Powerful Symbolism In Her Short Story example essay topic

345 words
I have made changes to the paper in red font. Comments for you will be enclosed in. They are not to appear in your final paper. Unchanged text within the may also be removed. Eudora Welty invokes powerful symbolism in her short story "Livvie".

She expresses life and death symbolically through her characters and through the settings in which they interact. Welty also gives Solomon a characterization of being a deity - a god that is all knowing and is in control of his world. His strict, dominating reign keeps Livvie in his power until the end. Life and death symbols are encountered repeatedly in this short story. The title, "Livvie", indicates the vibrant life of the protagonist, Livvie. She is a youth for "she was sixteen - and only a girl, then... while nine years went by... and she was still young".

The story [remove "in"] takes place in the spring and everything there offers a sense of newness. The "snow white curtains", white is a color for purity and freshness, the "spring winds", and even Cash in his "springy steps" inform the reader that life is in the air. It also gives foreshadowing of what is to come, the birth a new beginning. As the reader "nears the end of the story, it becomes apparent that Easter is coming, which is significant of rebirth. Cash indicates the coming holiday when he exclaims, "I ready for Easter!" In contrast to spring and Livvie's youth is Solomon in his representation of winter and death.

One of the lines that establishes this distinction is "if she is choosing winter, would she pine for spring". In addition, "a lace bed spread belonged on the bed" yet he slept under a quilt "what Solomon's mother made". The quilt is a representation of winter, cold, and death and also a longing for his mother as his days grow short. Moreover, Solomon's name implies the role he plays in the story.