilar understanding for both of them to each other’s behavior. At first, the daughter speaks out for the girl by questioning her mother by saying “why picking on her […] She’s pretty good. Maybe she’s not the best, but she’s trying hard.” The daughter actually is defending for herself and reflecting that she feels uncomfortable with her mother’s disregard of her hard work. She wants to get her mother’s compliments instead of her criticisms. However, her mother response of, “just like you,” and, “not the best. Because you not trying.” Here, her mother doesn’t really answer her question, instead wants her put more effort on trying, neglecting how much she has tried before. However, in her mother’s perspective, she has never tried hard enough. By narratively stating the conversations she has encountered, readers perceive a strong implication of the reason for a future conflict between her and her mother.