Second post (Monday, 3/19): Referring to "A Worn Path," Lee Smith calls Eudora Welty's language "plain yet poetic." Come up with your own analysis of Welty's language (in any of the three stories you've read). Especially: look at how her language choices affect and direct the reader.
Something that struck me about Eudora Welty's fiction stories is how they feel so "out of fiction," at least in the idea of what contemporary fiction is. They feel more like folk-talks or myths that pull things into it for a story rather than a constructed story written to convey a particular mood or purpose to the reader. "A Worn Path" is the biggest example of this I think, with a trip to get medicine given the gravitas of an epic quest; which to Phoenix, it is. The dialogue to the description gives an almost out of this world sense, even if it is very much rooted in one. "Why I Live at the P.O." felt straight up like some sort of humorous folk-tale, a ridiculous story just close enough to reality to connect to readers, and "No Place for You, My Love" jumps between perspectives in a fluid pseudo-omniscient voice that leaves nothing to chance in the reader's mind. It felt like Welty took an emotional or a certain situation that invokes an emotion wrote about those feelings in a way that made them larger than their own stories.
ReplyDeleteEudora Welty's style of writing makes the stories feel both epic and timeless, even when they deal with only a small handful of characters in a tiny setting. That is because the stories deal with timely issues that everyone can relate to. There is a large emphasis on setting, which is where I think the large scale comes from. In each of the stories, you know every detail about where the characters are. Its here that you learn more about them and the world. In addition to this, the narration feels like a folk tale being told to us. It retains a certain mystical quality that most stories don't have.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the best way to describe Welty's writing style is "wholly the American south." From the dialects to the characterization and relationships to the setting, the stories encapsulate the south in a way that is real and genuine, giving the reader a chance to experience something that is clearly very important to Welty. In "A Worm Path," the south is described through the actions and words of an old woman, and "Why I Live at the P.O." describes familial relationships that might give one the sense of family life in such a place. One might call similar styles of writing "southern charm," but Welty's writing shows that it is not always so charming. I feel that this aids to the integrity of the writing.
ReplyDeleteEudora Welty's stories felt like they could be told around a dinner table or campfire. First, the opening sentence of each story just gives the sense that something major could happen. The first line from "Why I Live at the P.O." tells the reader a family issue is about to be told. Second, I got the campfire feeling because of how much detail Welty puts into the settings. Then we learn about the few characters by what they do in that environment. I thought this was a nice control of direction, finding out information at the same time the narrator does, but also seeing and knowing more than the narrator does too. Welty's language is unique in that way.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that I admire about Welty's writing is in how she uses her language to play with perspective. While it's most clear in "Why I Live at the P.O.", Welty uses specific moments of language to give is insight into the character's perspective, that are or aren't necessary real. With "Why I Live at the P.O." she uses the entire fiction of the narrator, detouring into specifics - the mother's tiny feet, or the pale tan of the kimono from Stella-Rondo's trousseau. Welty uses the close perspective of her narrator to inform the audience as to the narrator's reliability or lack thereof. In "A Worn Path" the fact that the Grandmother has forgotten why she's travelling to town makes the entire journey seem magical. The language surrounding the scarecrow-ghost and the fact that Pheonix is the Grandmother's name heighten that perception. Then, when she remembers her grandson, Welty uses that magical impression and the Pheonix decides to buy him something that will capture the magic of her journey, something, "he is going to find it hard to believe there such a thing in the world." Welty's use of her language to make this magical impression on the character, and Pheonix's dialect make the semi-magical journey both ground the journey in reality, and accept the strange nature of it.
ReplyDeleteWelty's language is very descriptive. She writes factually, as if just observing what is going on, what her settings look like, what her characters are doing, and writing it down. She describes things very objectively, with little emotion or feeling included outside of dialogue. She seems to be as direct with the reader as possible. That being said, her descriptions are also very rich and vibrant, painting visually beautiful scenes and characters in our minds, and letting us as readers uncover the emotions behind them from the actions, dialogue, and body language.
ReplyDeleteWelty does use her language to guide us through her stories. Half of her sentences are short, to-the-point, and seem as though they may have been created using the same method of that male author from a while ago (whose name I cannot remember). Eliminate everything unnecessary from the sentence, and there you have it. Then, scattered among the short sentences are long and graceful ones. They draw your attention to the important things in each of these stories, and keep you from wondering about things you shouldn't. Your focus stays on the main character and their current actions rather than the journey ahead.
ReplyDeleteWelty's language, I feel, is the epitome of what I mean by show don't tell. Finding the perfect balance between the two can be hard but I think she found a good balance especially in the beginning of "A Worn Path." But, language wise, she has what I really like in showing; it's a mixture of prose and poetry without being poetry if that makes sense. It is very descriptive and action descriptive without being telling. She has a very Southern fiction, small town narrative vibe going on, which one might think is usually boring, but Welty has a way of really working with the language to make it feel as close to an average life as possible.
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