“A Visit of Charity” by Eudora Welty Essay

Is Eudora Welty successful in showing how human beings can be more interested in their own personal gains than the needs of others? Marian didn’t really want to visit the home for the elderly but she is a Campfire Girl and by taking out the time to go, she will gain points for offering her time to charity work. A gift of flowers was something that Marian brought to the home in order to make her visit look more genuine, but the apple that she brought; she hid outside so that none would think it was also a gift. There was no special person that she wanted to visit, she only wanted to do the job that she came for, earn her point and leave. She wears her Campfire Girls cap to show who she is and she is very afraid to be around a bunch of older people that she has never met, before, but the added point means so much to her that she is willing to visit this strange home. She is more interested in what she can gain from this visit than what she can offer to others. Addie wasn’t thrilled by Marian’s visit. She was a cranky old lady who didn’t even like her roommate and couldn’t stand to hear her talk about a bunch of nothing, all the time. Marian had pretty, yellow hair which she wore a white cap over and she dressed in her red coat as she observed the two women in the nursing home. She had a job to perform and so much to do in her life as she watched the two ladies who had nothing but each other. (Welty, 1980) In â€Å"A Visit of Charity†, Eudora Welty uses Marian as a character who acts in ways that many of us do at certain times in our lives, in performing deeds that are solely for ourselves, and sometimes we forget about the feelings of others. Welty demonstrates in this story that we need to not only try to work toward our own goals but at the same time, we need to consider the thoughts and emotions of others who are less fortunate. Marian is the girl who Welty chose to show that people, especially young individuals, sometimes forget about more important things as we search for awards and points that make us look and feel better about ourselves. To truly feel better about ourselves, we must consider the feelings of others and then we gain the biggest reward of all; knowing that we made someone else’s day a little brighter and more fulfilling. Marian still had many lessons to learn, in life about human kindness, and as she takes a big bite out of the apple, she shows that she had been more interested in her own personal gain in this visit. The author made you think about others in her writing. Eudora Welty clearly showed the selfishness that one can see in Marian’s visit to the nursing home and how she had so much to learn about the true meaning of sharing and giving of yourself in helping others who are less fortunate. I believe that Eudora Welty clearly showed that human beings are sometimes very capable of seeking out their own personal gain in life and are highly capable of not considering the feelings of others, as we do. Reference Page Welty, Marian. (1980) â€Å"A Visit of Charity†. Library of America. A Visit of Charity by Eudora Welty Essay Irony is the use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning. Eudora Welty successfully uses this literary technique to elucidate the theme of the story, â€Å"A Visit of Charity†. The title â€Å"A Visit of Charity† is rather ironic. Charity means to show kindness and sympathy towards others; however, no one in this story does such a thing. There are no charity from Marian’s, the nurse’s, the two old ladies, and the whole society’s point of view. How can there be charity when the old ladies are isolated from the society. In the story, Marian, â€Å"a young Campfire girl†, sets out a visit to the Old Lady House. She wears â€Å"a red coat and her straight yellow hair is hanging down loose from the pointed white cap all the little girls are wearing this year.† This suggests us that she is not a self-conscious individual. She pays the visit for unquestioning duty since all other campfire girls do so. Her motive is also for the points, which reward on her project. The author also gives way to Marian’s selfish nature when she states to the nurse that â€Å"I have to pay a visit to some old lady.† She shows little respect in the way she phrases her statement. By saying she has to pay a visit reinforces us think that she is there not of her own free will. She does not care who she visits, just as long as the person is an elderly woman. Another irony is used to help explaining the theme of the story as Marian enters the old ladies’ room. When Marian looks around the room, she feels like â€Å"being caught in a robber’s cave, just before being murdered.† She thinks the old ladies are robbers who are trying to steal her perception of the world; however, do they really steal Marian’s view of world? No, I think Marian gets fear because the old ladies give her a broader and truer sense of the reality, which she is reluctant to accept. â€Å"A visit of Charity† by Eudora Welty Essay In the short story, â€Å"A visit of Charity† by Eudora Welty, a fourteen -year old Campfire girl whose name is Marian, visits an elderly home to earn points. The way Marian slowly makes her way from the bus stop to the nursing home shows reluctance. The author’s purpose was to describe a young child’s experience with the elderly through emotions and descriptions of her actions. The author encloses several lurid details to help the readers understand how awful this experience was for the child. The title contradicts the meaning of the story, charity means generosity or kindness towards others, and no one in this story carries that out. People’s selfishness and insensitivity can blind them from humanity and the needs of others. The setting is a winter’s day at a home for elderly women. Outside of the home, there are â€Å"prickly dark shrubs with which the city had beautified the home†. These surroundings imply coldness, and abandonment. The ambiance points to the feeling of fear. The floors inside the building illustrate the awkwardness. The room that Marian ends up visiting is dark, the shade is drawn, and excess amounts of furniture. The wet smell of everything and the wet appearance of the bare floor imply that the cramped room is a more suitable for barn animals rather than humans. Marian compares the room to a robbers cave and the two women as the robbers. The setting of a story assists in painting a mental picture, which draws the reader into the story. (42) Characters bring a story to life; they help the reader connect with the story and its surroundings. The story begins with the young girl who is fearful of the home. The story leads the reader to believe that Marian is the protagonist, and the elderly home is the antagonist. Marian is a self-conscious, submissive, and harsh. She refers to one of the elderly women as an object to be used and discarded when she announces the purpose of her visit. â€Å"I’m a Campfire Girl†¦I have to pay a visit to some old lady†. These words and her frequent thoughts about the points she will get for the visit reveal her real reason for coming, self-gain. An old woman â€Å"Any will do† is an impersonal thing with no identity or personality. She also refers to them as animals in their motions and appearances. When the  girl runs out, she notices that the nurse is reading a Field & Stream magazine. All of these descriptions help the reader to understand what the home is like, and how she sees the world. (42) Welty uses description, symbolism, irony to get across the theme. The theme of the story is selfishness, although it is portrayed through fear. Marian is apprehensive about going into the home, but maintains her state of mind and goes in. In the beginning, the story leads the reader to believe that she truly has compassion. Although, it is a lie, she is there only for points. The author is expressing self-interest. Fear is a part in life and to concur those fears is contentment, but running away is not concurring. Marian does not portray the best image of a kind, cheerful Campfire Girl. Welty further suggests in this story that fake charity can destroy the very humanity it pretends to acknowledge and uphold. People like Marian acting either out of duty or for personal advantages have created the Home and the conditions that have made the inhabitants irritable and unlovable. Marian left the women more lonely and distraught than she found them. This kind of charity is uncharitable indeed.