EUDORA WELTY\u27S ORAL CHORUS (MISSISSIPPI)

Eudora Welty is a product of a rich literary and cultural tradition that uses the oral tradition; she shows a special interest in character speech. This study places Eudora Welty in that tradition and shows how her use of narrative technique extends the tradition. In her hands, various forms of spoken language discover theme--especially the themes of sympathy, acceptance, love, and a celebration of the richness of life itself. For Welty, the use of various forms of spoken language--namely dialogue, monologue, choral song--leads to comic resolution wherein the story teller, the characters in the story, the story itself, and the reading audience are all bound together. For Welty, good story telling means good listening. To show how Welty uses character speech, I examine four works: Powerhouse, The Wide Net, The Ponder Heart, and Losing Battles. In each of these works life is complemented by talk. In Powerhouse the musicians make music, but they also make story through verbal improvisation. Likewise in The Wide Net the debate that accompanies the river-dragging contributes excitement and adventure to the comedy of the event itself. Using monologue in The Ponder Heart, Welty again uses narrative technique to discover theme. Through Edna Earle, bursting to tell the story of Uncle Daniel, the reader comes to love and accept Uncle Daniel. Her comic portrayal allows him to live. For both the story teller and the subject of the story, life is talk; the written tradition takes second place. In Losing Battles, the oral tradition once again appears to defeat the written word. Distrusting books, the clan prefers to hear the story told. As a chorus, the family singers in a variety of voices shout, sing, cheer, and brag; remembering together, their talk provides hope for the future. The present action of their talk discovers the theme of family unity, hope, and endurance. Throughout the works studied, the oral, not the written, predominates. These works extend the oral tradition by means of spoken language, and by these means, Welty gives the reader themes which celebrate life, love, hope, tolerance, and acceptance