Eudora Welty Why I Live At The Po Summary

There are numerous ways to narrate a story; first, second, and third person point of views are rudimentary tools writers will use. When an audience reads first-person point of view they connect with the character on a deeper level, the reader sees themselves with in the character as the story evolves. Celebrated writers would agree writing in first-person point of view is an inquisitive way to write a story. Eudora Welty selects first-person narration in “Why I Live at the P.O.” to let the reader completely understand the main characters, family dysfunctions, and biases.
Frist person narration lets the reader understand how Sister, the most prominent character, thinks of herself in comparison to the family. For example, Sister thinks all her family members have turned on her as a result of Stella-Rondo manipulating the family. The story reads, “So the first thing Stella-Rondo did at the table was turn papa-daddy against me” (Welty 91). She exclaims Stella-Rondo is out to get her many times throughout the story. Understanding sister’s feelings, we are sympathetic towards her when she abruptly moves to the P.O. If the short story was written in second or third person point of view the reader could only feel synthetic feelings for …show more content…
For instance, After Stella-Rondo comes back in town there is immense talk about little Shirley T. Through Sister’s eyes shrilly T is Stella-Rondo’s baby. But mom sides with Stella-Rondo saying Shirley T is adopted. Sister leads us to believe she is right by saying “besides, you know as well as I do that that child is not adopted” (Welty 98). We never fully understand if the child is or isn’t not Stella-Rondo’s child. Leading the reader to believe either mom, Stella-Rondo, or Sister is dishonest. Welty’s use of first person narration more times than not, leaves the reader asking if the information is true. Is the character is reliable or