A Visit of Charity - Research Paper Example

A Visit of Charity Outline Introduction Overview of the research Analysis of the research Conclusion Work Cited Introduction Eudora Welty was born in the Mississippi region in 1909. In 1933, she started her career life as a publicity agent (Welty 1). Eudora Welty is a Southern playwright who is known for her exemplary work in writing books, narratives, and novels among other publications (Welty 215). She is one of the most prominently celebrated American playwrights. She has written a couple of short stories, novels among other autobiographical works. A Visit of Charity is a short narrative that talks about a 14 year-old girl named Marian, who went to visit elderly women at an old ladies’ home. She presents herself as a campfire girl whose main aim of the trip was to earn three points (Welty 216). In her trip, she carries along a potted plant which she takes to the nursing home. During her visit, she was quite surprised by the behavior of the old women that she met. The short visit to the home was quite a challenge to her that she even felt like fleeing from this bizarre location. This was mainly because of the behavior of the two women that she met in the nursing home. In the narrative, the writer, Eudora Welty presents concerns of selfishness and heartlessness among other behaviors in an ironic tone. This paper will discuss the short narrative, A Visit of Charity. Overview of the research This narration is largely centered on Marian; a 14-year old girl, who once visited an elderly nursing home. The setting of the narration is presented as a beaten block, and it revealed the winter sun like a block of ice (Welty 216). It is redecorated by spiky dark hedge plants. These scenarios imply the lack of warmth and affection from a society towards the isolated elderly citizens in the nursing home. Marian is the central character of the story. The aim of her visit was to earn a minimum of three points in her score. After speaking with the nurse at the main desk, she was taken to a room where she met two elderly women. She was shocked by their behaviors. This included the sheep bleating noise that was made often by one of elderly women in that room. These strange happenings scared the girl, almost making her flee the area. She had carried flowers in a pot which the nurse referred to as multiflora cineraria (Welty 216). Soon afterwards, the flowers were taken away from Marian by one of the old women in the room. The two women in the room started pointing out their thoughts about the potted plant after snatching it from Marian. She then sits back and listens to the two old women argue senselessly. One of the women claimed that the flowers belonging to Marian were pretty while the other commented that they were not pretty. Surprisingly enough, Marian was not in the position to remember her name, and when asked, she claimed that she was the campfire girl. During the visit, the old woman who was in bed went nuts and started screaming. This visit was truly a test to Marian. When leaving, she retrieved the apple she had hid under the prickly shrub and rushed to meet the bus which was in the street (Welty 220). Analysis of the research The introduction of this story adequately prepares the reader on the contents that are in the story. The narrative, A Visit of Charity, revolves around a girl named Marian who went to an old ladies’ home, on the town’s outskirts to visit the elderly. Her main aim was to be awarded three points. By taking a potted plant to the old ladies’ home, she can get an extra one mark, or a double point is added up if she takes a bible and reads it to the elderly women (McCartney 1). Marian takes the bible with her a potted plant. In addition, the introductory part explains the background setting of the story. This gives the person who reads the narration, a chance to foretell future happenings in the story. According to the narrator, Marian, was not able to use her senses adequately due to confusion (Welty 218). This was brought about by the behavior of the two women in the nursing home who acted extremely outlandish towards Marian. This is stylistically associated with being caught in a robber’s cave. All these events roused fear in Marian especially when she was left all alone in the room where the two ladies were positioned. The old women also acted strangely from the bleating voices that they made among other behaviors (Welty 218). The essay, A Visit of Charity, contains several themes that are explainable in the story. In the narration, Marian portrayed her works of compassion to the elderly. She did this through her visit to the old ladies’ home where she stayed with the women in the nursing home. The most prevalent theme in the narrative is the theme of selfishness. The whole narration focuses on the theme of selfishness which is portrayed by Marian and the nurse. Charity refers to showing humanity, kindness, and social ethics toward individuals in need. In this case, the elderly are viewed as the needy in this setup (McCartney 1). However, Marian presents her selfish nature from the incident whereby she hid an apple in the prickly shrub that was near the elderly home. Further analysis depicts that, her aim of doing the charity work was to get several points in her score. The nurses in the ladies’ home can also be presented as selfish from the isolation they gave the elderly. This is an unjust nature; therefore, the topic A Visit of Charity is full of irony (Rags 1). This narrative has a clear logical and organizational pattern. The events of the narration are free flowing. In summary form, the narrator explains how Marian was able to arrive at the nursing home and got to visit the two elderly women. He explains the behaviors of the two elderly women which to her depicted mental insanity. In the final paragraphs, the narrator explains how Marian was able to vacate the lunatic asylum and head to the street. Truly, the narrator has analyzed his ideas in a logical pattern. The main ideas in the story are well arranged in the narration. However, not all the paragraphs in the paper relate to the theme in finicky. Together with the topic of the narration, A Visit of Charity, the narrator tries to bring out irony in the context (Rags 1). To some extent, the topic of compassion is somewhat evident through Marian’s concern for the elderly in the society. On the contrary, her visit was driven by the pleasure of getting more marks. Even when she is left with the two elderly women, she was reluctant to talk to them or even sit together and talk. Therefore, the subject of compassion in the narration is entirely ironical. In the narration, there are minimal instances whereby the paper goes off topic. This is based on the topic of the narration. According to the narrator, she writes about A Visit of Charity in an ironic manner. The topic is said to be ironic because, instead of portraying charity in the paper, the narrator depicts selfishness and dehumanization acts that we clearly portrayed by both the nurse at the nursing home and Marian who represents the society. Dehumanization is well presented by Marian who relates the voice of an elderly woman as that of a sheep and the arm of another woman as that of a bird’s claws. This reveals insolence to the elderly when on the contrary; she was supposed to appreciate their old age as a visitor in the nursing home (McCartney 1). In this narration, all topics are fully supported and explained by the narrator. The narrator explains all the issues prevalently in this narration. This is presented from the writer’s exemplary flow of correlated ideas and opinions. The narrator provides all the information required by the readers to identify the story line. A brief analysis of the writer’s ideas entails a brief background about herself, the introduction of the narration, body, and the conclusion of her story. Though the topic of the story is ironic, the writer is able to gather enough knowledge that ensures the story is arranged in a logical pattern (Rags 1). Lastly, the conclusion of the narration is astounding. A brief flashback to the story shows that Marian left the nursing home abruptly and rushed to the prickly shrub where she had hid her apple (Rags 1). She quickly retrieved it from the hiding location and rocketed to stop the bus. She then jumped on the bus and ate the apple with haste. This presents her selfish nature and greed. The conclusion presents a sense of completion after Marian was able to leave the nursing home as if she was being dispelled. This paper meets the required standards of a research paper. This is because; the paper is brief and straight to the point. Furthermore, the story has a moral message to the readers. The author’s main ideas are presented through the dehumanization treatment of the elderly by Marian in the nursing homes. She presents the nursing homes as places that lack the basic social amenities for the elderly. The conditions of the rooms that the elderly live in are compared to those in prisons. They are small, wet, dark and closed. This made Marian feel as if she was in a robber’s cave. In addition, the nurses and attendants of the elderly in these nursing units are compared to jail guards. Welty portrays the society as insensitive to the elderly individuals. This is because they live in neglect of the elderly and the unfortunate in the society. Furthermore, the writer also uses the campfire girls who usually visit the nursing homes as a mirror of selfishness and dehumanization acts just like Marian is presented in the narration. Conclusion In conclusion, the story A Visit of Charity employs sarcastic feelings towards what is presented in the nursing home of the elderly. This vividly asserts that Welty has a clear understanding of the situation in most of the nursing homes. After reading this article, one can clearly consider how Welty feels about the condition of the nursing homes. The place is compared to a clock working on time, meaning that, the nursing home is slow moving (Welty 216). The story also has certain images of isolation that are portrayed in the paragraphs. The narration simply portrays the elderly as victims of neglect and abuse in the society. In general, old-age and youth seem unavoidably shattered by folly and lack of knowledge. Work Cited McCartney, Krall. Eudora Welty’s: A Visit of Charity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Web. Rags, Books. The Use of Symbolisim in A Visit of Charity | The Use of Symbolisim in A Visit of Charity. New York: Books Rags Press, 2006. Web. Welty, Eudora. A Visit of charity. 2011, Web. Welty, Eudora. The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty. Chicago: Harcourt Brace Press, 1982. Print. Read More