Eudora Welty's Travellers: The Journey Theme in Her Short Stories
1971; University of North Carolina Press; Volume: 3; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1534-1461
Autores Tópico(s)Short Stories in Global Literature
ResumoShould one decide to draw up a map of Eudora Welty's fictional countryside, as some have drawn up that of Faulkner's mythical Yoknapatawpha, one might safely assert that a road would run it. Natchez Trace--Trace, that is to say, path or road--indeed provides the setting for many of Eudora Welty's tales. However, not only might the Natchez Trace be seen winding across that country, but other roads, rivers, railway tracks as well. (1) For whether in cars or in boats, on horseback or simply on foot, travellers abound in Miss Welty's country: temporary or permanent travellers, travellers by choice or by necessity, travelling salesmen or musicians on a tour, itinerant preachers or just tramps. Or again, mere tourists in Eudora Welty's country may show up on occasion. Though the Natchez Trace and the state of Mississippi are unquestionably her favorite setting, Miss Welty's travellers sometimes dare to go farther afield, some even crossing the ocean, following James' pilgrims on their traditional journey to Europe. traveller therefore appears as a constant figure in Eudora Welty's work, a particularly noticeable fact in the short stories, one of which features the most famous traveller of all, Odysseus, who reaches the shores of the island of Aea and whom Circe tries to keep with all the lures of Home (Circe). Odysseus may therefore be considered in some respects as an archetype. But one notes that the mythical hero has close links with a familiar character of traditional American folklore--the fact is not uncommon with Miss Welty--and that Odysseus represents one aspect of the traveller which can be found in various other short stories: in First Love, The Key, The Hitch-Hikers, for example. He is in some ways the very type of the Marvellous Stranger who by reason of his condition is endowed in the eyes of others with qualities of which they are not possessed, and who stands out as an unusual character, attractive and mysterious, a little crazed perhaps, since he is different. Like Odysseus, he may represent manly beauty, or like Burr (First Love), grace itself, or again, intensity, like the red-haired young man in The Key: So intent and so large was his gaze that anyone who glanced after him seemed rocked like a small boat in the wake of a large one.... There was an excess of energy in him that separated him from anyone else. And it is a little as if a magician had just arrived in the small, sleepy towns scattered along the Natchez Trace. Thus after Burr's arrival in Natchez the town seems to be touched by some of his grace and to emulate his elegance: People now lighted their houses in entertainment as if they copied after the sky. people themselves are affected by it: And a radiance as soft and near as rain fell on their hands and faces and on the plumes of the breathers from the horses' nostrils and they were as gracious and as grand as Burr. On the lowest level, the traveller brings excitement. Burr's arrival shakes Natchez, caught fast in the grip of the cold, and shakes it through the lethargy of the snow. traveller dispels the greyness of everyday life. He is one who makes things happen in towns where nothing ever seems likely to take place. Another striking example is Tom Harris, in First Love. One of the characters of the story exclaims: It's marvellous the way he always gets in with somebody and then something happens. Something happens, for good or bad, but little does it matter, so long as the daily routine is broken. In A Piece of News, the travellers (from Tennessee, preferably) put an end to the monotony of Ruby's life, for the duration of an embrace. Thanks to one of them, she discovers one day a newspaper article which enables her to indulge in a morbid fantasy in which she imagines that her husband has shot his gun at her. musicians of Powerhouse bring a world of dream and unreality with them. …
Referência(s)