Sister constantly insists that her feelings be consider but the family, but "throughout the story Sister shows that she is incapable of feeling compassion toward her family, while ironically she accuses her family of not showing proper empathy" (Sexton 1). is a categorized as a dramatic monologue that takes a formalist approach, with an emphasis on irony. However, her pretentious characteristic unconsciously modifies her situation to humorous. As Sister tells her side of the story, the reader has sympathy for her as she describes how her younger sister, Stella-Rondo, turned her family against her. It is because of these conflicts she deals with inside herself that she is prompted to move out of her families home and into the post office. Sister, the first-person narrator, in the short story Why I Live at the P.O., 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. came from a photograph she took of a woman ironing in the back of a small post office. Her inspiration behind writing Why I Live at the P.O. During the Great Depression Welty worked as a photographer. was written by Eudora Welty, born in 1909 and passed away from pneumonia in 2001, in Jackson, Mississippi.
#WHY I LIVE AT THE P.O EUDORA WELTY FULL#
Of course, the truth lies somewhere between these two perspectives, and the audience is left to decide whether Sister is truly “getting along fine.”ĭiscover the full cast of eccentric characters in Eudora Welty’s short story HERE.Short Story Analysis: Why I Live at the P.O. The other is the Sister of the past, whom we observe in the drama, seeing her longsuffering service and devotion to her family be completely disregarded upon the return of Stella Rondo. One is the Sister of the present, recalling the terrible day and the injustices she suffered at the hands of her family. This interpretation by Michael O’Brien and Stephen Eddins sees the character of Sister split into two actors.
She collects her belongings and moves into the Post Office, where she is Postmistress. At the end of the day, Sister has had enough. When Sister questions Shirley-T.’s dubious parentage, Stella Rondo begins to turn the rest of family against her, starting with Mama, then Papa Daddy, and finally their eccentric Uncle Rondo. is actually Stella-Rondo’s biological daughter. The rest of the family is overjoyed at Stella-Rondo’s return and does not share Sister’s suspicion that Shirley-T. Stella-Rondo arrives accompanied by Shirley-T., a little girl she claims is her legally adopted daughter (but who Sister thinks looks just like their grandfather, Papa Daddy). Whitaker before Stella-Rondo became engaged to him. Whitaker and returned to the family home in Mississippi. On the Fourth of July, Sister’s uneventful life in China Grove is interrupted by the arrival of her sister, Stella-Rondo, who has just left her husband, Mr.
UrbanArias is proud to be commissioning the completion of this work at a time when many families have been experiencing “togetherness” in a whole new way. is a delightful addition to the opera canon which takes the comic masterpiece by beloved author Eudora Welty and combines it with classic and contemporary American musical styles to tell the story of a supremely relatable family.