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.
Sister’s perspective is very self-centered and designed to manipulate the reader for selfish purposes. When the story first begins, Sister is trying to get the reader to see that “Of course [she] went with Mr., Whitaker first…and Stella Rondo broke [them up].” Sister wants the readers to know this piece of information so we will think she is a victim in the story. This is a way of getting us, the readers, on “her side” so we will begin to think like her and dislike the person or people that she dislikes.
During the course of the story we see many references that Sister is envious, even jealous of Stella-Rondo. Sister thinks that because “Stella-Rondo is exactly twelve months to the day younger [than she is] that she’s spoiled.” (108) A person exactly one year younger than another sibling is no more or less spoiled than the other person. Sister says Stella-Rondo has “always had anything in the world [she]wanted.” This seems to bother Sister because she thought she never got everything she wanted. “Papa-Daddy give [Stella-Rondo] this gorgeous Add-a-pearl necklace”. There are some benefits that naturally go along with being the younger sibling. This does not mean that Sister has to behave the way she does. True, she never references Papa Daddy buying her anything or giving her “everything” she wanted, but she has to take into account what he has done for her. Papa Daddy got her the Post Office job “through [his] influence with the government”, which Sister thinks is the “next smallest P.O. in the entire state of Mississippi”.
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.
mother and her husband after her mother’s death. But Eudora Welty deliberately includes a selfish character of Fay in the family to shows the important of the memories they have. Laurel discovers the significant meaning of the memories and past to her, yet she could not survive in staying fully attached to it.
While Doris Goodwin’s mother and father were a very important part of her life growing up her sisters were just as important. She talks about how while Charlotte, her oldest sister was not around as much as her other older sister, Jeanne she was still very important to her. She goes into detail about a shopping trip that was taken with the oldest and youngest siblings and how after the shopping trip to Sa...
..., she felt strongly towards her brother, and she loved him, but at the end, the greatest change in to story happened. “It has to go…that’s the only way…we have no brother…it obviously wants to take over the whole apartment” (53). She wanted to kill her brother, because of the work and pain he has brought the family. She even went so far as to say, “We have to get rid of it” (52). In conclusion, the greatest change in the novella was of a kind and loving sister, to a murderous human, who has no brother anymore.
Sarah risked a lot for her sister. This idea demonstrates how the author was trying to convey the significance of family values. He suggested that with all the flaws of human nature and our attempts to control situations, we still all want to be connected, especially to our families. Making that connection meaningful, requires one to protect, and be faithful to their
The first-person point of view is crucial to the theme of Welty's story. It is both quicker and funnier to show that the narrator is self-centered and melodramatic than it would be to tell it. Sister is definitely the star in the melodrama. She begins her tale with "I," and every event is made to revolve around herself, even her sister's marriage:
“After all, they are sisters.” In the genuine story, Sisters by Raina Telgemeier. Raina always wanted a baby sister, but once she got one it wasn’t what she expected. The annoying, loud, smelly child who she now had to call “sister” was just an embarrassment. All they would do was bicker. Coming up was the family reunion, which meant eight hours in the boring, old van together. Do you think they will survive it? Read Sisters to find out! If this book interests you, try Drama or Smile.
Her sister Josephine was the one to break the news to her. Her sister does this in a roundabout way. Not coming out directly but using half sentences and hoping that Ms. Mallard will understand. You can see that she is very concerned how this information will affect her.
sisters of a family...” (82). Their relationship was based on attraction and sex which lead to a
Sister Carrie, written by Theodore Dreiser, is a tale of Carrie, who comes to Chicago to somehow make the money she has always dreamed of having. In pursuit of the material possessions and success she dreams of, she involves herself with two different characters, Drouet and Hurstwood. She eventually finds herself in New York, where she has a successful performing career. Even with all the success and material possessions she has attained do not bring her happiness. Due to naturalism and pre-existing conditions between Carrie and Hurstwood, human interactions in exchange for materialism lead to the downfall of the two characters.
The sister's fights are usually underlined with their desires to make each other into better people. The sisters are connected by their pursuit a better life causing them to push each other towards their goals. When Emily gets herself
Love between family is so strong that the struggles people go through do not compare to the fact that it was all for family. In the short story “The Worn Path,” Eudora Welty quotes “‘I bound to go to town, mister,’ said Phoenix”. Here, the author emphasizes the determination Phoenix Jackson
Sisters have a special bond with each other. Having a brother just isn’t the same. Having a sister means that you will always have someone to talk to. Especially when you have an older sister to look up to, then you really spend time together. Kelly and I are sisters, and we have made a lot of memories over the past 13 years of my life.
The Other Sister is about a family with a sibling that has a developmental disability also known as mildly mentally retardation (MMR), mild developmental disability, or mild intellectual disorder (MID). Carla Tate is our main character that has MMR as a disability. She is a young women, twenty-four years old, with a slender but beautiful appearance. Carla has just graduated from a special education boarding school and is returning home to her family. Carla’s mother (Elizabeth Tate) is overbearingly protective, does not appreciate all of the abilities that Carla has acquired. Her father (Bradley Tate) is a recovering alcoholic who is sympathetic and supportive of Carla, who at the same time has to deal with his domineering wife. Carla has two sisters Heather (who happens to be a lesbian) and Caroline (who is planning a wedding). Carla’s sister quickly bond again upon Carla’s return. They are supportive of Carla and her abilities.