Eudora Weltys Writing Style
Eudora Welty grew up in a time when the television seemed an impossibility and books were prized possessions, especially in the Welty family. School was strict, which meant tightly-laced teachers who expected perfection and did not mind using physical force to promote mistake-free work. Between her parent's high expectations, the demands of her teachers and her insatiable hunger for books, Welty was destined to become a success. In her book, One Writer's Beginnings, Welty uses childhood memories to explain not only the natural progression of events that lead her personally to become a writer, but also exactly what it takes to be a writer. Observation is her key. As Welty writes, My brother and I got barefooted to stand on wet, sun-warm boards that, weighted with your car, seemed exactly on the level with the water; our feet were the same as in the river. Some of these ferries were operated by a single man pulling hand over hand on a rope bleached and frazzled as if made from cornshucks. (45)
This short passage sets the reader up with a clear visual image. From her position Welty was looking onto a "river" actually glaring at her with sun, sand, water, a little pavilion, a few solitary people in fixed attitudes, and around it all a border of dark rounded oak trees. The "barefooted" children wait on their family's car to be loaded onto the "ferry" in an orderly fashion. Her observation skills played an important role in describing this scene in her book.
In this next passage we will look at a different type of visual image, memory. As a child, Welty spent many hours watching and observing the people around her. She carefully absorbed their stories and how they told them. She began to listen to and fall in love with words.
When we at length bought our first automobile, one of out neighbors was often invited to go with us on the family Sunday afternoon ride. In Jackson it was counted an...
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